Empowering P&G's Global Sustainability Team to Lead Boldly Towards 2030 SDGs

Executive Summary

In 2017, Procter & Gamble launched Ambition 2030 — a bold initiative to enable and inspire positive impact on the environment and society. To lead it, a cross-functional team of 20 leaders was formed, drawn from diverse parts of the organisation and led by Chief Sustainability Officer Virginie Helias.

For their first in-person team gathering, the group needed to build genuine trust, co-create a shared purpose, and align on how to inspire progress across P&G towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Human Potential assessments revealed a team that was technically capable but underdeveloped in the inner dimensions most critical to cross-functional leadership: Harmony, Gratitude, and Customer Orientation.

Through individual assessments, personalised debrief sessions, and a 3-day immersive workshop, the team moved from a collection of independent function leaders to a cohesive, purpose-aligned body — equipped to inspire brand transformation and embed sustainability across P&G's full value chain.

Background

The Sustainability Team faced a challenge common to many newly formed cross-functional groups: its members came from different parts of the business, with different priorities, languages, and ways of working. They had a compelling external mandate — but needed to first build the inner foundation from which to lead it.

For their first in-person team gathering, they set three clear objectives:

• Build trust and deep personal connections to foster effective collaboration.
• Co-create a compelling, unifying purpose to guide the team's work.
• Lay the groundwork for inspiring progress across P&G towards Ambition 2030.

Approach

Our programme revolved around three integrated components:

1. 1.Human Potential Assessments: Each team member completed an assessment to learn more about their unique potential and how it was being expressed in the context of the newly formed Sustainability Team.
2. 2.Individual Debrief Sessions: Personalised one-on-one sessions helped team members understand how their individual potential could contribute to the team's success and P&G's sustainability goals.
3. 3.Three-Day Workshop: The team convened in person, focusing on establishing trust by connecting at the Being level, co-creating a unifying vision and purpose, and aligning on key priorities to advance P&G's sustainability agenda.

Insights and Outputs

Creating quality time away from the day-to-day stress of the business emerged as a critical enabler of trust-building. By intentionally stepping back from operational pressures, the team accessed the Harmony dimension of the Human Potential framework, fostering a calm and balanced space for reflection, connection, and meaningful dialogue.

The team also embraced Gratitude as a core capacity for strengthening relationships. By learning to recognise and appreciate the unique goodness and contributions of each team member, they created an environment where trust could thrive — allowing individuals to see one another in their wholeness, deepening respect and paving the way for authentic collaboration.

The team chose Customer Orientation as their top priority for performance development, recognising it as key to realising their vision for 2030. Using the Human Potential framework, the team aimed to move from "green" to "purple" in customer orientation — a transformation characterised by the unique ability to see into the future and anticipate emerging needs, whether from internal or external customers, often before those needs are articulated.

By developing the capacity to listen deeply, beyond stated requirements, the team envisioned becoming a visionary partner for their stakeholders. Their ambition was to inspire and serve customers in ways that significantly shifted behaviours and created meaningful, sustainable impact.

This elevated approach to customer orientation unlocked the team's ability to deliver:

• Proactive Solutions: Anticipating what stakeholders across P&G's supply chain and brand teams would need to embed sustainability into their strategies.
• Transformative Value: Supporting brand teams to redefine their unique value propositions with sustainability at the core, sparking innovation and driving progress toward Ambition 2030.

The connection between the team's purpose and their focus on customer orientation became pivotal. By aligning their purpose to inspire positive environmental and societal impact — and coupling it with the vision of serving stakeholders in transformative ways — the team drafted the following guiding statement, inspired by Ambition 2030:

Ambition 2030 aims to enable and inspire positive impact on the environment and society while creating value for the Company and consumers. Our Ambition 2030 goals span our brands, our supply chain, society, and our employees. We know P&G alone does not have all the answers. It will take partnerships and collaboration to make meaningful progress and take responsible consumption to the next level.

This purpose served as the connective tissue between the team's mission and their approach to collaboration, vision, and customer impact.

Breakthrough Impact

The alignment and cohesion generated during the workshop created a transformative ripple effect across P&G's sustainability agenda, empowering the team to significantly elevate their impact in three critical areas:

Armed with a clear purpose and a deepened sense of trust, the team was able to inspire brand teams to view sustainability not just as a compliance requirement but as a core driver of differentiation and consumer value. By leveraging the insights gained during the workshop, the sustainability team became adept at helping brand leaders uncover opportunities to align their offerings with environmental and societal needs.

They encouraged brands to identify how sustainability could amplify their unique value propositions — whether by designing more eco-friendly packaging, sourcing materials responsibly, or championing social causes that resonate with consumers. This approach created a shift in mindset: rather than viewing sustainability as an external mandate, brand leaders began to see it as an integral part of their identity and a way to build stronger connections with their customers.

Beyond individual brand transformations, the workshop equipped the sustainability team with the tools and mindset needed to improve system-wide collaboration. With a unified vision and enhanced customer orientation, the team began engaging with stakeholders across the value chain — including procurement, R&D, manufacturing, and logistics — helping them see how sustainability could be seamlessly integrated into their processes.

This cross-functional collaboration was essential for embedding sustainability holistically throughout P&G's operations. By connecting with internal stakeholders on a deeper level, the team cultivated buy-in and alignment, ensuring that sustainability became a shared priority rather than a siloed responsibility.

The trust and alignment built during the workshop also enabled the team to lead with greater confidence and credibility in conversations with senior leaders. This allowed them to secure the necessary resources and organisational support to scale their initiatives. The ability to anticipate and articulate the emerging needs of internal customers — both at the brand and operational levels — positioned the sustainability team as a visionary partner within the organisation.

This dual focus on brand differentiation and operational excellence established the sustainability team as a pivotal driver of transformation within P&G.

Testimonial

Together with HR, I have reviewed and endorsed this unique Human Potential methodology and believe it could be a great enabler in our journey as a Team. Mark spent 9 years in Consumer Insights at P&G. You will therefore understand why I entirely trust the solidity of the self-assessment survey he is offering us to take.

Virginie Helias, Chief Sustainability Officer, Procter & Gamble