Hi all!

This is my first time writing a blog and I must confess – I’m very excited!
For this first post, I’m going to introduce myself.

My name is Joana, I was born in Rio de Janeiro, but I’ve been living in São Paulo for 15 years now. I moved here with my family as my father was hired for a job based in this in SP.

I’ve been a “RB-er” for a year and a month and it has been a hell of an experience.

On my first year I was a trainee and spent 6 months in Sales and 6 months in Marketing.

My foundation is all marketing, but during my time in Sales, I fell in love with it so much that today, I’m a Sales Executive for GPA. Yes, I chose Sales!!!

What made me choose sales? Why did I turn my career upside down to be on the field? Read my next post!

This week I have been busy impacting the Profit & Loss (P&L)!

One of my personal objectives for this year on the graduate program is to improve my knowledge and understanding of the financial side of RB. Both the Sales Analyst and Assistant Brand Manager roles are highly focused on numbers. Why? Because RB is a numbers business. Whilst we live and breathe our brands, it’s the numbers that count when reporting our results at the end of the day.
As an Assistant Brand Manager, one of my key responsibilities is the Marketing Budget and ensuring that it balances. In addition to this, I report on the Dettol brand’s monthly performance – both in-market ad from an ex-factory point of view: NR, TS, GM, PC, NWC, YTD, BTG, MTD, PY – What do they all mean? Well I have spent the last 3 days trying to find out!

Impacting the P&L is a 3 day training session constructed around a business simulation which provides practical experience and understanding of RB’s financial terminology and reports. We were put into teams, or ‘businesses’ and guided through a selection of financial data, as well as creating our own through the business simulation. The structure of the training was really well-suited to RB – encouraging bold thinking and initiative as our teams worked through each of the business cycles, fiercely trying to beat our competition.

The team busily impacting!

It was a valuable experience for me, although my team didn’t win, we definitely learnt along the way. Some of my key take outs from the training included a better understanding of the P&L structure and how my own day-to-day activities can impact upon this, and a better understanding of the key roles played by the different functions within RB and their impacts on the P&L (eg: Sales, Marketing, Supply). I also increased my understanding of the financial statements, learning to view them in a different way.

So it was a great 3 days, I am now equipped with the right tools and with a little bit more practice, I will be the Finance Director before I know it. Wish me luck! =P

Our amazingly talented trainer, Gordon!

]]> http://www.myrbopportunity.com/2011/09/29/make-an-impact/feed 0 http://www.myrbopportunity.com/2011/04/07/how-you-can-embrace-rbs-global-opportunities http://www.myrbopportunity.com/2011/04/07/how-you-can-embrace-rbs-global-opportunities#comments Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:15:20 +0000 CBM_USA http://www.myrbopportunity.com/?p=8017

Rachel Tressitto – Penn State University

Approaching Graduation

As a Penn State senior approaching graduation in just a few months, I find myself constantly thinking about the memories I have made these last four years. What were my most unforgettable experiences? What will I miss? What will I take with me in the future? I would have to say that one of my greatest experiences was the semester I spent studying abroad in Ireland. It provided me such a great opportunity to explore different cultures, expand my knowledge about the world, make international friends, and open my mind to diversity.

You might be wondering why this matters and how it relates to Reckitt Benckiser? Well, being a business student, I recognize how important it is to become more globally aware; and I’m not alone. More and more students are realizing the significance of studying abroad because it is no secret that the world is getting smaller. Expanding into international markets is a highly successful business strategy and is becoming the norm in todays market. As students start embarking on their career search, they cannot overlook this is the direction the business world is heading. One of the reasons I admire Reckitt Benckiser is because this company has completely embraced this idea of international business. RB’s home, health, and personal care products stock the shelves in over 180 countries, continuously providing innovative products for millions of consumers across the world.

International Career Opportunities

Furthermore, if you are someone like me who has already been abroad and is anxious to continue your international exposure, Reckitt Benckiser provides great career opportunities in this respect. I find it intriguing that the Executive Committee has roots all over the world in countries like the United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, Italy, and India. Therefore, it is not surprising the company also provides international careers in operations located throughout sixty countries. I am interested to find out what global opportunities interest you, where do you hope your career will lead you? When you look back on your career path, is international exposure something important to you?

Whether you have been abroad and looking to have an international career or not, you can appreciate Reckitt Benckiser’s entrepreneurial spirit and success around the world.

Matt Dubow

When I first walked onto the Penn State campus as a freshman my head was dizzied by the limitless opportunities before me. As I became a more seasoned undergraduate, I began to become more aware of my potential in areas I had never even considered before, both as a consumer in the grocery store and as a young professional at our career fairs. How were my dollars being used in this economy? Was I becoming part of the global economic, social, and environmental problems or rather contributing to companies who were creating a solution? These same concerns were easily paralleled in my employment search as I scoured for a company that shared the same values and beliefs, one I found in Reckitt Benckiser.

The question posed in this blog’s subject may seem plainly obvious to some, however to the average college student, RB may just be another company on their laundry list of potential employers. It is important that college students come to know RB in a multitude of dimensions. Initially, they must grow to be smart, aware consumers who view their purchases as investments into their personal lives. In this sense college students should be researching and exploring their options in household, personal, and healthcare categories. As a smart consumer you are not only taking an active mindset in regard to your finances, but become aware of the innovation, philanthropy, and culture provided by your supplying companies.

With their respective market leading positions, the Reckitt Benckiser Powerbrands will undoubtedly provide many of the solutions these consumers search for. It is easy to find excuses to pick RB’s products off the shelf. Philanthropic programs such as the Carbon20 effort and aggressive sustainability benchmarks, to their product innovation and value, many college students will find themselves establishing life long relationships with RB products.

Additionally college students who explore career options in the FMCG industry would be foolish to overlook Reckitt Benckiser. The company’s culture and core values suggest that with the right fit, young professionals are given international opportunities to not only prove themselves but move through their career at an accelerated pace. If you were to research one of RB’s 19 market leading Powerbrands you would find a history of innovation, value, and a proven track record. Behind the scenes RB associates live the values of achievement, entrepreneurship, team spirit, and ownership that create and drive the culture of the company.

The challenges presented to college graduates within the workplace are demanding, yet the rewards of success are reaped both professionally and personally.

What are your opinions? As students, consumers, and professionals how are you taking strides to improve the world we live in? How do you see RB innovating its social and environmental programs in the future? I am greatly intrigued to hear how everyone is working, whether its on campus, in an office, with Reckitt Benckiser, or on their own. Are you taking the initiative and challenging the status quo?

Hi! I’m Asad Saeed, Area Sales Manager at RB Pakistan and in my first post here I shall give you a brief glimpse of RB’s culture.

As Area Sales Manager I had implemented a ‘Sales Achievement Competition’ at the salesman level in May. Within a week, daily sales grew by 29% and each salesman was thriving on the opportunity to excel over others. Everyday, one salesman or the other would want to discuss new plans, new ideas to increase their sales and identify more opportunities on how to grow the business and achieve their high-standard goals.

Finally, May was over and a winner was announced in front of the entire team; recognized and applauded for the effort and given the cash prize. There was however a surprise gift for second place as well; the beneficiary of which was also awarded a consolation gift. But rather than being satisfied as a 2nd place winner, the 2nd place salesman vowed to be 1st next time. It was at that moment that I noticed how even though every single salesman was applauding happily over the winners, each one of them was longingly eyeing ‘The Salesman of the Month’ trophy, even when they started to discuss new ideas for the ensuing month soon after.

It was at that very moment that I realized the true spirit of RB’s culture. That one moment encapsulated Team Spirit, Achievement orientation, Entrepreneurship and Commitment in a nutshell. The level of competitiveness to excel at work in and outside the organization, while maintaining good internal camaraderie, could not have possibly been more. And amidst this realization I realized how everyone at Reckitt Benckiser feels that you are either Number One or No one because of the winning attitude in the organization and each employee working for a sense of achievement.

The journey’s more important than the end at times and the electricity that fills our hearts and minds to achieve our goals are what actually do allow us to achieve the exceptional results that RB, more often than not, does so. Truly then, it is the culture of an organization on which its employees thrive and RB’s culture is nothing less than exceptional on this scale.