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CIO50 2022 #9: Simon Kennedy, Foodstuffs North Island

  • Name Simon Kennedy
  • Title Chief Digital Officer
  • Company Foodstuffs North Island
  • Commenced role April 2019
  • Reporting Line Chief Executive Officer
  • Member of the Executive Team Yes
  • Technology Function 300 staff, eight direct reports
  • Chief Digital Officer at Foodstuffs North Island (FSNI) Simon Kennedy says that since Covid the country’s largest grocery retailer has transformed to be a truly flexible first organisation.

    “Pre-pandemic, the Foodies culture was already alive and well, and best summed up by our four core values – Think Customer, In it Together, Courageous, and Above the Line,” says Kennedy.  “Collaborative technology also existed (at least some of it) and was being used to some degree across all parts of the organisation.  At that time though, like most large businesses, our ways of working were very much ‘physical first’, with flexibility being supported if requested, but not really considered a core part of how we did things.”

    Two years later on, the change is transformational, according to Kennedy.  

    “For support office teams – around 800 people – we are now truly a ‘flexible first’ organisation.  We have an awesome physical facility at our main Landing Drive centre, plus all of the digital tools and know-how to offer the very best hybrid experience.  While encouraging our teams to maintain physical connections so as not to lose out on the opportunities that come with a chance meeting or unplanned creative session, individuals make the choice each day that is right for them in terms of where, and exactly when, they work.”

    While almost every organisation had to adopt or accelerate virtual and flexible working through the pandemic lockdown cycles, Kennedy points out that the context was different for FSNI technology teams supporting the transformation. 

    With supermarkets being one of very few places people could visit during lockdowns the industry sector experienced unplanned, sustained levels of increased demand.  “A ‘good problem to have’ but nonetheless a challenging backdrop for deploying technology, process and cultural change,” adds Kennedy.

    In addition, impacts from successive waves of global supply chain challenges and the need to participate in an exacting Market Study – supporting the Commerce Commission with the provision of huge volumes of data added to the workload.  

    When the first lockdown came around, the team was less than a year from relocating its entire Support Office and largest Distribution Centre (DC) to a new-build location – in itself a significant change programme even in normal conditions. 

    “As an 'essential business', we could have taken the easy route of using that status to allow for continued on-site work by our support centre teams – concentrating efforts on the work required to keep the supply chain operational despite the demand and supply challenges.   But we also recognised that with our support and DC teams co-located on the same site, anything we could do to get our support teams working off-site would add further protection for our DC team and reduce the risk of a major outbreak impacting supply chain flow,” says Kennedy. 

    Despite that being the context, a transformational change has been achieved and has delivered lasting outcomes for the organisation.  After rapidly standing up full “work from home” while still in their old location, Kennedy and the team transitioned both the DC and Support Centre into Landing Drive on schedule in the early months of 2021. 

    Tools and technologies were deployed – Microsoft365 is FSNI's core collaboration platform, they use Miro extensively for co-creation work and have installed integrated Crestron A/V solutions into all meeting spaces – but just as importantly, adds Kennedy, teams across the business were helped to get up the digital learning curve.

    The Digital Workplace team worked through the lockdown phases to provide curated and original video content, Yammer feeds, live training sessions on Teams, quick-start guides and more.  A central online resource centre was created on SharePoint to bring all of this together.

    “This work was not just a ‘nice to have’.  The ability of our business to communicate, access information about rapidly created new Covid operating standards and respond to the latest supply shocks, was absolutely critical to maintaining the overall integrity of food supply,” says Kennedy.

    “All the while, our support of core business technology hasn’t skipped a beat.  Commissioning the systems in the new DC was virtually flawless, with the facility coming up to full operational capacity ahead of expected schedule.  This has contributed to FSNI having comfortably the best performing food supply chain in New Zealand over the pandemic period, translating directly into customer benefit – stock on shelves, fewer restrictions on sales quantities and confidence in communities that their supermarkets would continue to be there for them, no matter what,” he adds.

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