Client: A leading Swedish furniture retailer 
Period: June 2024 – June 2026 
Scope: Sustained company-wide ethical awareness and behavioural change driven by their new Code of Conduct. 

Challenge 

With thousands of employees spread across dozens of countries, our client realized it was time to sharpen their common focus on doing business and treating each other the right way.  

Our client had revamped their Code of Conduct to reflect what it means to be an ethical company in the modern world, but needed help making every employee aware of the new Code, what it meant to each person individually and encouraging everyone to take action to make their workplaces even better.  

Anchoring an ethical mindset and reinforcing a culture takes sustained effort, so the client was looking for a partner to commit to making this goal a success over multiple phases. 

Solution 

Symbal and the client created a change communication and learning program that included eye-catching awareness materials like posters and film, digital learning customized to each primary type of employee, and face-to-face dialogue starters to make it easier to talk about sensitive topics.  

Other communication and training materials were created along the way as needed, e.g. to help prepare managers to answer ethics questions and communication bursts like digital banners and physical stickers.  

All of this was spread out over time to give employees the chance to process and understand the material, and to help make ethical conversations a regular habit.  

A unique visual concept was created to make the message stand out and trigger the right emotions. That was key because success was all about fostering an environment where speaking up about difficult things is welcome.  

Results 

While it’s too early to assess the long-term cultural impact, early reactions have been enthusiastic. Employees across the company have welcomed the opportunity to have conversations about ethics. They’ve also voiced appreciation of the heartfelt visual approach and the effort to tailor discussion topics to fit their real everyday challenges.