CEO SPECIAL..... HUL BOSS

CEO SPECIAL

India's next generation of leaders need the right hardware and software, says HUL boss Harish Manwani

The Indian Institute of Management — Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is no stranger to famous visitors from all over the world. Even so, the youthful face of Corporate India's future turned up in droves to see the sparse, distinguished-looking gentleman who walked in on a hot evening in late July. The early birds filled up the auditorium seats, while the less lucky were standing along the walls. Facing them all, stood a beaming Harish Manwani, Chief Operating Officer of Unilever and non-executive chairman of Hindustan Unilever (HUL).
    He has reason to be pleased. Last year, HUL was ranked as the Most Preferred Employer across IIM campuses by Nielsen. For decades, the company — which many Indians even today consider a homegrown firm — has had a reputation for picking up the best managerial talent from across the country and turning them into world-class managers. In fact, HUL has often been called a CEO Factory, a tag it is proud of, even if Manwani modestly shrugs it off. Manwani, who joined the company in 1976, has himself mentored many juniors like Nitin Paranjpe, current HUL Managing Director, Sanjiv Kakkar, chairman Unilever Russia and Hemant Bakshi, HPC Director, HUL.
    But he is more than a boardroom warrior. Having arrived by the morning flight, Manwani has spent the entire afternoon in local stores meeting distributors and customers, which he calls a 'useful and energising' experience. By evening, he arrives at the campus a bit behind schedule, but none the worse for it. He tells CD that meeting with students across premier campuses and introducing them to the Unilever employer brand is something the company is taking seriously. "As a company, the responsibility to attract, retain and develop the best talent is everybody's job. It's also a great chance to tell students who we are and to get feedback about how they see the future of the world, the role of businesses and their aspirations in that context," he says. Guru Cool
While this is Manwani's first talk at IIM-A, he was at IIM Kolkata last year and has also spoken at INSEAD's last convocation ceremony. Thankfully, he gives the usual corporate spiel a miss, though he confesses with a hint of a smile that he had some trouble thinking of what to tell 'a bunch of people, who by now probably know everything about management.' Even as this elicits wry smiles, Manwani immediately strikes a serious note, stressing on why today's students should be concerned about the world they are inheriting. "We are seeing a world that's volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. You can no longer project things on the basis of what happened yesterday. The second big change is the lack of trust in companies and governments," he warns.
    A world rife with multifaceted challenges demands multifaceted leaders, who can pull the right levers of growth to achieve consistent, comparative, profitable and responsible growth. And Manwani says that good leaders have the right ‘hardware’ and ‘software’ to do the job. "The hardware of leadership is all about three things: having a point of view about the future, having strategic clarity and building execution capabilities to implement," he explains. Steve Jobs is an example of someone who had all the above, he says. "Jobs combined his point of view on design and technology, with tremendous strategic clarity. Even as consumers around the world buy his products, we sometimes forget that they contain enough technology to put a man on the moon," Manwani says.
    He is quick to add that hardware isn't the only thing that drives businesses. "Great leaders always get the hardware right. It's a necessary, but not sufficient condition for success. Beyond that, you need to have software, or the ability to create a set of non-negotiables that create a sense of purpose in a business," he says. In today's complex world, it is easy to succumb to the temptation to lead the organisation in the wrong direction when adversity strikes. Manwani illustrates this with an example of an incident that happened with Unilever's Latin America business, which demonstrates the above point.
    When Manwani took charge of Latin America, the organisation was changing its operating framework. "The HR people had a field day, putting down who was fully, partly or not responsible for getting something done in the manuals. But that backfired," he says. "When we asked someone why we were not getting results, he or she would say 'Oh, I am just ‘partly’ responsible for this — soand-so is 'fully' responsible'," he says amidst chuckles from the audience.
    Manwani wasn't about to give up, though, "I called 250 of the company's top leaders in the shadow of the Mexican Pyramids and asked them to bring their operating manuals. And then we handed them a set of lighters and asked them to set them on fire. I told them: if you have a problem, go from roles to relationships. Pick up the phone and call someone. Reporting lines don't matter. Get busy running the business."
    As the $60 billion organisation works to get its hardware and software right, one of Unilever's biggest initiatives is its Unilever Sustainable Living Programme under which the company has three stated goals — reducing the environmental impact of its product to half, sourcing raw materials solely from sustainable sources and impacting the lives of one billion consumers through nutrition and hygiene by 2020. The people who head each Unilever brand have been given targets to achieve this overarching goal. And yes, it is one of the company's non-negotiables.
    At the end of his speech, Manwani can't resist leaving the audience with one nugget. "There is a popular saying that goes: think global, act local. That's rubbish. There is no such thing as a global company. Always, always think local. When I come to Gujarat, I put the power of this $60 billion enterprise to work for the Gujarati consumer. How else can you be successful?"
    “We WANT commitment, NOT loyalty”
Harish Manwani speaks to CD exclusively on the sidelines of his speech at the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad
What do youngsters really want in their careers today?
I'm not sure what exactly they want, but they have a lot of choice. And when you have a choice, you want a company that has a sense of purpose and where the values of the organisation match your own. When I joined the company, the key word was 'loyalty'. I tell young people now: it's not your loyalty we want; it's your commitment. And people get committed when they feel they're part of something bigger. Do you brag about your job to your friends? Do you tell their kids or spouse 'I wish you could work in my organisation some day?’ That's a great organisation.
FMCG and marketing companies like yours aren't on top of independent employer rankings anymore. Why is that?
I don't agree that we've come down the rankings. But yes, people have greater options today. A typical IIM classroom 20 years ago would have had 100 people; today it's more like 400. So we're not expecting everyone to join us. But we're in everyone's evoked set and are perceived as a good company with good values. And when people who have lots of choices join you, it's great, because they choose to work with you. They know we're not some IT company; we sell soap and soup. But it's how we sell soap and soup that makes a difference. We believe in growth and consumption. But at the same time, we are trying to make growth responsible and consumption sustainable. That's the difference.
HUL was known as a CEO factory for the many successful managers it has produced. Do you see that continuing to happen in 10-20 years?
We don't start by saying we're a CEO factory. Not all talent we develop may meet their aspirations fully. But we have an alumni association of senior executives, which is perhaps one of the biggest draws we have got. They work all over the world in very high positions, but their DNA is that they are a quality product of HUL. There's a lot of rigour and process that goes into making HUL a university that offers a seamless transition from college campus to a workplace campus. We give people the space and empower them with big responsibilities to make a difference.
Does HUL offer differential pay packages or responsibilities based on the institute the candidate hails from?
No. In our Future Leaders Programme, recruitment takes place across a set of campuses. If you're an MBA, you undergo a 15-month training programme. If you're a graduate, it's 18 months. But we don't distinguish on the basis of the institutions. We're looking for people who are qualified and have values and are hungry. The last bit is important. A lot of people are willing to give a little extra. I'd much rather have such people who have more energy and commitment, even if they're not the number one in class.

Nikhil Menon CDET120803