case study

Leading Through Pressure: Transforming Performance at a Global CPG Manufacturer

How BRIDGE enabled a high-pressure manufacturing site to improve engagement, reduce costs, and accelerate execution.

Summary

Challenge

As operational demands intensified, a critical manufacturing site faced rising costs, declining engagement, fragmented leadership, and increasing pressure on performance.

Read more below

Solution

BRIDGE partnered with the Plant Leadership Team to reset how they worked together – building alignment, shared ownership, and more effective ways of operating through team development and targeted coaching.

Read more below

Results

Within six months, the site achieved the largest improvement in employee engagement of any factory across the business globally, alongside significant reductions in waste and cost.

Read more below

“[These tools] are life changing. This work is not just for a business setting, it is for life. It shapes how you see the world, and how you understand yourself.”

– Senior HR Leader

The challenge

In late 2024, a large manufacturing site within a leading global CPG business in Canada was under significant pressure.

The factory – responsible for high-volume production and supply across North America – had historically been high performing. However, operational demands were increasing. Waste and labor costs were rising, reliability was inconsistent, which had intensified pressure on the plant. At the same time, a new Factory Director had recently relocated internationally to take on the role, stepping into the business at a point of heightened pressure. His direct, results-focused leadership style – effective elsewhere – was challenging within the Canadian context.

Team dynamics began to deteriorate. Leaders operated in silos, alignment weakened, and mistrust and tension surfaced across the site. Increasingly, time and energy were spent managing issues rather than driving performance. The engagement of the team was dropping.

“The plant was really chaotic, with everyone scrambling to figure things out. I felt quite alone”. – Head of Operations

The solution

BRIDGE was brought in to work at multiple levels of the system, with a focus on the Plant Leadership Team (PLT), to reset how they operated together.

Through a focused offsite and targeted one-to-one coaching, the team addressed the patterns undermining performance. Leaders began having the conversations that had previously been avoided, making commitments explicit and strengthening accountability for follow-through.

A critical shift came from helping leaders step into each other’s worlds – building a deeper understanding of the pressures, constraints and realities each function was operating under. What had previously been experienced as resistance or misalignment was often simply a difference in perspective. As this understanding grew, friction reduced and collaboration strengthened.

For the Plant Finance team in particular, this marked a turning point. Conversations shifted from challenge and constraint to shared ownership – moving from “finance’s numbers” to a collective responsibility for business performance.

The work was intentionally collective. Instead of developing individuals in isolation, the leadership team aligned on language, expectations and ways of working.

The personal resourcefulness work landed so well that the programme was extended to the wider salaried team, reinforcing the same language and expectations across the site.

“BRIDGE made collaboration real — helping us understand our business partners so well that we truly see what they face day to day. We moved from working in silos to truly owning the business together.” – Senior Finance Leader

The impact

Within six months, the site saw a significant shift in both engagement and perception.

The internal engagement score rose from 81 to 88, representing the largest improvement in employee engagement achieved by any factory across the business globally.

The site was recognized as one of the best-performing plants in North America, while Finance received a global CFO award. Notably, this was achieved despite a 4–5% reduction in production volume that year, adding further pressure on performance and making the turnaround even more significant.

The improvements were tangible and sustained. Leaders reported:

  • Reduced waste

  • Reduced labor and overtime costs

  • Improved reliability and consistency in delivery

Crucially, these results were not driven by technical changes alone. Leaders consistently pointed to the shift in how people worked together as a key accelerator of performance – improving not just relationships, but the speed and quality of execution.

“Once you combine the technical side with how you show up as a leader, the pace at which things move increases exponentially.” – Head of Operations

Day to day, the shift was visible in how the leadership team operated:

  • Shorter, more focused meetings

  • Clearer commitments and stronger follow-through

  • Greater ownership and accountability across the team

  • Increased willingness to give and receive feedback

  • Faster resolution when tensions surfaced

Leaders described a fundamental shift from siloed working and reactive problem-solving to a more aligned, accountable and resilient team.

What began as a plant under strain became one recognized for both its performance and the strength of its leadership. The turnaround demonstrated how a more aligned, high-functioning team can rapidly translate into measurable business results, even in the face of significant operational pressure.

“[These tools] are life changing. This work is not just for a business setting, it is for life. It shapes how you see the world, and how you understand yourself.” – Senior HR Leader

Get in touch

We are truly global. Please select your territory below and get in touch with your local BRIDGE hub

Further case studies

  • How a rapidly growing business managed to deliver more projects on time and in full

    Growing faster than you can keep up

    Read more

  • How a leadership team unlocked real value in one of the most controversial takeovers in UK corporate history

    What it really takes to unlock value in a merger

    Read more

  • How HSBC's Channel Islands ExCo led together to deliver remarkable results

    Building a team around a business ambition, not a campfire

    Read more

  • How Tate & Lyle rediscovered their purpose after undergoing a major business transformation

    Rediscovering purpose

    Read more
More Case Studies