Supporting Smurfit Kappa With Virtual Leadership Training to Grow Skills of Next-Gen Leaders

Client Profile & Challenge

Innovation has been a culture-shaping quality for Smurfit Kappa for nearly 90 years, and nowhere is innovation’s influence more strongly showcased than in the development of future leaders within the organization. Since 2018, Smurfit Kappa has been partnering with CCL to deliver programs devoted exclusively to the latest leadership priorities, practices, and challenges.

Every year, Smurfit Kappa invests in an in-person summit that provides an opportunity for its next-generation leaders across the organization to gain knowledge, insights, and vision from speakers, and share experiences with their peers and network. The company also wanted to provide their frontline managers with a virtual development program opportunity featuring real-world insights, interactivity and engagement, social interaction, and relationship-building, as well as research-based content.

CCL met the request in a way that merged innovation and evidence-driven training within a thriving digital learning environment.

Solution

CCL’s established roster of online leadership training solutions, combined with a flexible and responsive team and infrastructure, allowed for a seamless launch of the virtual training experience.

Featured Solutions

Online Leadership Training

Build skill and capability for leaders at all levels with human-centered, research-based, online leadership training. Explore our programs.

Online Frontline Leadership Course: Frontline Leader Impact

Want to scale development for large groups of frontline leaders? Build their leadership skills with our gamified, self-paced, online frontline leadership training course.

The solution was using an interactive leadership development course we designed for emerging leaders on the front lines of their organizations. The course features an intuitive and collaborative online learning platform with flexibility and interactivity features, and is built around developing the 6 critical leadership skills for frontline managers:

• Self-Awareness
• Learning Agility
• Communication
• Political Savvy
• Influencing Outcomes
• Motivating Others

A group of Smurfit Kappa’s new and recently promoted frontline managers from across the Americas participated in the self-paced 6-week, 18-hour program known as Frontline Leader Impact (FLI). Guidance from leadership experts, robust self-assessment opportunities, weekly team activities, and lively discussion threads completed the picture of participants’ strengths and improvement areas — and brought program benefits full-circle.

Results

The program’s immersive experience maximized learning opportunities for Smurfit Kappa’s emerging leaders during uncertain times, when strong and effective leadership was more critical than ever. Key benefits that Smurfit Kappa achieved from the FLI program include:

• Development of key skills, ranging from more inclusive leadership and improved talent management to increased active listening and team engagement
• Elevated mindsets that sparked rethinking of leadership assumptions, and behavior change where needed
• Networking opportunities with peers and one-on-one relationships with senior leaders
• Broadened understanding of the company’s business units and models, including its ongoing commitment to an environmentally regenerative, circular economy

Program Impact

Accelerating leadership and supporting innovation remain a top priority for both Smurfit Kappa and CCL, with immediate and long-term benefits resulting from the partnership and online course format.

Participants Say