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!

It’s been a long wait this year to get new roles following on from the management trainee programme! We (the management trainees) have been through all the stints and some of us have even started to get new roles. Word is out in the grapevine that the other trainees will be given their postings soon and I might be one of them

We will be posted as Area Sales Managers (ASMs) in different parts of India. You are given your targets, shortly before starting and your are tasked with developing business in that territory for the next two years. After which begins the most fascinating part of your career at RB. You learn to handle the business and the nuances of sales. The entire “process of sales” – a fantastic opportunity!

It’s a huge responsibility something that most of us have never experienced before and hence becomes (in my view) a very grooming phase of our personal and professional lives!

Something that I am really looking forward too !!

There are no simulations in RB, your learn on the job and you are expected to deliver amazing results. You need to be perfect – but then if you are in RB you probably are!

If you were about to purchase a Clearasil product, would it matter if you knew they were manufactured by the same company that owned Airwick, Veet and Finish?

Perhaps you might not pay particular attention to the parent company when buying a branded product, but when you’re looking for Marketing Graduate Programs in the FMCG industry, it important to understand who produces what and which company has a portfolio of strong brands to work for…

Think back to before you started Marketing 101, would you have known who manufactured Pringles or Dove? Why is it that most consumers are familiar with Nestle and Johnson & Johnson’s portfolio of products, but generally draw a blank when we’re asked about Reckitt Benckiser or Henkel?

It boils down to whether a company’s strategy is to individually brand or umbrella brand their portfolio of products – and both strategies have their own merits. We may have strong, recognisable brands amongst our 17 global power brands, but I’m sure our name does not come to mind when you’re planning which marketing/sales job to apply for, even though RB is one of the top performing FMCG companies in the world and just recently, our RB UK Marketing Director topped the list of UK’s most influential people in the Marketing industry. 

As a graduate, what resources do you have to find out about FMCG companies? When I was in my penultimate year at university, I went on Wikipedia.org and typed in ‘FMCG’, firstly to see what it meant (!), but secondly to find out which companies fell into this category. From there, I went to each local corporate website and had a look at which ones were offering internships, graduate programs or entry level jobs.

Alternatively, you can go to your local supermarket or department store and look at the labels on recognised brands to find which parent company they belong to…you may be shocked to find that there are only a handful of key players in the market!

I think it’s important to research and investigate which company culture suits you – from reading their company brochures to attending career fairs where you can ask the graduates themselves, its vital to know what you’re getting yourself into. As mentioned most recently in my colleague Chris’ blog post, RB is not for everyone but if you share our cultural values of achievement, team spirit, entrepreneurship and ownership, you will thrive at RB.

What is RB doing to increase its corporate profile? In 2009, we updated our corporate logo to the high performance, pink kite display to better reflect the fast, direct and strong nature of our business and our brands. We have a strong presence on social network websites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube –do you remember last year’s Facebook campaign where RB challenged users to upload videos of their suggestions for innovative products that would meet the needs of people going to music festivals?

Given that there are only a handful of global FMCG companies operating in Australia/New Zealand, you need to do your homework early or risk missing out some great opportunities that can take your career to the next level. Mind you, not everyone has a graduate program or positions in your country but at least you can have peace of mind know about any opportunities that do exist.

I don’t need to tell you that Marketing is a well sought after career and that the applicant pool is competitive, but do your research and you might just end up on top!

2 YEARS, 2 COUNTRIES, 2 FUNCTIONS. Graduates, hurry up!! The recruitment for the new European Graduate Program started today!!!!

If you are a graduate looking for an opportunity at RB and you want to be one of our future Marketing or Sales Directors, take note of this date: 14th JUNE 2010.

This is the deadline date to send your CV to our HR Managers across Europe (learnwithrb@rb.com) if you want to be a candidate for one of the six vacancies for the first European Graduate Programme.

So what does the program entail and what’s new when comparing it with our local Graduate Programs?

In contrast to our local graduate programs where you normally have 2 assignments in your country, the European program ensures that candidates will have a truly international experience as they’ll be working in two different RB countries across Europe during the 2 years that the programme lasts.

On completion of the European Graduate Programme, you’ll get a junior position in Marketing or Sales in an European country. So, if that’s what you are looking for, make the most of this opportunity and apply now!!!!

You’ll find more details in the Career Opportunities Section but here is a short summary:

• The proposition is simple: 2 countries, 2 functions (1 Sales and 1 Marketing) in 2 years.
• The first assignment will take place in the Sales department of your home country and the second in a Marketing department within another European country.
• Interviews will take place during June and July.
• Successful applicants will start at the beginning of September 2010.

Are you right for RB?

Before sending your CV, make sure you have a strong understanding of our RB culture and ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you looking for a global career?
• Are you driven to succeed?
• Do you want to make your mark and experience real responsibility from day one?

If the answer is YES, then you posses qualities required to thrive at RB. Send through your CV and maybe later this year you can be sharing your experience with us in our blogs  GOOD LUCK!

RB realizes that well structured and significant employee T&D (training & development) programs correlate strongly with long term success.
The RB HR department recently organized a training session for its management trainees from Africa Middle East region in Dubai. It was a four day session and the training program was planned as following:

.

• Time management session:
  We learnt about modern tools for managing time efficiently.
• Presentation skills training:
  We were taught how to improve our skills in structuring and preparing presentations that will meet our audience’s needs. Also we were taught how to improve our ability to deliver an effective presentation.
• Market research session:
  We were told about various formats and processes in RB for initiating or completing research. And we were exposed to most frequently used tools/methodologies in RB i.e. Qualitative focus groups, product test (formulation changes), BASES (new product development), Link testing (copy).
• Budget management session:
  Our finance capabilities were polished. This session enabled our ability to develop financially sound commercial/business propositions and implement plans which would maximise investments while managing funds effectively to meet or exceed targets.

.

The best part of the training was the diversity of the group which opened new vistas to our thinking.
It was a truly multi cultural environment. People from 6 different countries gathered in Dubai for the training.

.

The trainer, Michaela Murning, was Marketing Director – RB South Africa based in Johannesburg for 2.5 years and before that she was Global Category Marketing Manager based in Slough for 5 years.
She brought her 14 years of working experience with RB on the table which made every part of training relevant to us.
During the sessions we were given business cases to solve and I realized the value of diversity while solving cases. I realized that creativity increases when people with different ways of solving difficult problems work together towards a common solution.
This is a tremendous advantage of diversity. No doubt the training has imparted precious knowledge to all of us.

.

Apart from the training we spent quality time with each other. Our colleagues in Dubai took us to dinner at Kaleidoscope (one of the great restaurants) in Palm Jumeirah. Like our group the food in restaurant was multi cultural, too. There was Chinese, Japanese, Lebanese, English, Pakistani, Italian and Thai food.

We enjoyed the food there and after that we had an informal gathering in which we talked about movies, fashion, cultures, hobbies and many more things. It was a great team building experience. International trainings not only polish our skills but expose us to diversity of views.

.

.

It was a great initiative by RB HR and such training sessions should be conducted more often because in nearly every survey, training ranks in the top three benefits that employees want from their employers and they search for firms that will give them the tools to advance in their professions.
Fortune magazine noted that extensive and ongoing training and development is second only to stock options as a primary means of attracting and retaining talented workers.

It is clear that T&D is not merely a nice thing to provide – it is a strategic resource; one that firms must tap to energize their organizations in 21st century.

.

Have I aroused your interest about the graduate programmes in our Africa Middle East region?
Programmes in the different countries have different timelines but most begin around June/July. Most of the graduates we take on are for programmes in sales and marketing, but there are also supply chain programmes in Pakistan and UAE.

Visit www.reckittbenckiser.jobs for regular updates on open positions. Good Luck!