'Culture and strategy should work together'

Allied Pinnacle Australia and New Zealand’s chief people officer Mofoluwaso Ilevbare says one of her specialties is mergers and acquisitions.

“I know how to help a team build culture, come together, create a strategy,” she told HRD Australia. “All the talk about culture eating strategy for breakfast, I believe both don't have to work on different ends of the scale. Culture and strategy should work together and that's what I've been able to enjoy while being here at Allied Pinnacle.”

Allied Pinnacle manufactures and supplies flour and bakery products, providing them to bakeries as well as supermarkets.

“If you walk into a Woolworths or Coles or Aldi and you're seeing the muffins, the donuts, the mud cakes – things that go into people's homes and make them happy – we’re behind a lot of Australia's baked goods,” she said.

One of the key reasons Ilevbare said she joined the company was because of how it brings its values to life.

“We came up with a concept that was developed from the ground up,” she said. “People on the floor actually helped us come up with, ‘Who do we want to be?’

“And those values – act as one, think differently, own it, better every day, enjoy the ride – aligned with who I am and aligned with how I live my day-to-day life.”

Ilevbare also saw the position as an opportunity to nurture talent and foster a supportive environment.

HR initiatives at Allied Pinnacle

There have been several initiatives Ilevbare has been involved in during her time at Allied Pinnacle, including internship programs for people from war-torn countries who have settled in Australia and supporting women in the workplace through the Allied Pinnacle and Champion (New Zealand) Women’s Network.

“It's an initiative we designed to empower and support women in leadership positions within our organisation both in Australia and in New Zealand,” she said. “We did a partnership with the National Association of Women in Operations (NAWO) here in Australia and we've been working on that ever since. We've got that target to get to 40% of women.  

“We created that gender diversity forum because we realised we didn't have enough women and we still don't. Flower milling is mostly a male dominated environment.”

Ilevbare added that every quarter, they hold a growth and development opportunity to make sure they build women into leadership positions. And Allied Pinnacle recently hired its first female miller in New Zealand.

Working all over the world

Ilevbare has extensive experience working in HR in businesses across Africa, Europe and now Australia and New Zealand. She described how she adapts her management strategies to cater to the diverse cultures and regions she’s worked in.

“I believe that whatever you're doing in an organisation, make sure that you're not just following the best practice but you're following what is best fit for purpose,” she said.

“When you get in an organisation, it's not just about bringing what you've learned from another culture but taking the time to understand what makes the organisation tick. What are the dynamics within the organisation from a diversity standpoint? It could be cultural, career-wise, leadership wise. Understanding that is one thing I do every time I move around.”

From there, it’s about understanding, what would people want, how they want to be treated and what kind of processes would work, Ilevbare added.

“I don't just take the best practice, we find a way to build what we call a freedom within a framework,” she said. “And we take what is best fit for purpose for our organisation. How do we design it in a way that it's meaningful to us, it's impactful to the environment where we're in and people feel connected to it.”

Ilevbare added that in the first 90 days she has at an organisation, she goes around the shop floor to understand what is going during each shift for each type of worker.

“Everyone wants to feel seen, wants to feel heard, and wants to feel valued,” she said. “So you need to find what is that for the organisation you're in and then tailor your strategy towards that.”

Looking ahead and key tips

Looking ahead, Ilevbare is excited about a new wheat the R&D department team at Allied Pinnacle has developed in partnership with the CSIRO. It’s called Wise Wheat.

“Wise Wheat is a big one for us that we're rolling out really soon,” she said. “It's naturally grown wheat with six times more fibre than regular wheat flour and you can hardly tell the difference. There’s data that tells us that Australians are not eating enough fibre so it’s an exciting time for baking products because it helps from a health and wellness standpoint.”

Ilevbare went on to share some of her tips for employers on implementing a successful HR strategy. These included understanding the needs of your people through active listening, consider reverse mentoring and don’t be afraid to take risks.

“Sometimes in HR, we worry a lot about precedents and we don't want to create new things,” she said. “The world of work is changing. There are new ways of working, explore it, leverage the four generations at work, put people together in teams. Multi-generational team can teach you a lot about employee engagement.

“Also don't be afraid to stop or quit what's not working. We have cases where we create policies and procedures and they're not working in 2024. Don't be afraid to quit what's not working because then you give yourself the freedom to say yes to what's working and to explore new opportunities.”