Heifer International Unites Team at Customized Retreat
Client
“The staff was so impressed with how you fit into Heifer, and that’s a major statement since this has not always been our experience… In addition, your candid, personal coaching helped me play my role effectively and your attention to my unique circumstances left me feeling 100% supported as a leader.”
Tanya Wright, Senior Vice President, Heifer International
Arkansas-based Heifer International is changing lives – one cow at a time. Working in 57 countries, Heifer International provides livestock and training to improve lives. Heifer gives those in need an animal, which provides direct benefits such as milk, eggs, wool and fertilizer. Recipients “pass on the gift” of offspring of their cows, goats and other livestock to others.
Goals
In this global, nonprofit environment, leaders depend on all staff working together cohesively to maximize their efforts on behalf of their mission to rid the world of hunger. But when Heifer reorganized, a senior vice president was tasked with uniting highly diverse departments – with members from all over the world – to subscribe to a single mission and integrate their processes like never before.
The Solution
Heifer engaged two consultants from International Advantage -- because of their experience in global environments -- to manage a 2.5 day, offsite strategy retreat to achieve their goals. Based on surveys and one-on-one interviews with organizational leaders, International Advantage determined the appropriate objectives for the event, designed the content and approach, and facilitated the event. The solution was to develop of strong purpose statement that all could support, while connect each member personally with the statement and each other for sustainable cooperation.
The Strategic Advantage
At the start, some of the 45 attendees barely knew each other due to their disparate functions. They worked across diverse areas such as global initiatives, global programs and education. By the time they left, the design of the event allowed for a new, shared experience that gave each member a platform to join each other as part of a unified team. In addition, elements were incorporated to allow them to resolve past issues, reach consensus on their purpose, build bridges between departments, and work together more efficiently moving forward. Today, the division remains solidly behind the purpose it defined in those two days.
“I continue to hear a ‘buzz’ about how good people feel after the retreat and the CEO is now anxious to attend our next retreat,” said Tanya Wright, senior vice president.