Culture, capability and communication are the axis for growth, says HUL’s Sanjiv Mehta

In 1888, a consignment of Sunlight soap embossed with the words Made in England by Lever Brothers arrived at the Calcutta harbour. It was the world's first packaged and branded laundry soap, and so began the era of branded fast-moving consumer goods. In fact, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) was not formed till 1930. Today its products touch 90 percent of Indian households. It is the market leader in 85 percent of its portfolio.

But over the last decade, HUL decided to dump its one-size-fits-all approach and embrace different strategies, with Sanjiv Mehta leading the charge.

In an interaction with CNBC-TV18, Mehta, outgoing Chairman of HUL, said, “The first important bit is what I would call is under the axis of growth is first the mindset. Then we talk about the portfolio that you have and the portfolio that you create. The second important bit is the distinctive capabilities that you build, which are hard to replicate by your competitors. And the third axis is what I call the high-performance anatomy, and in this high-performance anatomy, you have the culture, you have the talent.”

Mehta is a classic example of a one-company man — he has been with Unilever for over 30 years. He has headed businesses in Bangladesh, the Philippines, North Africa, and the Middle East. In 2013, he returned to India, to Hindustan Unilever, as an outsider and turned it into an advantage.

Under Mehta, HUL’s annual revenue nearly doubled from Rs 27,000 crore to more than Rs 52,000 crore, that's a compounded annual growth rate of over 8 percent. The company's market cap zoomed nearly fivefold from just Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 5 lakh crore. Mehta’s leadership began with a simple mantra — culture, capability, and communication, these became the axes for growth.

HUL takes pride in what it calls purposeful, diverse, and inclusive culture. It employs about 21,000 people. As of 2022, women accounted for 44 percent of the management team, and the company has promised to ensure that by 2025, 5 percent of its workforce is made up of people who are differently abled. The emphasis on culture also helps boost performance and HR has topped the chart as the employer of choice across sectors.

“We are the employer of choice across sectors in the country when we go to the top management institutions in the country. So we are able to recruit the best talent. Our focus on training, our focus on giving digital training across for our entire workforce that's making a tremendous difference. Our purpose is to make sustainable living commonplace, our vision is to be the most intelligent consumer goods enterprise,” he said.

From Surf Excel to Rin from Pepsodent to Closeup to Dove, HUL has more than 50 brands across its three divisions — homecare, beauty and personal care, along with foods and refreshment. Sixteen of these brands have a turnover of more than Rs 1,000 crore. Across these three categories, under Mehta’s leadership, HUL has managed to drive premiumisation creating a total turnover of Rs 10,000 crore rupees only through high value products.