Case study: Supporting wellbeing and building job-market confidence

McCormick & Company is a global leader within the food industry. Their manufacturing site at Littleborough, Greater Manchester had reached peak capacity, and in 2022 the difficult decision was made to transfer all operations to their new start-of-the-art facility in Peterborough, over a two-year time frame. To manage this challenging and sensitive situation, McCormick sought an outplacement partner with the expertise and resources to help impacted employees prepare for the future and secure the best personal outcomes. 

McCormick were acutely aware of the impact such a closure would have on their people, and were keen to ensure each person affected by the change felt supported and taken care of at all times.

The solution

Across the two-year period, Right Management worked alongside McCormick’s site HR team to offer a range of expert support as part of their PeopleCare programme. The support was delivered in two separate phases, initially supporting staff members working at the location that was set to close, while the second phase supported everyone based at the two remaining Littleborough sites. Flexibility was crucial, so that employees could be released from their work to join.

All employees were provided with:

• A one-day career transition workshop delivered by an experienced career coach – covering CVs, interview skills, and finding new opportunities in the job market; helping them to build confidence in their future prospects.
• Outplacement support which included access to Right Management’s Powersuite Next digital platform – containing 18,000+ online tools and training resources, as well as over 70 live and on-demand webinars and events; enabling them to create impactful CVs and practise for interviews ahead of time.

For those considering self-employment, retirement or a change in lifestyle, their career coach helped them to think through all of the implications and plan a successful transition.

With McCormick remaining very busy and committed to its high standards throughout this process, it was essential to maintain morale, engagement and productivity. As such, they communicated the status of developments every month to ensure that everyone was kept up to date, invited a food van onto site, and shared videos to celebrate the site’s proud history - placing continued emphasis on their people and doing everything they could to support their overall wellbeing during a challenging time. 

Strong relationships were built with local employers, helping to facilitate job fairs and events that enabled employees to make connections and secure new roles. Representatives from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and the local job centre, were also present on site, with additional sessions provided by Right Management to help managers prepare for interviews.  

The impact

Prior to the site closure, 70% of impacted employees had already moved into new roles, with a further 10% either deciding to take time out or consider retirement. Some of the affected staff have also been offered the opportunity to train for a Road Transport Industry Training Board (RTITB) qualification, or for a Level 2 qualification in Food Safety.

Feedback from employees on the outplacement support has been extremely positive, including 100% satisfaction from the on-site workshops:

• “Superbly structured workshops delivered in a very engaging manner. Lots of examples at all levels. Great facilitation.”
• “Really enjoyed it. Very helpful insight into what to expect and what to do in preparation.”
• “Feel more comfortable in my understanding of what a good CV is and how to avoid pit falls.”

Their unwavering focus on supporting the human side of change also meant McCormick successfully retained employees throughout the two-year period, while continued high standards of production were recognised through customer and environmental audits, achieving AA star ratings.