Supporting Oatly to build a next generation company
In a period when Oatly staff were facing unprecedented pressure due to the pandemic, going through an IPO and more than 10 people were hired daily, Chief Transformation Officer Christel Kinning approached The Fem League asking;
How do we at Oatly build a culture where all employees experience belonging, a thriving environment and produce greater results together without breaking from the stress?
Across two years of engagement, Oatly and The Fem League set out on a journey to help Oatly embody this change. The Cultural Curiosity framework, designed to activate personal and organizational transformation, served as the grounding point for all of the initiatives that followed.
The Fem League started by hosting a 300-person kickstart engaging all team members in a bespoke process to activate people's curiosity, communication and knowing each other personally.
A culture assessment was made, after which a Transformation Framework to support culture design was co-created between The Fem League and Oatly’s Executive Team, it included:
- Defined culture goals aligned with the company values.
- Clearly stated objectives and accountabilities for directors, managers, and staff.
- Community-wide expectations and benchmarks.
- Strategies to monitor process, progress, and results in mindset, diversity & inclusion, belonging and stress reduction.
In parallel internal communities were created and facilitated weekly by coaches at The Fem League. These communities are virtual and topical; Communities of Care and communities for people identifying as women, men, people of colour and LGBTQ+. Oatly staff receive teachings, coaching, peer to peer learnings and tools for inclusive behaviours, coping with stress and to develop personal and professional leadership competencies. The communities are global and bring together people at Oatly from all countries and functions.
Through over 1000 community sessions The Fem League has trained Oatly staff in a shared language and an ability to lead as culture bearers, and manage conflict with culture derailers. Participants now have an understanding of how to lift up their problems and hold others accountable for their actions.
By capturing anonymous data and analysing sentiment in the organisation The Fem League provides Oatly’s Executive Team with intelligence reporting and strategic advice on people and culture.
“Culture is the currency of Oatly. We exist to create societal change, yet we cannot create that change without being the change we want to see in society.”
Christel Kinning
Head of Transformation, Oatly
Charting the path toward future progress
Today, The Fem League continues to host and facilitate global, virtual communities at Oatly and serves as a strategic partner supporting the company with diversity and inclusion, retainment, recruitment, and maximising social impact in the world. The communities have hosted more than 1,000 conversations collectively, and the Transformation Framework continues to serve as the basis for leadership.
And most importantly, everyone at Oatly is even better positioned to thrive in times of uncertainty: “During a period of rapid global growth, it’s easy to lose the close connections and communication that enable us to innovate and solve problems,” said Christel Kinning. “Through Cultural Curiosity, The Fem League has created global communities that bust silos and cross borders, to drive breakthrough performance despite some of the most difficult and unpredictable circumstances of our lifetime.”
“Culture is the currency of Oatly. We exist to create societal change, yet we cannot create that change without being the change we want to see in society
Before the Fem League, we did not have a system in place to implement the values we espouse. By bringing Cultural Curiosity® and the community function to Oatly, the Fem League has transformed the way we see each other, talk to each other, and work with each other. With their support, we are creating a company where everyone belongs; we are becoming naturally diverse, equitable, and inclusive
During a period of rapid global growth, it’s easy to lose the close connections and communication that enables us to innovate and solve problems. Through Cultural Curiosity® the Fem League has created global communities that bust silos and cross borders, to drive breakthrough performance despite some of the most difficult and unpredictable circumstances of our lifetime.“
Christel Kinning
Head of Transformation, Oatly
The Fem League is a global culture design and community building firm that creates inclusive cultures and communities where everyone thrives.
We leverage our proprietary framework Cultural Curiosity, community building and self-leadership programs to support organizations, communities and individuals to design intentional cultures.