Jollibee Foods Builds Conversational Skills, Instills a Coaching Culture Across the Organization

Challenge

Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) is one of the largest global food companies with 16 brands operating in 33 countries. The organization was seeking to establish a One JFC Coaching Culture that would empower employees and teams and reinforce a cohesive organizational culture as it continued to expand internationally.

The unique challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic also led to an increased need for approaches and tools that could help JFC leaders navigate uncertainty with more self-awareness and resilience. In addition to needing to build a cohesive coaching culture, JFC needed a leadership development solution that would enable employees to communicate and engage with one another more effectively in a virtual environment and successfully adjust to the new world of work.

Solution

Jollibee Foods Corporation chose to partner with the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)® out of a desire to form a trusting relationship with a solution provider. JFC wanted a partner that would work closely to understand the company’s unique needs and develop a solution that would deliver results.

The journey began with a custom face-to-face coaching skills program, Coaching for Greater Effectiveness, provided to 200 top leaders at JFC. Starting with senior leaders allowed for buy-in and support of the initiative, and ultimately led to increased traction as the larger-scale conversational skills program, Better Conversations Every Day™ (BCE), was rolled out to all managers through a train-the-trainer model.

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The program was pivoted to a live online virtual format in 2020 to nimbly adapt to the COVID-19 situation and continue the momentum of the initiative.

The CCL team worked closely with JFC to co-create the journey and program design, making adjustments along the way to maximize the impact in both the face-to-face and virtual environments. The journey included learning modules, assessments, online digital tools, and post-program pulse checks.

Involvement of JFC leaders throughout the process was a critical success factor. In addition to participating as sponsors and key stakeholders, a number of JFC leaders were trained as virtual breakout room hosts and led the small group discussions. The approach further increased the level of coaching capability within the organization and created comfort as participants were able to speak their local language.

Incorporating learnings from initial sessions into future iterations was key to maximizing the ROI for the initiative. With accumulated exposure to virtual coaching and training, it became apparent that facilitators and coaches needed to adopt additional tools and techniques to maintain high levels of engagement with participants. More interactive activities, such as polling, annotation, and quizzes were utilized in the program design as a result.

Results

So far, the One JFC Coaching Culture has resulted in notable positive outcomes for the company, including significant improvement in managers’ ability to:

• Engage in difficult conversations
• Provide feedback for development
• Support colleagues to be the best version of themselves

Program Impact

Data from hundreds of leaders within JFC confirms that virtual BCE sessions have been equally impactful compared to face-to-face BCE sessions. When asked to rate overall satisfaction with the program, participants of both face-to-face and virtual programs have given an average of 4.8 out of 5. A recent pulse check that measures behaviors and outcomes from the perspective of direct reports shows virtual sessions receiving even higher scores on leadership effectiveness compared to face-to-face.

Overall, employees across store brands report that their direct managers are challenging and supporting them more effectively, which has led to positive transformation across the organization.

Participants Say