Know why India’s largest FMCG major HUL is revamping its work culture

Taking a cue from the success stories of the start-ups in India, FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever too is trying to bring in the start-up culture in its over 50 year old corporate set-up. And it is the group’s year and half old chief executive, Sanjiv Mehta who is spearheading this change.

According to an ET report, in a bid to keep up with the changing time, the company is now approaching the market with a start-up approach, wherein young groundsmen can freely challenge the status-quo.

"We want to have the soul of a small company where speed is the currency, bias for action is the norm, where people are empowered on the frontline and they are not risk-averse. In many ways, it is akin to a startup culture,” said Mehta in the report.

He added that the structure was getting linear, which took into consideration the aspirations of the young people, who have adapted to the changing dynamics of the overall industry.

"When the change outside happens faster than the change inside, then it becomes a subject of concern. That is the reason we continuously reinvent ourselves to remain relevant to the context," he explained.

The report suggested that the conglomerate’s initiatives such as free radio-on-demand service Kan Khajura Tesan or branding millions of rotis at the Kumbh Mela with the Lifebuoy hand-washing message were all made at the ground level by young managers, who were directly in touch with the consumers in the region.

Similarly, the company has now allowed the next-gen leaders to approve or reject projects, some of which run in hundreds of crore of rupees.
Interestingly, the group has also got several India Inc leaders such as Ratan Tata, Aditya Ghosh, president of low-cost carrier Indigo, HDFC Bank chief Aditya Puri and entrepreneur Praveen K to share tips with the employees of the company.

It should be noted that HUL clocked in a sale of a whopping Rs 31,000 crore in FY 15.