5 Lessons from Regulatory Executives at Colgate-Palmolive, Coca Cola, Givaudan and The Clorox Company
Recently I had the honor of facilitating a panel discussion with Brian Slezak , Lisa Pankiewicz , Lynn Warner, MBA and Eva Hurt , talking about the transformation of regulatory affairs and how to redefine regulatory organizations for success.??
For me there were five key lessons that are relevant not only for their regulatory affairs peers, but for all business leaders in CPG and F&B enterprises:?
Historically “regulators are our baseline for compliance, they are the reason we do our work,” noted The Clorox Company’s Lisa Pankiwiez. Today “consumers are demanding more” and “not trusting government as much as they did”. As a result consumers are relying more on NGOs and other interested parties and legislative action tends to get directed more to local and state levels where laws can pass faster.??
This results in two core issues. Firstly, a patchwork of regulations that can be inconsistent and complex to navigate. Secondly, regulations that are not founded on sound science are more likely to become law.???
“We have to lead with the science,” declared Coca Cola’s Eva Hurt, This means regulatory teams need to become more vocal and better communicators, “to set the tone and go out and make this clearer, because if you’re not out there communicating someone else will”.
2. Regulatory affairs is no longer a horizon one entity
Regulatory can no longer be considered a filter on innovation, it needs to be part of the development process to maximize product success and longevity in the market.??
“Our aspiration is being at step zero,” said Colagte Palmolive’s Brian Slezak, and to be “able to involve ourselves earlier to be part of that mapping of the path” as a strategic partner to the business. Givaudan’s Lynn Warner noted that regulatory is coming to the business forefront because it can “make or break” product launch and needs to be at “the forefront of understanding” to ensure success.?
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3. Regulatory responsibilities are evolving and expanding to address bigger challenges
Regulatory professionals need “a different kind of skill mindset” to address the evolution from black and white regulations to a world where it’s more about interpreting the gray, and where regulatory affairs is managing a wider array of issues on behalf of the business.???
“Responsibilities have grown over the years, because it’s not only registration or safety of a product, we’re also looking at societal issues and transparency and chemicals of concern and things that traditionally didn’t sit within the regulatory affairs function,” reflected Pankiewitz.?
4. The successful regulatory organization of today demands a new talent model
Regulatory teams are looking beyond the traditional skill base. “What worked yesterday may not work for the challenges of tomorrow” noted Hurt. “We need people that can transform information into insight.”?
Our panelists have broadened the hiring lens to bring diversity in skills and perspectives, including nutritionists, lawyers, project managers, customer service, and learning and development professionals. In fact, for specialty chemicals regulatory departments customer experience is becoming the true north.? “We really take seriously our customer service experience and what we can provide to our customers,” said Warner.??
Slezak added that Colgate-Palmolive has introduced short-term rotational project assignments for non-regulatory employees so they “develop a little bit of passion, not only for that project, but they actually take back to their own function, a better appreciation for regulatory and build a better partnership.”
5. Data excellence drives speed, business trust and employee engagement?
Commensurate with the broadening of responsibilities and stakeholders and the need to navigate the gray, data management has become a pivotal underpinning of high functioning regulatory organizations.??
Pankiewitz spoke of Clorox’s regulatory transformation driven by a need for data that is “accessible so that we're having transparent interactions with our stakeholders. And more importantly, how do we ensure that we have credibility and integrity for the data that we're generating?”??
At heart, Pankiewitz shared, is the requirement to collect and connect data “to optimize our processes, so we can be more efficient” and move towards prediction where “in two or three years, we will be talking about how AI has been incorporated into what we're doing today”.
Hurt added that in addition to making compliance more reliable and less burdensome, digital is essential to make the career in regulatory affairs more satisfactory so that PhDs are not “just sitting there doing spreadsheets and compliance. Slezak postulated “it's so crucial to be able to get your teams into a position where they can move from reactionary to strategic, for retention, for growth, for delivery to the business.”