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Replay 126 – Company values give confidence
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Company values enable your people to act quickly and with confidence. Listen to hear a story of values in action from Mars.
We have something special for you in the works, so this week, instead of bringing you a new episode, we’re replaying 126 – Shattering decision on pet food quality. Make sure you’re listening next week for an exciting announcement!
We recently had James Mills, Global Vice President of Sales at Mars Wrigley, on the podcast, so we thought it appropriate to relisten to this episode, where Shawn shares a values-in-action story from Mars! You’ll hear how the international organisation’s Five Principals—Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency, and Freedom—guide decision-making within its teams and what this looks like in practice.
Shawn first heard this story from Mim Gaetano. Mim was the Corporate Ombudsman at Mars from 2014 until his retirement in 2017.
For your story bank
Tags: action, decision-making, quality, values, values in action
This story starts at 01:41
When Mim Gaetano first started at Mars, he worked in a pet care factory in Wodonga, Victoria, where they made pet food. He had only been with the company for a week when he came in early one morning and found a group of senior leaders huddled around a table, looking very concerned and digging through pet food.
He could tell they weren’t happy, so he asked his colleagues, “What happened?”
The night prior, a fluorescent light had exploded in the factory, its glass shattering and spraying across the factory floor. The leaders were worried their product might be contaminated. They debated whether it would be possible to detect the glass but soon concluded it would be impossible.
With Mars’ Five Principals front of mind—Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency, and Freedom—the leaders quickly decided to throw out a million cans worth of dog food. They couldn’t be sure there wasn’t glass in the product.
The event reinforced Mim and his colleagues’ belief in their company values. Meanwhile, the senior leaders had covers made for the lights to ensure it wouldn’t happen again.
About Anecdote International
Anecdote International is a global training and consulting company, specialising in utilising storytelling to bring humanity back to the workforce. Anecdote is now unique in having a global network of over 60 partners in 28 countries, with their learning programs translated into 11 languages, and customers who incorporate these programs into their leadership and sales enablement activities.