How Celanese makes people central to its digital transformation

When we decided to transform, we wanted to see a big change in our operating model over the next four years, not next month or quarter. This required a major mindset change for our team, so we put people at the center of the strategy. Considering the magnitude of change from inorganic acquisitions coupled with digital transformations, our CEO asked both our CHRO and me to drive the culture change within the organization. While I’ve been driving change throughout my career, this was my first time to serve as an appointed change leader for a large global company. I had to learn a lot in a short amount of time.

We decided that change, agility, and value would be key to put people at the center of the transformation. One of the first things we did was build an enterprise change management group, which our CHRO and I decided to put in IT, since we were driving so much of the transformation. With agility, we make bold decisions quickly and pivot when needed. This allows us to move fast and create a sustainable momentum.

Our digital program is about driving value, not implementing fancy technology like robots, twins, and drones. We focus on driving revenue, productivity, yield, reliability, and safety, and we measure through monthly operational KPIs.