For CEOs and HR leaders navigating large-scale cultural change in asset-intensive industries

Client profile

The client is a global diversified mining company, operating in more than 30 countries with a large, site-based workforce, supported by regional and corporate leadership teams worldwide.

The challenge

Following a major environmental disaster that resulted in significant loss of life, the organization faced intense scrutiny from regulators, investors, employees, and communities. Beyond the immediate operational and environmental consequences, leadership recognized that the event exposed deeper systemic issues related to culture, decision making, and risk.

As global ESG standards and stakeholder expectations intensified, it became clear that the company’s traditional, hierarchical operating model, while historically delivering stability, also limited learning, transparency, and shared ownership. Leadership observed evidence that employees were hesitant to challenge decisions or engage in open, healthy dialogue on critical business and safety matters, particularly across levels and functions.

This lack of speak-up behavior and cross-functional learning was increasingly misaligned with the level of responsibility, safety, and adaptability required to execute strategy in a transforming mining sector. Incremental fixes were insufficient; the organization needed a fundamental shift in leadership behavior and culture to prevent recurrence and to operate responsibly at scale.

The solution

ZRG partnered with the client on a multi‑year culture transformation journey designed to embed learning, collaboration, and collective accountability across leadership teams and operations globally.

The engagement began with a comprehensive culture diagnostic to identify cultural strengths, systemic barriers, and root causes limiting cross‑functional collaboration, shared ownership, and psychological safety. Insights from the diagnostic informed a three‑year culture transformation roadmap, aligned to the organization’s strategy and operating realities.

ZRG worked closely with the Executive Committee and senior leadership team through a sustained development journey, providing executive coaching for each member of the Executive Team, including the CEO, to reinforce leadership by example and accelerate behavioral change at the top of the organization.

To ensure sustainability and scale, ZRG supported:

• Leadership development and cultural activation across multiple levels of the organization
• Site-level culture transformations across approximately 40 operations worldwide, where local leadership teams co-developed and implemented tailored culture plans
• The development of HR leaders and Culture Catalysts as internal change agents
• Integration of the desired culture into performance management, organizational structure, and budgeting systems

This combination ensured culture change was not abstract but reinforced through everyday decisions and operational practices.

The evaluation

Structured culture diagnostics and leadership assessments were used throughout the engagement to create a data‑informed view of progress, enabling leaders to monitor shifts in behavior, reinforce accountability, and sustain momentum over time.

Impact

Immediate impact

Early in the engagement, leaders across the organization gained clarity on cultural strengths and barriers and aligned on the behaviors required to enable learning, collaboration, and open dialogue. Executive leadership began consistently linking culture to business performance, safety, and strategic execution.

Long‑Term impact

Over the course of the multi‑year engagement, the organization improved across 100% of targeted cultural elements, with the most significant gains in responsibility for the whole and safety. A noticeable shift emerged from a “knower” mindset to a learning mindset, supported by increased psychological safety and speak‑up behavior across operations.

The client also experienced measurable external indicators of progress:

• Employer ranking improved from 8th place to 2nd place in two years among the most desired c ompanies to work for.
• The company's share price increased by 25% from the start of the engagement, reflecting growing confidence in long-term resilience and performance.

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