Adam Harvey, Business Performance Partner – Manufacturing ,The Learning Wave

Walk into most manufacturers, and you’ll see the same thing. Clear strategy. Strong systems. Well-defined KPIs. And then…a gap.

Not everyone on the floor can see how they contribute.

The gap is where performance is won or lost. Vitaco recognised this early.

A strategy only works if people can see themselves in it

For over a decade, Vitaco has built around six clear priorities: People, Quality, Cost, Speed, Health & Safety, and Innovation.

The Six Pillars.

Simple. Powerful.

Like many manufacturers, the challenge wasn’t defining them. It was bringing them to life.

Not as posters to ignore, but as decisions in the moment.

On the floor, people aren’t thinking about strategy documents. They’re thinking, “What does good look like right now?”

As GM Operations Roger Scott explains, “what truly matters is how consistently the pillars show up in daily decisions.”

That’s where capability comes in.

Building the capability behind the pillars

Vitaco has invested in its people through the Six Pillar Fundamentals programme since 2015.

In 2025, they made a deliberate decision.

Refresh it.
Raise the bar.

Not because it wasn’t working, but because expectations had changed.

Together, we redesigned the programme to do something very specific: Connect the Six Pillar Fundamentals programme to how people need to think and act every day.

Because knowing the pillars wasn’t enough. They needed the skills and confidence to live them.

As Scott puts it, “The programme is fundamental in how we translate our annual operations plan into performance.”

From awareness to ownership

The refreshed programme is now the cornerstone of how Vitaco onboards and grows its people.

A shared starting point.
A common language.

Learners didn’t just learn about the pillars. They built the capability to act on them:

• Understanding how their role connects to team KPIs
• Speaking up about safety, quality, and improvement
• Using simple problem-solving tools
• Building the confidence to question, challenge, and contribute

Because the goal was never knowledge. It was contribution.

What changed on the floor

Over three months, 23 learners stepped into the refreshed experience.

The shift showed up quickly in how people spoke, how they raised issues, and how they engaged in improvement conversations

Every employee now sees themselves as decision makers, and those decisions are happening every minute on the floor.

From following instructions to understanding the why behind them.
From staying quiet to contributing ideas.
From reacting to problems to preventing them.

As Scott puts it, “The refreshed programme has shifted our teams from awareness to ownership; encouraging people to speak up, solve problems, and see themselves as contributors to performance.”

When people grow, performance follows

The proof was visible in the final innovation presentations. Learners weren’t repeating content. They were applying it.

Bringing forward practical ideas tied directly to their lines, their teams, and their daily challenges. Thinking about how to make things better.

That’s what matters.

Because when people understand the pillars and have the confidence to act on them, the impact shows up everywhere.

This is how strategy shows up in performance: Through more capable people.

Vitaco could have taken a different approach. Roll out the pillars. Communicate the expectations. Hope it sticks.

Instead, they invested in the capability behind them.

Because they understand something many still overlook: You don’t get the benefits of a strategy just because you’ve written it down. You get the benefits when people act on it.

At Vitaco, this thinking is deliberate. “Investing in capability is not separate from performance,” Scott says. “It’s what enables it.”

The question for every manufacturer

Most businesses already have their version of the six pillars. Clear priorities. Defined targets. A plan for growth.

But here’s the real question: do your people have the skills to actually contribute?

Because if they don’t, the gap isn’t in your strategy. It’s in your capability.

And that’s the gap that costs you.