Prosci Empowers Vanderlande for Sustainability Change Management

Vanderlande has evolved from a small family business in Veghel, the Netherlands, to an international market leader in automated material handling systems. Today, the company employs nearly 9,000 people in over 100 countries, providing automated solutions for baggage handling at airports, and logistics processes for retailers and distribution centers globally. Sustainability is a core strategic priority for Vanderlande, integrated into its culture and daily operations. The company's commitment to sustainability is driven by smart solutions, market demand, and strong internal values, reflecting their goal to innovate and reduce their environmental impact.

Challenge

Vanderlande faced multifaceted challenges in embedding sustainability across its vast global operations. The company has ambitious targets in sustainability, including becoming carbon-neutral by 2040 and achieving circular economy benchmarks. Achieving their goals is complex and must be translated into tangible, sector-specific actions that are accessible to all employees.

Simply setting sustainability goals doesn't necessarily lead to behavior changes. Influencing daily behaviors across a diverse and extensive workforce presents a significant change challenge for the company. Further, maintaining a focused, consistent approach amid the variety of sustainability initiatives can lead to fragmentation fatigue among employees, which could prevent sustained engagement.

Solution

Develop ADKAR® Blueprint to inform change plans and support people on their change journeys
Equip sponsors, project teams and change practitioners with rolled-based training
Impart lasting change management skills in teams for sustainability programs through coaching and hands-on support
Develop an ECM Roadmap for embedding change capability into the fabric of the organization

To tackle these challenges, Vanderlande integrated the Prosci ADKAR® Model and Prosci Methodology to guide the organization through its change process:

Focus on Daily Conversations

By emphasizing the frequency of sustainability being part of daily conversations, the firm created a measurable and manageable approach to influence certain behaviors.

Develop ADKAR Blueprint

A comprehensive ADKAR Blueprint was created to support various target groups through their individual sustainability changes. This focused team efforts on specific aspects of the approach, such as leadership support, people management, community empowerment, communication and training. The ADKAR Blueprint also served to inform their individual change management plans.

Measurement and Impact Control

Regular measurements and ADKAR Assessments equipped the team to understand what steps were needed to drive adoption of final sustainability goals. This ensured that the team understood and effectively communicated the reasons behind changes to build Awareness and Desire. It also enabled them to monitor and address personal alignment, the necessary knowledge, and ongoing continuous engagement.

Results

Through these meticulous and structured change management methods, Vanderlande was able to achieve remarkable progress towards its sustainability goals:

Enhanced Behavioral Integration

By boosting the visibility and consistency of sustainability efforts, Vanderlande observed a significant increase in sustainability being a regular part of team discussions and decisions.

Targeted and Cohesive Efforts

The ADKAR Blueprint provided clarity and cohesion across various sustainability initiatives, ensuring focused and aligned actions towards set goals. Having a targeted blueprint also informed the detailed change management plans applied to implement critical change management strategies and activities, such as communications and sponsor engagement.

Continuous Improvement

The ability to measure, evaluate and adjust sustainability strategies has empowered Vanderlande to address gaps proactively and celebrate progress, bolstering overall morale and their deep commitment to the sustainability cause.