Making company values come alive through strategic upskilling

Values as the foundation for learning strategy

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When Hunkemöller, a European lingerie retailer, launched their new company values in 2024, they knew that true cultural transformation requires more than just an announcement. To tackle this challenge, the L&D team took a strategic approach focused on developing the skills employees needed to effectively embed the new values into daily operations.

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By working closely with Lepaya, they created a strategic framework that linked each company's value to specific skills and behaviors. This enabled them to create tailored learning paths for different organizational levels – from young professionals to leaders, ensuring that while not every individual takes every course, they all receive training that addresses core values relevant to their role.

Business need

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Embedding values across an international workforce

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With over 7,000 employees across multiple countries, Hunkemöller faced the challenge of ensuring consistent application of its new values. The company needed a scalable learning strategy that could:

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• Connect values to specific skills and behaviors
  
  
• Tailor learning paths for employees at different seniority levels
  
  
• Strengthen cross-functional collaboration and networking
  
  
• Drive observable behavioral change in daily work practices
  
  

The goal was clear: to move beyond awareness and foster a workforce that demonstrates organizational values through concrete actions.

Creating lasting behavior change

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The impact of Hunkemöller's value-based learning strategy is reflected in both quantitative metrics and behavioral changes because true learning impact is when learners apply new skills at work in ways that contribute to business goals. 

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With an 87% sign-up rate and training satisfaction scores averaging 9.0, the program demonstrates strong engagement across the organization.

But the real success lies in the tangible changes in daily work practices. Many employees have implemented their learnings to improve feedback practices or coaching approaches. This shows that the training has helped make newer organizational values, such as 'empowering,' become embedded in daily practices through concrete behaviors.

A partnership built for future growth

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Looking ahead, Hunkemöller plans to continue aligning learning initiatives with business priorities. Next year, this will involve shifting the focus toward strengthening leadership capabilities to navigate industry challenges, with future programs becoming increasingly targeted based on skills gap analyses.

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Johandri Kieck, Global Learning and Development Manager at Hunkemöller, explained: “We're constantly looking at where the business is going, and what we need to do strategically to support the business. That's why we so often have a slightly different approach from one year to the next in what we put in place for soft skills training.”

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Thus, the partnership between Hunkemöller and Lepaya will continue to evolve, demonstrating a continuous learning cycle that responds to changing business needs. As Johandri notes, “I've always enjoyed working with Lepaya because of that whole business partnering approach [...]. Lepaya is always structured with: What are the goals we want to achieve? How are we doing in achieving that? What are your business goals, and what can we do to support them? So that structure absolutely helps in making it a tangible benefit that I can see every year.”

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Through this ongoing collaboration, Hunkemöller is building more than just a trained workforce—it is fostering a culture where learning is deeply embedded in the organization's DNA.

By embedding values into observable behaviors, the training ensures that learning translates into improved collaboration, leadership, and overall organizational effectiveness. The program also strengthened cross-functional connections, enabling employees to learn from peers across regions and departments.

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Looking forward, Hunkemöller continues to evolve its learning initiatives in line with business priorities. Leadership development, skills gap analysis, and targeted programs will ensure the organization remains agile, value-driven, and future-ready.

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 “Lepaya is always structured with: What are the goals we want to achieve? How are we doing in achieving that? What are your business goals, and what can we do to support them? That structure absolutely helps in making it a tangible benefit that I can see every year.” Johandri Kieck, Global Learning and Development Manager

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Through this ongoing partnership, Hunkemöller is not only building a trained workforce but also fostering a culture where learning and values are deeply embedded in the organization’s DNA.

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