Background
innocent drinks started selling smoothies in London back in 1999 and has successfully grown to sell a whole range of healthy, tasty and nutritious drinks across Europe. They have always prided themselves on building a strong culture by placing people at the forefront and therefore having a compelling employer brand. However, a closer look at engagement and attrition data in 2015 indicated a need for improvement in career progression, manager capability and talent development.

"A visible culture shift in how people perceive career development, talent management and progression within innocent"

Approach
To address these three key areas a programme called Your Future was developed in collaboration with the business. From previously having
no formal career development frameworks in place, they created principles of navigating a career at innocent, tools to support career planning and provided opportunities for internal skills development. The content was delivered through group sessions to allow for open discussion and sharing of learning. A global mobility policy and company-wide mentoring initiatives were also put in place to support career progression.

Managers received training focused on their capability to support open career conversations, use coaching techniques and navigate tricky conversations. In addition, leadership teams were upskilled in identifying talent using new tools and a Talent Forum was created to promote collaboration across teams. With the full support of the Board team, the programme was rolled out in 4 countries to 300 employees over the course of 12 months.