Purpose-led means future-fit. Lessons from Africa

Last month I had the privilege of visiting our business in South Africa and Keyna. I wanted to share some of the things I experienced while I was there.

The Tech Revolution is a Human Revolution. When things are changing so rapidly, how does a company like Unilever have time to take a breath and actually form strategies? We've discovered that it starts with your people - you HAVE to keep cultivating a "growth mindset" and nurturing a purpose-led approach.

This is why visiting our South Africa business, was such a real adrenaline rush. Not only did I get to experience the realities of doing business in such a diverse country, I also got to see hear about many of the interesting and sometimes complex nuances.

Our teams are driven by the passion to drive meaningful change and positively affect their communities. I was proud of the triumphs of people in the business. They were thriving through collaboration, experimentation and finding purpose and passion in their work. If we want to keep thriving as a business in this fast-paced world, our people hold the answers!

Get out and speak to people. Not to be outdone, the Kenya team in Nairobi prepared an amazing carousel to take me through each part of our Kenyan business. It was so inspiring to see how we’re bringing purpose to life through our brands. Later we got to walk the streets of Nairobi to visit some of the local stores. It really gave us a sense of the Kenyan market – how our brands help meet the needs of our local consumers. We also visited our Unilever manufacturing site. We have three factories there, producing Home Care, Personal Care and Foods products. I'm such a believer in getting out to our factories – I always learn so much about the business. And the Kenya team are passionate learners too. In fact, it's the Unilever country which has the highest number of active learners using our learning platforms.

Wellbeing is a business strategy. It's time for companies to realise that taking care of their people isn't not only the RIGHT thing to do, it's also the right business choice. When we landed in Kericho, in the Kenyan Rift Valley we were greeted by the wonderful boys and girls of the Queen’s Club who sang and danced (and of course I couldn't help join in!) The Queen's Club is a programme we run to help promote safety for children in Kericho. The Unilever village in Kericho is home to nearly 40,000 people. We have set up schools, hospitals, daycares and pharmacies for our employees, and we provide scholarships to provide financial support for young women who want to study in technical areas like engineering. It's something our founder Lord Lever understood – take care of your people and your company will thrive too. 

Make tea while the sun shines. Oh, and of course, I couldn't visit the home of our Unilever tea plantations without visiting our Kericho tea factory which opened back in 1933. I learned about the tea process and had a tea tasting session – and I even spent time out with our tea pickers learning how to pick tea!

There are lots More Learn With Leena's coming soon – I have so much to catch up on, so make sure you subscribe to hear my latest learnings!