NBTY: Investing in development, focusing on empowerment, diversity
Take a new leadership team that has been in place for nearly two years; add a strong, stated focus on investing in and retaining the best talent in the industry; blend new talent with long-term company leaders and associates; all to create the best mix of diversity and human resources who possess rich industry knowledge and leading CPG expertise. This is the leadership recipe NBTY has been following — and it’s working, said Andrew Archambault, chief customer officer, U.S. Nutrition - NBTY.
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“We believe t
his recipe uniquely positions us to be the global pureplay leader in wellness products and consumer solutions,” Archambault noted.
At NBTY, focused investment in a 10-week internship program, which most recently drew nearly 1,500 applicants from leading universities across the United States, ranks among the top strategies for attracting the next generation of business leaders. A total of 20 interns work in every area of the company, from IT and supply chain to sales and marketing. NBTY’s leadership team spends significant time — both formally and informally — mentoring potential future associates throughout the duration of the program.
The best opportunities for leadership development, NBTY has found, come from being involved in actual initiatives. “Many of our associates and interns are involved in everything from new technology rollouts to new product innovations and category solutions,” Archambault said. “Additionally, our U.S. CPG team has invested in formal sales training, I believe for the first time in our company’s history. This investment is focused on increasing our capabilities to deliver for our retail customers.”
“Traditional relationship selling skills are not enough for today’s fast-paced, data-intensive retail environment. We believe investing formally in training that helps our teams convert meaningful insights into actionable product and retail solutions is highly valued by our customer partners and ultimately, our consumers. Our people also appreciate the company’s investment in their own professional development,” he said.
Moreover, the company continues to make concerted efforts to provide associates with the tools they need to succeed. For example, NBTY is currently putting financial resources behind systems and IT upgrades to help associates do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. This includes a new, best-in-class planning and promotion system that will assist its customer teams in increasing joint business planning capabilities across nearly 120 customers. “Today’s business talent, and our retailers, expects their best partners to have best-in-class systems and capability, and we continually invest to ensure we have the best support tools in the industry,” Archambault stated.
Then, there is the heightened emphasis on associate and team empowerment, rather than on a more historical “top-down-only philosophy.” Accordingly, cross-functional teams are regularly convened to foster and guide future innovation and develop new strategies. Archambault deemed such an emphasis as a positive change for NBTY’s talent, because its associates consider challenging the status quo and delivering solutions for ever-evolving consumer trends to be exciting, rewarding work.
“We’re not a company and culture that wants to only deliver more of the same,” Archambault stated. “We’re retaining our best — and the right — talent because they believe in and help shape our vision, and they are more empowered than ever to be a contributing author to our future.”
Embracing diversity helps as well. “Certainly with four-plus generations in the workforce, it is one of the most dynamic and diverse times to work in business,” Archambault said. “Our philosophy and approach is to embrace this diversity as a true advantage. The millennial workforce brings fresh ideas and perspectives, as well as full immersion in and comfort with data and technology. When you focus on incorporating the emerging workforce with the highly experienced and multi-functional associates and leaders already in your company, there is a real opportunity to create high performing teams. Again, we believe empowerment is a key to turning any challenges with these dynamics into winning opportunities. Our customers and consumers want faster decisions and solutions. Empowerment, with the right level of accountability and support, makes that happen.”