Rebel leader

Context and Challenges

A prominent FMCG multinational, known for its high-caliber talent and superior employee profiles, faced significant challenges. Its established, rigorous procedures, once key to success in performance, efficiency, and innovation, started to hinder creativity, complicate tasks, and negatively impact employee engagement and stress. Despite various well-being efforts, employee well-being continued to decline. In the face of increasing market volatility, intense competition, and heavy workloads, the director of a high-performing team identified the critical need for a substantial shift in mindset to maintain performance levels.

Objectives

The primary objective was to enhance well-being and performance simultaneously, without treating them as mutually exclusive domains. The intervention aimed at instilling a culture of resilience, agility, and innovation, by working on a mindset-shift, ensuring the team could thrive amid the fast-paced and competitive landscape. Another goal was to reduce leaders’ workload without negatively impacting the results achieved.

QiLeader Approach

QiLeader was approached to introduce our scalable Culture Program, designed to address the intricate relationship between well-being and performance. We embarked on an inspiring journey that included:

Assessement

to gauge the current state of team dynamics, well-being, and performance

Inspiring Moments

designed to elevate the team's spirit and foster a sense of unity and purpose.

Team Coaching sessions

that facilitated deep reflections, enabling team members to identify and surmount personal and collective barriers

Workshops

that provided practical tools and strategies for managing stress, enhancing resilience, and cultivating a growth mindset

Self-paced Micro-content

tailored to the team's specific milestones and objectives, allowing for a flexible and personalized learning experience

This holistic program was seamlessly integrated with the team's key milestones and objectives, ensuring a customized and impactful intervention. It was especially designed to transform busy leaders with minimal time investment for a maximal impact.

Results

The results were nothing short of transformative. The initial implementation not only led to significant improvements in team well-being but also in performance metrics. The team leader, recognizing the value brought by the QiLeader program, was promoted and opted to implement the program within her new team as well. This subsequent round mirrored the success of the first, with well-being in the team rising by 14% while the broader organization continued to see a decline in this area.

Workload in the team decreased, resilience was boosted and their team performance further increased. The program’s ROI was positive as of year one thanks to higher retention and lower levels of absenteeism.

The QiLeader Culture Program stands as a testament to the possibility of harmonizing well-being and performance in the modern corporate world. By refusing to compartmentalize these elements, the program demonstrated that addressing them in tandem could lead to substantial improvements in both domains. This case exemplifies the transformative power of integrated well-being and performance initiatives, setting a new standard for organizational development in challenging times.

Proven benefits of the QiLeader approach on results, profits, well-being, engagement and turnover

On top of reaching each company’s personalized goals, QiLeader also aims at rebooting leaders and their teams for more impact in fast & busy times, by deeply reprogramming their habits. Research among 500 respondents shows that a rebooted leader (i.e. a leader who adopted the 5 habits of fast & busy times, namely: Rhythm, Purpose, Growth Mindset, Resilience and Focus) shows significantly better results compared to a more traditional leader or employee. For instance, a rebooted QiLeader is 72% more motivated than a traditional leader or employee, experiencing less stress (by 59%) and a decreased workload (by 45%). The likelihood of this QiLeader looking for another job is also decreased by 50%.

The same research shows that rebooted leaders work on average 10% less than traditional leaders while having 47% more impact, impact being defined in terms of reaching one’s objectives.

Assessments taken by participants to QiLeader programs before and after the training show an increased adaptability to the fast & busy times, with an average progression of 28% across the 5 habits assessed in 3 to 4 months. Biggest improvements are visible in Mindset (moving from a fixed to growth mindset) and in Focus (From overwhelmed & operational to focused and strategic.

QiLeader program shows positive ROI in year one thanks to decreased employee turnover and absenteeism

Decreased absenteeism

The cumulative effect of increased impact, energy and motivation, together with decreased workload and stress results in a significant drop in absenteeism. The QiLeader techniques applied by Murielle Machiels during her time as CEO of an educational publishing company resulted in a 50% decrease in absenteeism. QiLeader also relies on a number of testimonials from participants saying that they avoided burnout thanks to the principles learned through QiLeader courses.

In Belgium, absenteeism is estimated at 10% per year and research shows an average cost of absenteeism of 2.450€ per year per employee.

For a group of 20 leaders, the absenteeism cost would be approximately 49.000€.

Decreased employee turnover

Average employee turnover rate is 10% depending on your industry. The cost of replacing a leader varies between 50% and 213% of their annual salary cost. For a group of 20 leaders with an annual salary cost of 100.000€, the employee turnover cost would be at least 100.000€ (50% of the annual salary cost of 2 people). This cost includes loss in productivity, replacement costs, recruitment costs, onboarding costs…

Our research shows that rebooted Qileaders are 50% less likely to look for another job.

See this participant’s testimonial: “It was a crisis moment for me at that point, because I was choosing between ‘Do I stay in this company? Maybe I should go someplace else…’ or ‘Do I find a way to make myself more motivated? And doing the course remotivated me.” (full testimonial here: https://youtu.be/zwRw0h7DeW0).

The ROI of the program based on previous results & research (only taking into account absenteeism and retention)

The program costs:

30.000€ for 20 leaders

Estimated 50% reduction of absenteeism:

24.500€ lower costs

Estimated 50% reduction in employee turnover:

50.000€ lower costs

Estimated profit increase

44.500€

A mere 20% decrease of absenteeism and retention (which is very conservative), would already break-even.

Mindset-based training increases profits three times more than standard business training

A World Bank study, conducted in partnership with the National University of Singapore Business School and Leuphana University, revealed that mindset-based training increases profits with 30% while traditional business training increases profits with 11%. This study was conducted among 1,500 entrepreneurs divided into 3 groups. One group didn’t receive any training and served as base to compare the other two. One group received a business training and one group received a mindset-based training.

The cost of the mindset- based training was already repaid within the first year thanks to increased profits and is 3 times more profitable than a classic business training.

QiLeader is a mindset-based training and is more sustainable in the long-term as employees and leaders are better equipped to deal with change but also to whatever challenge they face. More traditional business trainings (focusing on hard skills only) get rapidly obsolete as techniques evolve rapidly in the market.

Success Stories

Transforming Organizational Well-being and Performance at a Leading FMCG Multinational

(to be written)

Industry

From Overwhelmed & Operational to Focused & Strategic in an International Industrial Company

Within a premier industrial organization, a division encountered significant operational challenges. Work demands substantially exceeded capacity, leading to elevated stress levels among staff.

Success Stories

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