Paper manufacturer gets employees onboard with new strategy with a Learning Map

James Cropper Learning Map with the Big Picture People - Vision, values and purpose

Key facts and figures

Business priorities: Sharing the company’s new strategy and vision
Sector: Paper manufacturing
Lead contact: Head of Marketing and Communications
Employees in the picture: 500 people
Locations: United Kingdom
Lead time to launch day: 6 months

“We have our last planned Big Picture sessions next Wednesday. It has been very positive, with the process and tools working well.” Marketing and Communications Director

Our client’s challenge

Since 1845, James Cropper PLC has been one of the UK’s leading bespoke papermakers. Many of its employees have a long tenure in the organisation. This helps promote its values of tradition and loyalty.

However, this long tenure can sometimes make it difficult to implement change. When, in 2021, James Cropper PLC was looking to shift towards becoming more purpose-led and to implement a new strategy, they contacted The Big Picture People for assistance. James Cropper PLC was looking to implement a new strategy and communicate it to its own employees in an impactful way that would drive behaviour and mindset changes.

The business recognised that the world around them is constantly changing and it can’t stand still. So James Cropper PLC needed to explain to its employees how its purpose of pioneering new materials would help safeguard its future. This had to be an ongoing conversation for all employees, with the business looking for a tool which could continually engage its employees with its purpose and direction in the years to come.

Our solution and results

A bespoke Learning Map from The Big Picture People was the perfect way to visualise James Cropper PLC’s narrative and story. It helped employees from all different parts of the business see how they fitted into the transformation journey and what their role was in helping achieve this.

It showed employees their own personal accountability for the future of James Cropper PLC in a way that was easy to understand. The Learning Map gave managers a tool to both start and sustain conversations about the organisation’s future and its strategy and direction.

Interactive sessions using the Learning Map were led by the company’s own internal facilitators, who were trained by The Big Picture People. The Learning Map was rolled out in September 2021, with James Cropper seeing a large boost in both the number of employees who understood its new vision and those who were actively on board to make it happen.

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