Khun Nardrerdee joined Unilever Thailand in 2010 and worked with the rest of the Company’s leadership team to develop and launch the T&O Project that same year. The T&O Project involves the designing of an inspiring and bold ambition to make Unilever Thailand into an ‘unbeatable’ organisation that excels in a highly competitive market place.
Khun Nardrerdee explained that “Unilever Thailand’s vision is to double its business while reducing our environmental impact, and at the same time increasing the Company’s positive social impact”. An ambitious goal in itself, this was made even more challenging given the external circumstances: the Thai economy was in the midst of a recession[i] in 2010.
On hindsight, Khun Nardrerdee reflected that the T&O Readiness project could not have come at a better time: people have always been Unilever’s most important asset and a critical factor for its future success, and the initiative helped develop a single-minded focus throughout the organisation, helping it to deliver business growth in spite of the odds.
The T&O Readiness project sought to strengthen three key areas crucial for Unilever Thailand’s success: i) Talent and skills; ii) Organisation design and structure; iii) Performance culture. Systematically, the T&O Readiness team diagnosed the organisation’s level of development in each of these areas, and formulated detailed plans to further improve them.
Gather the Facts
As Khun Nardrerdee recounts the initial weeks of T&O, a recurring theme was the need to truly understand the facts. She emphasizes that, “before we can come up with any solutions, or jump into conclusions, we had to do analysis.” Through countless leadership and customer interviews, focus groups, surveys, and external benchmarking, her team evolved and refined the T&O Readiness plans to better address organisational needs. By personally conducting leadership and customer interviews, and reviewing stats and data compiled by her team, Khun Nardrerdee was also able to quickly develop a deep understanding of the organisation.
“When you begin this kind of analysis you must be neutral to the things you are going to find out. Think like a crime scene investigator, do some quantitative data analysis and try to track what happened. Be neutral, and then curious and open, and it will lead you to the right direction. Let the evidence tell the story”.
Khun Nardrerdee shared that the impact of this fact-finding approach was enhanced by two attitudes her team adopted: a neutral, open mindset, and a willingness to engage and listen. Regarding the neutral mindset, she shared, “When you begin this kind of analysis you must be neutral to the things you are going to find out. Think like a crime scene investigator, do some quantitative data analysis and try to track what happened. Be neutral, and then curious and open, and it will lead you to the right direction. Let the evidence tell the story”.
Involve the Business
Her second attitude – a willingness to listen and engage – was reciprocated by Unilever Thailand’s leaders, with business lines owning the change and leading by example. This was because the T&O Readiness team had spent many hours sitting down with each of these business leaders, trying to understand their challenges within their own functions, across functions, and in dealing with external parties. Upon receiving data from external sources, they had also checked in with each of these leaders. “By the time we presented to the whole team, they were already aware of it, and became part of crafting the solution”, Khun Nardrerdee and Drew Fernandez enthused.
On Track for Unbeatable Results
Three years into the five-year journey, Unilever Thailand had achieved some impressive figures: engagement ratings have gone up to 73%, beating the average score for Thai companies by 10%. Management turnover rates have also halved to 7%, while the company was rated the #1 preferred FMCG organization in Thailand for mid-career candidates and #2 for fresh graduates. In 2011, they were also recognized as Aon-Hewitt Best Employer in Thailand for the first time in their history.
As a result annual business growth figures have also demonstrated significant increases, rising from an average of 3-4% in the years prior to 2010 to 13% in 2012, while productivity figures for Unilever Thailand have already outperformed the Unilever regional benchmark. This sets the company well on course to achieve its target of productivity figures of € 5.25m/Manager by 2013, a huge jump from 2009’s baseline of € 3.59m/Manager.
In spite of all these, Khun Nardrerdee is not resting on her laurels, “In this complex world we always say we have to change faster than the world, and this is still the challenge that keeps me awake. We have done the sexy turnaround, but there are still fundamentals we haven’t had the chance to address. Now is a good time to do that, to make all of this sustainable.”