Embedding purpose into an organization is all about organizational culture.

Case Study: Brown Forman Organizational Culture

Background 

Who wouldn’t want to work with Brown-Forman, the company that owns iconic spirits and wine brands such as Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey, Southern Comfort and Korbel California Champagnes? When we got the call from their Corporate Social Responsibility director a few years ago, we already had a strong track record assisting the company in areas such as internal communications, leadership team building and executive coaching. The CSR director told us that they were about to embark on an initiative to develop a stronger sustainability strategy and he believed that building a supportive culture was going to be a critical part of their process. Since helping purpose-driven companies embed their commitments into their culture is our specialty, we were especially excited about this work and eager to get started. 

As one of the largest American-owned companies in the spirits and wine industry, Brown- Forman had a strong reputation for successfully advocating responsible alcohol consumption. And they were known throughout our community for their generous philanthropy. However, even though they had also focused on environmental and energy-related issues, they lacked a clear, comprehensive strategy for environmental sustainability. At this point CSR and environmental sustainability were located in separate parts of the company. However they planned to collaborate on not only developing but also implementing a new strategy. With our focus on all aspects of company purpose and culture including CSR, Corporate Citizenship and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues, we were the right consultants for the job. 

Process 

Our process involved three steps: 

1. Assessing the current state of the culture
2. Facilitating the collaborative design of a strategy for the future 
3. Development of a roadmap for implementing the strategy and measuring progress and outcomes along the way

Step 1: Assess Current Culture 

We began our work by assessing their current culture as it pertained to their CSR and sustainability vision. We looked for an assessment instrument tailored to cultures for sustainability and, finding none, we developed our own. This newly minted Brown-Forman survey set the stage for our later developing and validating the evidence-based sustainable culture assessment tool, the SCALA ™ that we have administered to thousands around the world. 

We built on the information provided by the survey through a series of interviews with people who represented many parts of the company. Employees told us they were looking for a greater understanding of the issues pertaining to environmental sustainability, as well as a differentiated, yet a coherent and cohesive sustainability framework across their varied businesses. While the company’s values were aligned with sustainability, the culture tended to be cautious, passive and reactive to the environmental challenges. One of our most significant discoveries was that employees who were involved in the company’s current CSR and sustainability efforts either as part of their day job or as an addition to what they did day-to-day, were more connected and engaged with their work and with the company than were others. This valuable nugget provided us with a clear rationale for recommending the many benefits that a stronger sustainable culture could provide. 

Step 2: Cross-functional Collaboration to Identify Ten-Year Goals and Strategy 

Next, we facilitated a series of meetings with a cross-functional group to determine exactly where they wished to go with environmental sustainability and how they planned to get there. These gatherings yielded rich conversations described by a participant as “transformational”, as the group brought their varied backgrounds and expertise to bear in crafting a strategy. By the end of the process, the group reached consensus on priorities, direction, high-level goals and preferred methods for achieving them. Several noted the potency of assembling so many players from different yet interdependent parts of the organization. They heralded the value of hearing points of views from functions outside of their own. One person remarked that he had worked for the company for 25 years, and yet this meeting was the first time that he had met some of the people in the room and heard the perspectives of other functions. They confirmed what we suspected when we started: company culture was critical to their getting where they wanted to go. Employee engagement in the strategy would determine whether they could achieve their goals. 

Step 3: Develop the Roadmap 

Once the group reached consensus on strategy, our job was to organize their plan into a roadmap that they could use over the next few years to implement their strategy. We outlined a step-by-step approach to help them reach their goals. Of course, we were aware that they would need to modify the roadmap over time because their strategy was transformative. And when a company commits to a transformational change, they don’t know exactly where they will end up when they start the journey. Some have said that transformation involves building the bridge while walking on it! Nevertheless, the roadmap pointed them in a clear direction and provided markers for their journey. 

Results 

Three years into the implementation of their Roadmap, they reported the following results: 

• 30% reduction in energy, wastewater and carbon emissions 
• 85% reduction in waste to landfill 
• First-time cross-functional employee engagement focused on sustainability 

Our Learnings and Conclusions

Purpose-driven companies are always complex. They live their purpose by making commitments that are consistent with their values and material to their business. Our clients’ purpose-driven commitments have varied with each company. Brown-Forman is an example of a corporation that excelled in social responsibility and responsible drinking, and desired to take a more intentional and aggressive approach to environmental sustainability. Wisely, they understood that embedding their purpose into their organization, including both their CSR and environmental goals, is all about organizational culture. 

Recently Rob Frederick, the VP & Director, Corporate Brand and Communications | Brown-Forman Corporation said this about our work: 

“Kathy and her team’s work with Brown-Forman in the early days of deepening and advancing our sustainability commitment helped put us on a path to better understand and leverage culture, purpose and employee engagement. Like a fine cocktail, Miller Consultants provides just the right mix of thought leadership, research, guidance and tools to accelerate sustainability progress.”