The Hero Group healthy office and sustainability mission
Hero Group biophilic offices, Switzerland
In this podcast episode from 2020, we talked to Bill Parker, Chief People Officer, and Mita Sen, Chief Transformation & Strategy Officer, for the Hero Group in Switzerland.
Hero is a family owned multinational, specializing in natural consumer goods, such as baby foods, healthy snacks and fruit jams. They have around 4000 employees spread across 16 countries, and selling in to around 50 countries globally.
Their company mission of delighting consumers by conserving the goodness of nature means they have a prominent sustainability strategy, as well as a fully biophilic healthy office building, just outside Zurich in Switzerland, that Biofilico were involved in back in 2019.
In this conversation, we cover Hero's sustainable ingredients, sourcing and product development strategies; reflecting the brand mission through those biophilic office interiors; improving productivity in the workplace while fostering a sense of community and greater interaction amongst employees.
We also look at the raising awareness of the role bees play in biodiversity, physical and mental health considerations in a healthy workplace, and the Hero Group business as a whole committing to be climate positive by 2030.
So we jump around a bit between natural food production and nature inspired offices here, with some employee health concerns mixed in along the way but that really reflects the unique positioning of the Hero business and their distinct value system.
Bill Parker, Hero Group
So we like to consider ourselves a 'big small' company. But we're an international family-owned food company. And what we're very passionate about is naturally good and healthy food.
We were founded in Switzerland in 1886 now we are a family of a number of international local brands that have been acquired or grown organically over the last 130 years or so.
The majority of our business is in baby food. And we also have a big business in healthy snacks, predominantly cereal bars, as well as natural spreads, mainly jams.
On a mission to bring nature back into our lives
We employ just over 4000 people in about 16 countries. And we have made the European footprint. But we do sell to around 50 countries globally.
I guess the work that we are really passionate and committed to is all about the mission, which is 'delighting consumers by conserving the goodness of nature'. So we are really committed to bringing that to life.
Matt Morley
So if all of the various brands and sub brands and product ranges, then in a way link back to that foundation stone around conserving the goodness of nature, Mita perhaps you could talk to the point of how Hero's relationship with nature impacts its strategy and operations?
Nature in a company DNA means protecting the planet
Mita Sen, Hero Group
Yeah, I mean, I think you mentioned it quite clearly that conserving the goodness of nature is not just our mission statement, but it's actually been at the center of our DNA from the beginning.
So, you know, the way we look at it as a family owned company is we as a company want to be around for generations to come. And if we want to be here in future generations, we need to make sure that there is a healthy planet that's also there in generations to come to help us deliver our products. So for us, actually one of the main things that I have been working on is really defining our sustainability strategy.
And, you know, looking at our mission statement of conserving the goodness of nature, that's really inspired two big elements of our sustainability strategy, I would say, both in terms of sustainable sourcing, but also in terms of our product development.
Hero Group biophilic offices, Switzerland
Sustainable sourcing with an eye on nature
So for example, on sustainable sourcing, you know, we've really looked at improving and increasing that relationship we have with our farmers, and working together with them to define the most meaningful sustainability criteria around water usage, biodiversity, land use, and really making sure that we're implementing things together to ensure we're having regenerative agriculture in our sourcing strategy.
Product development in tune with Mother Nature
And then also in product development, we're actually making a lot of efforts to ensure that our products are good for the planet and for people. So we're really using mother nature and nature as our inspiration for for creating naturally healthy foods.
So trying not to, to mess too much and tamper too much with all the goodness that Mother Nature brings us and the quality that she brings, as well.
Connecting a brand mission with the health office environment
Matt Morley
it's interesting listening to the language we're using, the accent really sort of connects with a lot of the vocabulary and the strategy around creating green buildings in themselves around trying to think about the materials that go into the building, which would be the equivalent of the ingredients that go into your products.
Bill, when you when you took on the project of bringing the outside world into your corporate headquarters via biophilic design, was it all connected to the company mission?
An office space with nature inside
Bill Parker, Hero Group
Yeah, I think it is. I mean, there were there were a couple of things that we wanted to achieve when we set up on the project.
We used to be located in Central Lenzburg. And it was close to the factory. And that was sold, and we migrated further away from the center of town. And so we had a greenfield site of which to build. And the building itself is wonderful, beautifully architectural, from the outside. But when you look at the space that was created, it really wasn't fit for purpose.
Hero Group biophilic offices, Switzerland
Improving worker productivity
So we wanted to take the opportunity to do a couple of things. The first one was, make the space work better for the changing nature of the work. So and that was more about how do we improve the productivity of people? How do we make the workspace work for them, and the way they have to get work done?
I think the second part, which was very, very important for us, and very important for the CEO at the time was how can we better reflect the mission of the company in the space and make the headquarter building and inspiration for all the offices around the world.
And then we stumbled on biophilic workspace design, which of course, I didn't really know a lot about, but as we started to delve into it and realize there's a big opportunity here, that's we were to realize we needed some expertise from Biofilico.
There's a lot more to it around use of natural fibers and fabrics and really thinking about the materials you're using, and where they're sourced from and what what people are exposed to in the workspace, not just using air purifying plants!
Healthy office design with biophilia
Matt Morley
It's an interesting perception of biophilic design as a way to restore some sense of a natural environment indoors where you're working, but also maybe even going further to make it a healthy space to work in.
Bill Parker
Yeah, I think it's, it's true that we have some really technical challenges to overcome with the building itself, that we couldn't change unfortunately. I think it's very interesting, when you think about workspace design, clearly, when this building was built maybe 10 years ago, the culture of the company was very different to what it is today.
So of course, they reflected the culture at the time, which was using the space with offices on all the floors, limited meeting space, small areas around open space.
Creating community and interaction in a more open-plan office office
So, of course, one of the first challenges we wanted to overcome was how do we create a greater sense of community where spontaneous interactions and connections were actually encouraged, to create more social areas basically.
I think the second area was to democratize the space, because the challenge we had was we had all these leaders and officers, and limited amounts of open space. And actually, these leaders were often traveling, so it didn't seem to make any sense, the people who needed to meet in the office, who were not traveling so much, couldn't find a workspace or meeting area!
We used a lot more square meterage on both informal and formal meeting spaces that allow people to choose how and where and what they wanted to do in those spaces. So it gave them a lot more freedom around the healthy office environment.
Acoustic comfort in a health office space
Acoustics was another big challenge. And when you're also trying to create a more open work environment, of course, that means that the acoustic challenges becomes greater.
Some of these biophilic elements were useful in this sense, how do we use natural plant walls in high usage areas, natural fabric acoustic paneling and carpets, to limit noise flow?
And so there are a lot of things we did that maybe were not so noticeable to the naked eye but we're really trying to address significant acoustic challenge we had in the building.
Water quality in an office space and reducing paper waste
Then there were other things that we also looked at, and they weren't necessarily the main drivers such as installing water fountains to replace plastic bottles. how can we remove physical storage and storage cabinets,. reducing printing in the office and going more digital. And using biophilic design was our inspiration.
Matt Morley
A business like Hero has a grounding in a natural ethos and value system plus some real deep thinking around workplace wellness - was there an extensive sell-in process involved to make all this happen, a conversion into a healthy workplace business?
The healthy workplace at Hero
Bill Parker
We have a CEO who is very committed to this mission. So I think that in some ways, we were almost blessed by the fact that the CEO really wanted to put a marker in the sand, I would say about how serious are we about the mission, he is all about the brand experience.
He wanted to make sure that the workspace design facilitated and reflected who we were as a company. So whilst I don't think he was necessarily a huge advocate of the use of workspace to drive productivity or thinking about Biophilia as a way of improving the health of workspace at least at the beginning, over time, as he learned, as we all learned, about the potential of this approach, it then became easier to convince others internally.
Talent attraction and retention through office environments interior design
Matt Morley
Have you noticed an impact on the HR side thinking specifically around talent, attraction and retention, so being able to create an environment that appeals to your own team and staff and creates a space they want to come to work in. It would have a positive impact on mental and physical wellbeing and employee health one would hope...
Speaker 2
Yeah, now when I walked into the building, I definitely think that it gives the wow effect, I think people are not expecting to walk into that kind of workspace. The story we tell now, is a much harmonious and more compelling story. And I do believe that even now we see it, you know, people are much more attracted to the company, partly driven by the physical space when they walk into our building.
Specifically, it's a bit difficult at the moment to say, you know, how has it improved their ability to attract and retain talent? I probably need to reflect back on that in another year or two. But I would absolutely say it's helped to tell a more compelling story.
Matt Morley
Mita, you mentioned the idea of people and planet and the idea of those two really sitting alongside each other in harmony. I was reading up about your the 'Bee careful' initiative, is that still active? It's to do with biodiversity awareness am I right?
Biodiversity within a sustainability strategy
Mita Sen, Hero Group
Yeah, definitely, we've been working on it for quite a while now, we started this program many years ago in collaboration with the university, there was quite a staggering decline in the number of bees but if you look at the role that the bee plays in pollination, I think there are some studies that say it represents 80% of of all of the products comes from pollination from bees.
And so the starting point, I would really say was around education, to our consumers, but also our employees around saving the bee, increasing the number of beekeepers, we're getting quite a few passionate beekeepers as employees as well.
We're working a lot closer with our farmers to actually understand the role that not just the bee but all insects play in regenerating the soil. And actually, you know, allowing us to have improved biodiversity improved soil health.
Matt Morley
You're leading from the front, showing commitment to the cause, and committing to something that will play out over future generations. The other thing I was interested in asking you about is the idea of committing to Net Neutral Production, in addition to the healthy office topic. How do you create that roadmap from where you are now?
A climate positive business in a biophilic office to promote health
Mita Sen, Hero Group
Well when we sat down to define our ambition, we purposely said, we have to be very ambitious, because, we have to over deliver in order to make sure that we don't affect the planet in the ways that some of the predictions are saying, so we actually made a commitment to be overall climate positive by 2030.
And one of the ways that we have to do that is by making sure in the production of all our products, it's not just about CO2 and greenhouse gases but also water usage in food production.
So we've also committed to be Net Neutral on water use in our production and around food waste. Because we know that's a big challenge in our industry today. I think for us, it really means two things, it means we need to clean house, let's say.
So we're really putting the incentive and also the KPI in all of our production plants around water waste and CO2. And we're really encouraging people to come up with initiatives that can help us reduce our impact. You know, we need to measure first then reduce, and then anything that we can't reduce, we find ways of recycling or offsetting.
Matt Morley
How do these initiatives around sustainability and workplace wellbeing affect the relationship that you have with the company that you work for?
Mita Sen, Hero Group
Yeah, I think with the amount of stress and time that we spend in work you want to feel passionate and feel like you're doing something good. And also as a mother you think about the next generations and the planet that you're going to be leaving for your kids.
So for sure, personally, it really changes the way i think about stepping into work every day, especially coming into a healthy office like this one.
Matt Morley
Bill, what do you see coming up in the next few years?
Bill Parker, Hero Group
We're lucky in some respects, because if you go back to the original DNA of the company, the reason they were counting fruit and vegetables in 1886, was because they were trying to take the goodness of nature and make it last longer than fresh produce.
So this innovation and breakthrough was always at the core of what we do as a company, I think what we've managed to do in the last few years is to reignite a little bit, reconnecting people to what that really means, and the healthy office helped.
Of course, the challenge now is how do we amplify that? How do we tell that story externally? The opportunity we have as a responsible food producer that's committed to being climate positive, that gives us a massive opportunity to be attractive to talent in the future. We just need to make sure that people understand what we're about and what we stand for.