Culture That Delivers: Leading Post-Merger Transformation at JBT Marel - 2026 Next Practices Weekly

In this Next Practices Weekly session, Julie Curtin, Vice President of Global Talent Management at JBT Marel, joined i4cp to share how culture became a critical accelerator in one of the organization’s most important transformation moments: the integration of JBT and Marel. Rather than treating culture as a post-close communications initiative, JBT Marel positioned it as a strategic lever for alignment, speed, engagement, and enterprise value creation.

Moderated by Marshall Bergmann and Tom Stone of i4cp, the conversation offered HR leaders a practical look at how to activate culture during complex organizational change. Curtin described how JBT Marel brought together the strengths of both legacy organizations, refreshed its values, and translated those values into clear, observable behaviors that could guide leadership, talent decisions, collaboration, and day-to-day execution across a global workforce.

Key Topics Discussed

• Making Culture a Strategic M&A Lever
  Curtin emphasized that post-merger success depends on more than financial models, product portfolios, or operating synergies. For HR leaders, the message was clear: culture must be intentionally designed into the integration strategy from the start. When culture is connected to business priorities, it can accelerate alignment, reduce friction, and help the combined organization realize value faster.
• Building the Future Culture Through Employee Voice
  JBT Marel avoided the common trap of allowing one legacy culture to dominate the other. Instead, the organization used stakeholder interviews, focus groups, site visits, documentation reviews, and thousands of global survey responses to understand what employees valued most and where cultural alignment already existed. This inclusive approach helped create ownership, credibility, and buy-in across levels, functions, and geographies.
• Translating Values Into Enterprise Behaviors
  The organization’s values - create with collaboration, serve with integrity, grow with excellence, and advance with innovation - became more than statements on a slide. Curtin shared how JBT Marel defined what those values looked like in action, giving employees and leaders a shared language for how to collaborate, make decisions, serve customers, and lead through change. For HR, this is where culture becomes operational: observable, coachable, and scalable.
• Embedding Culture Into Talent and Organization Decisions
  One of the strongest takeaways for Human Capital leaders was the importance of linking culture to organization design and talent selection. JBT Marel aligned its culture work with role charters, accountabilities, leadership expectations, skills, experience, and behavioral criteria. This helped ensure that talent decisions were not only fast, but also transparent, consistent, and anchored in the future needs of the business.
• Designing for Speed Without Sacrificing Trust
  In a post-merger environment, speed matters - but speed without clarity can create confusion and anxiety. Curtin described how JBT Marel used clear timelines, decision rights, governance, and structured talent processes to keep integration moving while maintaining employee confidence. The organization also adapted when customer-facing needs required faster action, demonstrating the importance of balancing discipline with business responsiveness.
• Equipping Leaders to Activate Culture Locally
  Culture is ultimately experienced through managers, teams, and daily interactions. Curtin highlighted the importance of leader visibility, consistent messaging, and practical enablement. Through Welcome Days, executive communications, CEO messaging, leader talking points, and toolkits, JBT Marel helped leaders reinforce values in ways that were locally relevant and globally consistent.

For CHROs, talent leaders, culture leaders, and HR business partners, this session is a compelling example of how to move culture from aspiration to operating discipline. The recording offers a behind-the-scenes view into how JBT Marel used employee listening, leader enablement, transparent talent processes, and disciplined integration governance to build trust and momentum during change. Watch the recording to hear how culture can become a measurable driver of integration success - not just a message employees hear, but a system they experience.

Resources Shared

• Explore i4cp Consulting Services and Culture Renovation® to discover how i4cp partners with organizations to build stronger cultures and drive measurable performance results.

• i4cp’s New Research: Building a Future-Ready Organization
  Future readiness happens when culture, skills, and AI work together - explore how leading organizations are doing it.
• Save the Date: Next Practices Now Conference 2027
  Join us in Scottsdale or virtually, March 23–25, 2027, Register Today.

To ensure open and candid discussion, this event was exclusively for HR practitioners. Vendors and consultants were not permitted to attend.