How a 1-Day Hackathon Helped ITFC Reimagine Staff Engagement
Turning 80 employees into innovators in a single day
Corporate Hackathon Case Study
Type: 1-day in-person hackathon (hybrid)
Participants: 80
Projects: 9
Preparation time: 4 weeks
Key objectives: Staff engagement, cross-team collaboration, innovation culture
About ITFC
Organisation: International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, member of the Islamic Development Bank Group
HQ: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Industry: Trade Finance
ITFC's People & Culture and Trade & Business Development teams wanted to find new ways to engage staff and build a culture of innovation across the organisation. To do this, they launched ITFC's first-ever internal hackathon. Held at the Park Hyatt Jeddah, the event gave employees across departments the chance to design ideas to boost engagement in their own workplace and pitch them to senior leadership.
Hackathon Objectives
Empower Staff and Management: Foster a culture of collaboration, engagement and decision-making between teams.
Implement Structured Idea Generation: Generate ideas effectively through a process designed to maximise creativity.
Scale Innovation Culture: Train the workforce on innovation processes and connect business and technical teams.
Promote Staff Engagement Practices: Raise awareness of why engagement matters for morale and continuous improvement.
“It was really an amazing connection and experience. I learned a lot, I got inspired, and I think everyone had their own take on the learning - that’s going to last for a long time.”
Process
MC & lead facilitator Maria Halse Duloquin
DEFINE
ITFC's organising team and MHD Innovation ran a kick-off workshop to lock down logistics, the timeline, the hackathon challenge, judging criteria and prizes. Mentors from People & Culture and Trade & Business Development were chosen to guide the teams, and judges were locked down.
DESIGN
We created the hackathon branding, a dedicated hackathon website with registration, a communication kit for internal channels, and print assets, from tote bags and roll-up banners to a giant first-prize cheque.
Participants received a toolkit of templates: a pitch deck, a business canvas and prototype screens.
Custom hackathon identity: stickers, name badges, tote bags, roll-up banners + the giant prize cheque
Live on Miro: participants' cursors during the pre-hack session
Problem-Framing and brainstorming
DELIVER
Three days before the event, a pre-hack session on Miro introduced the format to participants. Teams met and warmed up with brainstorming activities including reverse brainstorming — so everyone felt comfortable speaking up before the real work began.
On the day, five facilitators guided in-person and remote teams through a design-thinking sprint: problem-framing, brainstorm, decide, and prototype - with mentor check-ins throughout.
The day closed with pitches and Q&A in front of senior leadership.
Diverse Teams
Across departments and locations. Nine teams of around seven brought together staff from across ITFC, with two teams joining remotely, supported by mentors and coaches throughout the day.
ITFC Connect, by one of the remote teams
Tangible Projects
9 solutions in one day.
Every team pitched a concrete concept with a pitch deck and roadmap. Ideas centred on three themes: employee ownership, recognition and rewards, and internal communication and knowledge sharing.
Outcome Highlights
Without revealing confidential details, here's a snapshot of what emerged:
Employee Ownership: The winning team proposed a model that turns employees into partners in ITFC's growth.
Recognition: Concepts to celebrate "hidden" contributors across regional hubs, back-office and support teams.
Connection: Knowledge-sharing and communication platforms to break silos and bring staff together.
Engagement by Design
The hackathon didn't only produce ideas about engagement. It demonstrated engagement itself. The format activated key drivers of employee engagement: meaningful work, autonomy, recognition, peer relationships and visible management support, with senior leaders mentoring and judging the teams.
Ready to Unlock Innovation in 1 Day?
If you're looking to ignite fresh thinking, engage your people, or kick-start innovation around key business goals, we can help. With years of experience leading corporate hackathons, MHD Innovation creates structured, inspiring formats that unlock real outcomes.
Ready to take the first step? Book a Call today
