Day 1

Left Heathrow bleary eyed but bushy tailed at the prospect of what’s to come.

As a Cameraman I have worked all over the world and I love that aspect, but rarely do things combine in such a nice way.

I know it will be tough carrying all our own gear but who wouldn’t relish the prospect of walking the Inca Trail and filming it too.

A few hours later we have now arrived in Lima having flown for hours and hours over the Amazon Jungle.  Amazing place and for hours not a sign of human life, just tree’s and rivers!

The commercial engine of Reckitt Benckiser, Australia is located on Level One, Wharf Road, West Ryde.

There are around 80 people who are on level one, the walls are brightly coloured, RB flags are scattered throughout and the glass windows have RB brands and logo’s featured.

Desks are chaotically tidy, scattered with products, year planners, the occasional Neilson Share Graph, catalogue features and new artworks. Whilst each area of Level One looks very similar, there are two distinct differences, defined by one small A4 Laminated page hanging from the ceiling, which reads ‘The Boarder’!

I am apart of the Commercial Graduate program, which gives me the opportunity to work on either sides of ‘The Border’. I started in Sales, firstly in Field Sales, followed by National Sales, where I was an analyst and managed a number of smaller accounts in the Independent Stream.

In sales, day to day, I was working across a wide breadth of categories within a number of small retailers, monitoring share and trends, looking at promotional efficiencies, in-store executions and driving category growth. The plans and initiatives that were worked on would be executed within the year, and the effectiveness of the initiative could be measured weekly.

After 12 months in Sales, I moved across the boarder, into Marketing, as Assistant Brand Manager on Finish.

The transition at first felt extreme. Suddenly, I was working only on one brand, and had very little knowledge of what other brands were launching and any other campaigns. I went from having knowledge across a broad range of brands to having a more depth into one particular brand and category. In Marketing, my focus switched from engaging retailers, to engaging agencies, and looking out for consumer trends, and media trends.

Moving from Sales to Marketing was definitely a challenge. In sales, results on a day to day basis were a lot more tangible. In marketing, day to day projects were not able to be measured in such a way. A lot of the projects in Marketing are cross functional, compared to Sales, and in Marketing there are many more third parties to deal with to ensure that projects are executed in the best way possible. This tests your ability to manage people and projects in a way that you do not come across in Sales.

Now, after I have been in Marketing for 9 months, the two functions seem less dissimilar than they were initially. Both functions are working to continuously drive and grow RB brands and products, satisfy consumers and customers, and continue to be a step ahead through being creative with our approach to retailers and customers, and our approach to media and brand equity building.

I am very lucky to have worked in both functions, and I think after writing this, I may ask if we can take ‘The Boarder’ flag down – there really is no need for it!

Chilled out and relaxed are words not often associated with Reckitt Benckiser. This is one place where you need to be on your toes at all times and I kid you not, you’ll never get to see the day when you can say “Oh! There’s no work to do today!” A place not for the faint hearted or for anyone who’s looking for a vacation at work. If you have the drive, if you’re passionate about reaching great heights, then look no further, RB is the place to be.

What started off with a Pre Placement Offer while I was studying at Xavier Institute of Management, I am about to complete a very fruitful period of 3 years at RB. The fast pace at RB has kept me active and attentive towards my surroundings these past 3 years. I have truly learnt a lot and explored a lot of avenues when it comes to business. Having played multiple roles at RB has also contributed in a confidence boost for me as an employee.

A big advantage for me before I joined RB was that I had some previous work experience before my MBA programme. That gave me a larger perspective and helped me overcome the restrictive bookish knowledge we often receive in business schools. Being the cultural secretary at XIMB, I could swiftly adapt to work at RB and manage people in my team with ease when it was needed.

One of my most favourite parts about working at RB is the amount of travelling I have done over the years. I was posted in Andhra Pradesh for quite some time as the Area sales Manager and it was one amazing experience. I got to meet a lot of new people, experienced a new culture and the food was just great! I had to take care of everything, from scratch to the larger business picture. But on the other hand, it is great to work inDelhias it is my hometown. I get to stay home and I’m posted as an Assistant Brand Manager, which entails a much bigger role than as an Area Sales Manager.

Working at RB can also be fun in spite of being a goal and result oriented organisation. We have frequent parties that keep happening to keep the employees entertained and give them regular breaks from work. The general environment at work is not too strict either.

What counts most is the work. If that is being taken care of, things seem pretty chilled out. I can proudly say that I am a happy RB employee and I see myself here for a long time to come.

If you are looking for a challenge everyday, RB is the place to be!

Your working environment is made up of many factors – everything from the culture of the company to the type of people you work with. On average, we spend around one third of our lives at work, so it’s really important that we feel comfortable with and inspired by our work environment. The question is, how do you achieve this, either in your current job or when looking for a new one?

Firstly, to really understand what type of work environment and culture is the right fit for you, it’s fundamental to have a good understanding of yourself, including your strengths and weaknesses and what’s most important to you in your career. For example, if you’re someone who likes a fast pace of work with clear goals and targets, you could be suited to a corporate environment, whereas if you’re more of a creative type, you may prefer to be more relaxed and flexible. We consider ourselves to be extremely driven at RB and this is clearly reflected in the work environment, culture and people in the organisation. Fast paced and results driven is maybe not for everyone but we thrive on it.

But how do you establish what the environment of a company is like before you’ve even started working there? There are various ways, including engaging with the company’s website and social media channels, to get a feel for what values the organisation stands for and what type of culture and environment it represents. Start by taking a look across the Twitter, Facebook and LinkenIn pages of the company you’re considering – what is the tone and content like, is it inspiring, serious, engaging, insightful? Is it what you expected, what does it tell you about the organisation?

However, it’s not all just about the company itself, you also have a certain amount of control over your career environment and how to make it work for you. Of course it’s important that you find the right company culture fit to begin with but you can also influence your work environment to a certain extent once the basics are in place. For example, if you enjoy an environment that’s fast paced and focused, set yourself some additional goals alongside your designated KPIs (key performance indicators) to keep it challenging. Or if you enjoy a collaborative culture, arrange some project brainstorms or meetings to share ideas with colleagues.

These are the essentials to finding a work environment that’s right for you: take the time to really understand yourself and what you want, research the right company to fit your values and finally make the company culture work for you.

To find out more about yourself to help decide what type of work environment is best for you, why not try RB UK’s ‘Insanely Driven’ experience? It will get inside your head and find out who you really are: www.rb.com/insanelydriven

My results were very accurate!

Companies or departments will usually set goals or targets which everyone works together to achieve. This helps them keep employees focused on the future and motivated. But it’s also vitally important that personal goals are set, so you feel challenged and your progress can be measured.

Setting individual goals will usually be done in conjunction with your line manager, but as an employee you also need to take responsibility to make sure meaningful targets are agreed on. To start, think about everything you want to achieve and divide these into long-term and short-term goals. Then break the long-term goals up into smaller attainable steps – it’s not enough to just think about the end result of your goal, you also need to think about the steps that have to be taken to get there! Do this for all your short-term and long-term goals to develop a personal strategy on how you can achieve these.

Remember that the goals you set yourself need to be challenging, yet achievable, as this will help you build your self-esteem and confidence in the workplace. They also need to be flexible, as there might be occasions when a goal isn’t met and it needs to change. If this happens, just think about why the goal what went wrong and what you could have done differently; was it a realistic target or were there factors out of your control that affected the outcome? Use these occasions to help you set more attainable goals next time, at Reckitt Benckiser, for example, our employees have this exact policy – if it goes wrong we brush ourselves off and move on, but make sure we learn any valuable lessons.

You also need to follow up on the progress of goals, it isn’t enough to just be told that it hasn’t been reached, if you don’t understand why, or how close you were to the target, very little can be learnt. This is important both with personal targets and those for a whole a company or department – if this information isn’t readily available make sure you ask your line manager for an update.

Undoubtedly setting goals, and achieving them, can help you be successful in your career, as being able to prove and track your progress will bring more responsibility and rewards. Make sure you don’t miss out on the opportunities that setting goals can offer – work with your line-manager to agree personal goals that will act as markers against which your development can be measured.