Fleet offers future leaders prime, hands-on experience

Fleet intern Ali Costikyan

Many of those in Fleet Laboratories’ top leadership garnered experience at large consumer packaged goods companies. In fact, the sales leadership team has amassed more than 165 years of experience with eight blue chip companies holding roles across 10 different functions from supply chain to finance. “We have seasoned people who are brand builders,” said Todd Hutsko, VP sales.

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While bringing their expertise from other companies, the team at Fleet has a focus on the future — looking to use its nimble size to build the next generation. Because Fleet is private and a midsize company, there are opportunities for employees to really get into the trenches. And paramount is the understanding the executives had for realizing that EQ — emotional intelligence or quotient — is just as important as IQ for the type of executive Fleet wants to nurture.



Hutsko praised the next generation of leaders as a group who value work-life balance and like to be able to connect what they do as a career to meet their personal ethos. It is Fleet’s goal to help them achieve that.



Fleet is embarking on outreach programs to college campuses, such as a recent visit to Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, where Hutsko and others met with students at a business fraternity with aspirations on becoming future business leaders. Praising the caliber of the students, Hutsko said Fleet offers a good fit for their career goals. “Softer skills are important to today’s work. A small company gives advantage,” he said. “You work with a network of people; the walls are broken down where you have the ability to get a lot done.” He said millennials are accustomed to working in groups and, of course, using social media skills.



This year, Fleet also initiated an internship program, which is already delivering multiple benefits. The intern, Ali Costikyan, is opening the company’s eyes to the predilections of the millennials. “We have a culture of checking in, and we ask her daily what we can do better. We are listening and asking many questions,” Hutsko said. Fleet hopes to expand to as many as five interns in the future.



Costikyan, a rising senior marketing major at Syracuse University, was selected from a pool of impressive candidates, Hutsko said. She praises the opportunity to have real-life experience. “Because of Fleet’s size, I am fortunate enough to be able to ‘shadow’ almost everyone in the office, meaning I will have the opportunity to see how all of the different sales and marketing positions within the company operate and learn from all of the very experienced people working here,” she said. “After only being here for two weeks, I know that my internship experience is really unique compared to those of my peers. My supervisor, Craig Stoll [director, customer strategy and insight for Fleet], was very clear when I interviewed with him what would be expected of me, so I had a good idea of what I’d be working on throughout the summer. I’m really getting a hands-on experience,” she said, explaining some of her peers are just doing “busy work,” at their internships.



Her tasks include everything from sitting in on digital media training meetings to retail fieldwork where she sees how strategies are executed in stores. “Craig makes sure to emphasize that it’s just as important for me to gain experience and take as much out of the internship as it is for me to give back to the company,” she said. Costikyan said everyone “takes great consideration of my opinion,” and listens to her opinions in meetings. “I have been affectionately named the ‘resident millennial’ in the office, and because of this, I get asked my opinion a lot,” she said.



Knowing the pulse of millennial consumers has been a big focus for Fleet as it re-energizes several categories, including feminine hygiene. Summer’s Eve, once a brand associated with douche, has been expanded to an array of products, such as portable cleansing cloths, that are favorites of young women.



Fleet isn’t only focused on the millennial workforce. The company also is enriching its team with experienced employees looking to have a fertile opportunity to use knowledge they’ve amassed in the business.