Developing an innovative culture at Teys Beenleigh

Case Study · Meat Processing · Response Group Insights

Building a Culture Where Innovation Can Flourish at Teys Beenleigh

Strategic leadership workshops helped supervisors and senior leaders refocus on their own levels of work, and the plant saw productivity and engagement rise.

The Plant

Teys Beenleigh is a meat processing plant 35 km south of Brisbane, one of six processing facilities run by Teys Australia. Established in 1954, it employs more than 1,000 people and processes cattle for domestic and international markets. With global demand for beef projected to grow, the plant is aiming to increase production.

The Challenge

General Manager Operations Lachlan Teys saw that employee performance and culture needed to be optimised before the plant could build a deliberate process of innovation to support growth.

Escalation and delegation were sometimes suboptimal, with supervisors and senior leaders often pulled into operational issues, leaving less time for strategic matters. Some employees were also concerned about change and trying new things.

The Approach

Teys engaged Response through the AMPC Innovation Culture Project in 2021. Strategic leadership workshops were used to:

  • understand the current culture and start crafting the desired future culture
  • identify the levels of work, and be clear about what leadership looks like and where lines of control and communication lie
  • develop a strategic framework to guide staff behaviour and improve employee-driven innovation

After the workshop series, Lachlan implemented system changes including:

  • reassigning roles based on a supervisor’s ability to handle certain levels of work
  • clearly defining supervisor authority and increasing their accountability for challenges and opportunities
  • allowing job swaps that bring new perspectives
  • working practices that encourage people to discuss ways to improve

The Results

10%increase in productivity and throughput
48%decrease in employee turnover
50%estimated increase in supervisor engagement

Change took time. Employees initially wanted to go back to their old ways of working, but after six months of small, impactful changes Lachlan reported a shift towards exploration and collaboration.

  • Packaging: the plant manager saw that the cryovac vacuum machine was underused. Removing a wall and diverting more cuts to the machine means an entire run can now be processed in one shift instead of several.
  • New brand: engaged, collaborative teams helped bring a new signature brand, Teys Black, to life.
  • Efficiency: PPE wastage such as gloves, hair nets and ear plugs fell, saving cost.

In Their Words

“In our industry, innovation is often associated with automation or robotics. But the reality is, employees are your most productive asset. Response Group helped us strategically improve the capability of our people and systems, to create a culture where innovation can flourish.”

Lachlan Teys, General Manager Operations, Teys Beenleigh

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Andrew Moore
Andrew Moore

Andrew's passion is developing organisations and the people who lead them. As Chairman of Response, he has applied his facilitation, research and developmental skills across mining, meat processing, manufacturing, banking and energy.

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