Success Story

Boosting Resilience and Agility in a Global Food Leader

To stay competitive, a global food and beverage leader needed to boost agility and resilience. The QiLeader program helped employees embrace change, enhance well-being, and improve collaboration, resulting in a more engaged and adaptable workforce driving innovation and performance.

Context & Challenges

A global leader in the food and beverage sector recognized the urgent need to enhance organizational resilience and agility. Despite its market dominance, rapid market shifts and internal challenges—such as low employee engagement, high workloads, and complex organizational structures—revealed a pressing need for cultural and operational change. Employees were facing burnout, highlighting the importance of improving both individual well-being and organizational performance.

Objectives

The main goal was to enhance resilience and agility across the organization, with specific targets to:

  • Drive a significant mindset shift towards agility and resilience at all levels of leadership and among employees.
  • Improve employee well-being and motivation.
  • Increase retention and engagement while reducing absenteeism.
  • Strengthen innovation and performance through empowered leadership and teamwork.

QiLeader Approach

The transformation began with a pilot QiLeader course for one leader, whose personal and professional growth sparked broader change. The initiative was designed to be scalable, combining keynotes, interactive workshops, shared experiences, coaching, and micro-learning to drive meaningful development. The approach unfolded in several phases:

Pilot Phase
The initial success led to 20 additional leaders enrolling in the QiLeader program, focusing on well-being, agility, and leadership effectiveness. Positive feedback confirmed the program’s impact on both personal and professional development.
DirCo Involvement
Impressed with the outcomes, the Directorial Committee adopted the QiLeader principles, setting the stage for company-wide implementation.
Company-Wide Rollout
The program was extended to 50 employees to test its scalability and impact across different levels. Following its success, all 350 employees participated, marking a milestone in the company's cultural transformation.
Expansion and Sustained Success
Building on the results, the program is now expanding internationally, beginning with the Netherlands, proving its adaptability and scalability.

Results

The QiLeader program delivered impressive outcomes across the organization:

  • Well-being: Employee well-being increased by 12%, and this improvement has been sustained for over three years.
  • Retention and Engagement: Employee retention and engagement levels rose, reflecting a more motivated and committed workforce.
  • Increased Agility: The company saw a notable improvement in its ability to adapt to market changes, leading to better performance and innovation.
  • Leadership and Team Empowerment: Leaders experienced renewed motivation and greater team empowerment, resulting in improved team performance. One leader, previously considering leaving due to low motivation, found renewed purpose and decided to stay, boosting both her team’s morale and output.
  • Cost-effectiveness and ROI: The program’s affordability, coupled with the financial benefits of improved retention and reduced absenteeism, delivered a strong return on investment within its first year.

The Bottom Line

This comprehensive program has played a key role in fostering a culture of resilience, agility, and enhanced well-being within a leading global corporation. Its success demonstrates how transformative programs can drive personal growth, operational excellence, and long-term success—offering a scalable and cost-effective solution for navigating the challenges of the modern business landscape.

Proven benefits of the QiLeader approach on results, profits, well-being, engagement and turnover

On top of reaching each company’s personalized goals, QiLeader also aims at rebooting leaders and their teams for more impact in fast & busy times, by deeply reprogramming their habits. Research among 500 respondents shows that a rebooted leader (i.e. a leader who adopted the 5 habits of fast & busy times, namely: Rhythm, Purpose, Growth Mindset, Resilience and Focus) shows significantly better results compared to a more traditional leader or employee. For instance, a rebooted QiLeader is 72% more motivated than a traditional leader or employee, experiencing less stress (by 59%) and a decreased workload (by 45%). The likelihood of this QiLeader looking for another job is also decreased by 50%.

The same research shows that rebooted leaders work on average 10% less than traditional leaders while having 47% more impact, impact being defined in terms of reaching one’s objectives.

Assessments taken by participants to QiLeader programs before and after the training show an increased adaptability to the fast & busy times, with an average progression of 28% across the 5 habits assessed in 3 to 4 months. Biggest improvements are visible in Mindset (moving from a fixed to growth mindset) and in Focus (From overwhelmed & operational to focused and strategic.

Decreased absenteeism

The cumulative effect of increased impact, energy and motivation, together with decreased workload and stress results in a significant drop in absenteeism. The QiLeader techniques applied by Murielle Machiels during her time as CEO of an educational publishing company resulted in a 50% decrease in absenteeism. QiLeader also relies on a number of testimonials from participants saying that they avoided burnout thanks to the principles learned through QiLeader courses.

In Belgium, absenteeism is estimated at 10% per year and research shows an average cost of absenteeism of 2.450€ per year per employee.

For a group of 20 leaders, the absenteeism cost would be approximately 49.000€.

Decreased employee turnover

Average employee turnover rate is 10% depending on your industry. The cost of replacing a leader varies between 50% and 213% of their annual salary cost. For a group of 20 leaders with an annual salary cost of 100.000€, the employee turnover cost would be at least 100.000€ (50% of the annual salary cost of 2 people). This cost includes loss in productivity, replacement costs, recruitment costs, onboarding costs… 

Our research shows that rebooted Qileaders are 50% less likely to look for another job. 

See this participant’s testimonial: “It was a crisis moment for me at that point, because I was choosing between ‘Do I stay in this company? Maybe I should go someplace else…’ or ‘Do I find a way to make myself more motivated? And doing the course remotivated me.” (full testimonial here: https://youtu.be/zwRw0h7DeW0).
In Belgium, absenteeism is estimated at 10% per year and research shows an average cost of absenteeism of 2.450€ per year per employee.

For a group of 20 leaders, the absenteeism cost would be approximately 49.000€.

The ROI of the program based on previous results & research (only taking into account absenteeism and retention)

The program costs:

30.000€ for 20 leaders

Estimated 50% reduction of absenteeism:

24.500€ lower costs

Estimated 50% reduction in employee turnover:

50.000€ lower costs

Estimated profit increase:

44.500€

Mindset-based training increases profits three times more than standard business training

A World Bank study, conducted in partnership with the National University of Singapore Business School and Leuphana University, revealed that mindset-based training increases profits with 30% while traditional business training increases profits with 11%. This study was conducted among 1,500 entrepreneurs divided into 3 groups. One group didn’t receive any training and served as base to compare the other two. One group received a business training and one group received a mindset-based training.

The cost of the mindset- based training was already repaid within the first year thanks to increased profits and is 3 times more profitable than a classic business training.

QiLeader is a mindset-based training and is more sustainable in the long-term as employees and leaders are better equipped to deal with change but also to whatever challenge they face. More traditional business trainings (focusing on hard skills only) get rapidly obsolete as techniques evolve rapidly in the market.

What we offer

Programs for busy leaders

Teams and organizations

Regenerative In-Company Program

A tailor-made program for teams and organizations who want to take the path to authentic transformation and success thanks to regenerative leadership habits.

  • Restores Focus and Productivity
  • Revitalizes Empowerment and Autonomy
  • Regenerates Employee Well-being
  • Strengthens Sustainable Leadership Skills

Team Leaders

Regenerative Leadership – Collective Shift

A unique program to drive collective transformation, empower resilient teams, and foster sustainable success. Designed for leaders ready to inspire adaptive, purpose-driven cultures in today’s fast-paced world.

  • Drive Collective Transformation and Engagement
  • Build Team Resilience and Agility
  • Foster Empowerment and Ownership
  • Create a Culture of Sustainable Performance

For Individual Leaders

Regenerative Leadership – Foundations

An unique blended program to become a regenerative leader, have more impact and reach your goals. Designed for busy leaders facing the challenges of these fast and busy times

  • Enhances Agility and Adaptability
  • Boosts Resilience and Work-Life Balance
  • Fosters Purpose-Driven Leadership
  • Cultivates a Growth Mindset

They also succeeded

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Agility

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Turning Resistance Into Long-Term Success for a Leading Coffee Company

Growth

Turning Resistance Into Long-Term Success for a Leading Coffee Company

Belgium’s leading coffee company set out to rebuild its workplace culture, boosting employee engagement and breaking down resistance to change. With leadership development and team workshops, the company strengthened collaboration, improved agility, and created a shared purpose, setting the stage for future growth.

Empowerment

Co-Creating a Tailored Growth Program for High Potentials in the New World of Work

An international industry company faced the challenge of aligning the aspirations and capabilities of its high-potential employees with the evolving demands of the business and global context. QiLeader was engaged to co-create a leadership development program that empowered these individuals to shape their growth journey, ensuring future leadership success and organizational alignment.