Case Study
Building stronger multicultural teams through MBTI®-led self-awareness and collaboration training
Challenge
Multicultural teams across continents faced collaboration, communication, and cohesion challenges.
With more than 171,000 employees operating across five continents, Veolia’s mission is to provide sustainable water, waste, and energy solutions. While its global scale drives innovation, it also brings challenges—particularly around collaboration among multicultural teams.
At the Innovation and Marketing Directorate in Paris, leaders noticed that communication gaps, cultural differences, and siloed ways of working were limiting effectiveness. Veolia recognized the need to strengthen team cohesion, promote understanding across diverse groups, and build the interpersonal foundations required for agile, global collaboration.
Solution
Strengthening Team Dynamics with MBTI®.
In 2017, Veolia partnered with The Myers-Briggs Company to deliver MBTI®-based seminars through Campus Veolia, led by internal coaches and championed by Dinah Louda, advisor to the CEO. These one-day, in-person workshops focused on self-awareness, communication, and interpersonal understanding. Participants explored their own MBTI preferences and learned how to recognise and adapt to others’ styles. The sessions created a reflective space away from day-to-day tasks, encouraging employees to share openly and develop practical strategies for better collaboration. A standout example involved a manager who preferred Introversion discovering that all 10 of their team members preferred Extraversion—insight that led to rethinking how meetings were run and how communication flowed. Over time, these seminars fostered greater empathy, stronger relationships, and more cohesive team dynamics across the organisation.
Key Programme Elements:
- One-day in-person MBTI® seminars for self-awareness and communication
- Co-developed and delivered by internal coaches and The Myers-Briggs Company
- Focused on recognising and adapting to different personality preferences
- Encouraged reflection and sharing to improve daily collaboration
- Resulted in tangible improvements to team meetings and interpersonal dynamics
Results
More than 300 employees trained with lasting benefits to collaboration, performance, and talent development.
Since 2017, the MBTI-based training has expanded to teams in Central Europe and the United States, with over 300 participants trained. The sessions helped teams develop a common language for communication and build empathy across cultures and personality types.
Participants reported clearer team dynamics, greater appreciation of differences, and more effective communication strategies—such as adjusting when and how to raise questions or involve managers earlier. The sessions also supported broader initiatives, including a "Women in Leadership" program and the certification of internal consultants to sustain the program’s momentum.
Veolia plans to expand training further and introduce monitoring modules to ensure long-term application. The MBTI tool is now seen as essential to individual development and organizational collaboration across geographies.
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