What Opportunity means at Reckitt Benckiser

First and foremost, if you’re wondering who I am, I work for part of Euro RSCG – the advertising agency who help create, amongst other things, TV ads for the Powerbrands. Except my team does something a little bit different. Instead of advertising to consumers, we work with RB to help communicate their corporate brand to a very specific group of people –prospective employees.  Over the four years we’ve worked together, we’ve been involved in a number of different projects from the global careers site to the poweRBrands game.

One of the things I’ve learnt is that it’s very fast moving and not afraid to make a decision quickly. I recall reviewing some competitor analysis once with a team of people from RB. One of the example ads was for L’Oreal and it’s main ‘sell’ focused around the seven years of R&D they had invested in a new product.
“That would never happen here” one of them exclaimed “that product would have been researched, developed and launched inside 6 months.”
I think that sums it up quite nicely. While it can be quite nerve racking from a strategic point of view – you do see things happen here.

One of the most important parts of our work involves understanding what makes the working culture of a business unique. Linked to that we need to identify the benefits that culture offers to you as a potential applicant.

Which brings me nicely to the reason I’m writing this blog.
Opportunity has been identified as the essence of the RB brand when talking about what it’s like to work there and what it can offer you. So I wanted to explain what I think opportunity means at RB.

It was immediately apparent to me that there is something quite unique about RB.
When you start to uncover some of the recent history of the company it jumps out at you. The speed of growth. The amount of revenue that comes from new products. The large scale acquisitions – from BHI to, most recently, SSL (Durex and Cillit Bang anyone?). But once you look below the surface, you quickly realise that it’s the RB culture that enables it to thrive.

“Delivering is everything at RB’ a client once said to me”. Now I know that’s true of everywhere to some extent, but it’s even more true at RB where there’s a real emphasis on outperformance. Objectives and goals are incredibly ambitious, and people are stretched as part of their daily life. This is true for both employees and suppliers – which has led to some quite frantic times if I’m honest! And there’s no hiding if a project’s going awry.
Ownership is non negotiable and I get the feeling that you’re only as good as your last project – and its commercial impact.
This culture might sound challenging – and it is. But it also offers tremendous opportunities throughout the business.
I’ve not seen an ounce of fat on RB – which means people are often empowered to perform roles with a huge array of different responsibilities. To illustrate this point I was speaking recently with one of the US media team. In his role he’s responsible for buying all of the online advertising inventory across North America, encompassing search, display and video amongst others. A role that would be conducted by a whole team of specialists at P&G or Unilever!

And you don’t have to look far to find more examples of this kind of story  too. One of our contacts (who I won’t mention to spare their blushes) is working in about their third country, having already launched a brand in a new market and is now in their fourth or fifth different role within the business. What’s more, this kind of exposure and progression is the norm, rather than the exception to the rule.

Perhaps the best example for me comes from a recent Corporate Communications workshop I attended in Lisbon. As part of their UK graduate attraction strategy, RB have recruited campus brand managers to help promote the brand at their target universities.
One of the first recruits was given the chance to attend the workshop and present his ideas to a room full of HR and communications professionals. He’s currently in his first year at university. He’s not even working for the company yet, but what an experience!
So for me, RB is about giving you as much opportunity as you can handle. It can be a case of ‘sink or swim’, but the opportunity is to achieve far more than you would in a comparable organisation. All you need is the desire to take advantage of it.

I think the last part of that statement is very important. I don’t think RB is for everyone. You only have to glance through some of the employer whistle blowing sites such as Vault or Glassdoor to find that out.
Right next to a disgruntled ex-employee lamenting the lack of support or weighty expectations, is an intern who has just finished leading a global project and wonders what all the commotion is about.
So, the opportunity is to achieve more. But it’s not for just anyone. Which makes our job that little bit easier.