Tirlán’s leaders focus on innovation at two-day summit

‘Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity – not a threat’ – Steve Jobs.

Dairy and grain markets are synonymous with change and here at Tirlán, we have a strong history of helping our farming families embrace the opportunities (abolition of milk quotas and improvements in technology) and navigate the challenges (uncertainty surrounding Brexit, Covid-19 and unpredictable weather patterns) that recent change has brought. We also have an excellent track record of product and process innovation, particularly in response to the growth of the Irish milk pool by 50% over the last decade.

As the sector faces increasing environmental challenges alongside a stagnant milk pool, the importance of innovation has never been so great. Innovation requires adaptability, it fosters growth and it sets businesses apart – these are all things we in Tirlán aim to achieve.

With these topics to the forefront of their minds, 80 of Tirlán’s leadership team came together for two days in late September to focus on how to best deliver and embed a mindset and culture of innovation across the organisation.The Leadership Summit consisted of a jam-packed agenda of industry and internal experts covering topics such as innovation best practice, organisational case studies of innovation excellence, the view of innovation at Tirlán from an internal and external perspective and how to manage innovative teams.

The leadership group is now tasked with returning to the business to share learnings and insights from the Summit. This is an important step in accelerating our innovation journey by ensuring that all 2,300 Tirlán employees understand they have a responsibility to lead and support innovation in our business.

It is important that everyone understands that innovation is systemic throughout Tirlán, existing in our functions and categories. To demonstrate this, a video has been created that showcases some of the innovation heroes from around our business. You will see that these heroes can be found across all corners of the organisation!

Over the coming weeks and months, you will hear more about innovation in a Tirlán context. The learnings and insights from the Leadership Summit will be used to kickstart innovation conversations as we take bigger steps to becoming a truly innovative organisation.