Hindustan Unilever CEO Sanjiv Mehta Will Retire, And Rohit Jawa Will Take Over As CEO And MD.

Sanjiv Mehta of Hindustan Unilever will retire, and Rohit Jawa will take over as CEO and MD.

Rohit Jawa has been named the new managing director and CEO of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), effective June 27 2023. Sanjiv Mehta, who has led the company for ten years, will be succeeded by him.

Beginning on April 1, Jawa will join the company as the CEO-designate and a full-time director. In a report to the exchanges on Friday, the business announced that he would also take over as president of Unilever South Asia.

Beginning on April 1, 2023, Jawa, 56, will join the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE). The business noted that Sanjiv Mehta would step down from his position as CEO of HUL after ten years of transformational leadership.

Jawa, a graduate of Saint Stephen’s College in Delhi with an MBA in marketing from the Faculty of Management Studies, is the current chief of transformation at Unilever, based in London, where he has managed Unilever’s end-to-end transformation since January 2022.

In 1988, he worked as a management trainee in Mumbai before joining HUL directly from campus. He then worked in India, South East Asia, and North Asia. Jawa’s success is akin to numerous HUL executives who left to run businesses for Unilever internationally in distant locales.

Jawa oversaw a substantial transformation of Unilever China into a competitive, profitable, and consistent business, which is now Unilever’s third most giant globally, the company stated. Jawa served as EVP for North Asia and Chairman for China. He guided the company to become one of the top 10 markets globally while serving as chairman of Unilever Philippines.

According to the company, Jawa is well-positioned to lead HUL into its next growth phase because of his capacity to combine the advantages of traditional markets with those of digital technology and future-proof business structures.

The business that offers items for the home, including Lux soap and Knorr soups, reported sales of 50,336 crores in the fiscal year 2022. In terms of volume and second in terms of value, India is Unilever’s most significant market worldwide.

During his ten years in charge, the firm observed that HUL’s market valuation increased by more than four times, from $17 billion to $75 billion, solidifying its place as one of India’s most valuable corporations.

Mehta also oversaw the acquisition of regional hair-care brand Indulekha and GSK Consumer Healthcare’s Horlicks, strengthening the company’s position in the nutrition and personal care markets.

According to the company, “He has steered the business into future growth categories with multiple intelligent mergers and acquisitions like the amalgamation of GSK Consumer Healthcare into HUL, one of the most significant mergers in the history of FMCG the country.

Mehta also oversaw several corporate transformation initiatives, including “Winning in Many Indias” and “Dial Up the Big Q,” to help the company become more customer-focused, agile, and resilient. Mehta also promoted the “Reimagine HUL” initiative to make the company more future-ready by using data and developing business models to rethink how HUL interacts with customers.

Ranjay Gulati was also appointed as an independent director of the firm on Friday. His tenure will begin on April 1, 2023, and finish on March 31, 2028. At the moment, Gulati teaches at Harvard Business School.

He is an authority on organizational development and, until recently, served as chair of the School’s Senior Leader Executive Program’s Advanced Management Program. Gulati has a PhD in organizational behaviour from Harvard University and a Master’s in management from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He received his economics degree from Delhi University’s St. Stephen’s College.

Sanjiv Mehta from Hindustan Unilever

The Indian division of the multinational consumer goods corporation Unilever is now led by Sanjiv Mehta as Chairman and Managing Director. Mehta took over as HUL’s CEO in 2013; in 2018, he was named the company’s chairman.

Mehta oversaw HUL’s growth and expansion of its market share in India’s consumer products industry. Mehta has led HUL’s attempts to create more environmentally friendly products and packaging. He is renowned for his strategic vision, innovation focus, and sustainability commitment.

Mehta has also received praise for his services to Indian commerce and industry. He received the prestigious “Business Leader of the Year” award from the Economic Times, one of India’s top business publications, in 2020.

Sanjiv Mehta, the longtime chairman and managing director of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), one of India’s biggest consumer goods firms, announced in May 2021 that he will step down at the end of June. Mehta had been with the business for more than 20 years. It had presided over its expansion into new markets and product lines and its evolution into a multibillion-dollar corporation.

Given his track record of success at the company, Mehta’s retirement surprised many in the sector. The corporation was probably trying to make a change at the top to bring in new ideas and perspectives, but he had previously served as CEO and MD for eight years.

As Mehta announced his retirement, HUL declared that Rohit Jawa, the organization’s executive director for human resources, would succeed him as CEO and MD. Jawa had worked with HUL for over 20 years and held several executive positions. He was regarded as a capable leader well-versed in HUL’s business practices and corporate culture.

As a longtime company executive team member, Jawa’s nomination as the new CEO and MD of HUL was viewed as a continuity show. He was also expected to bring a unique viewpoint to the position and guide HUL into a new stage of expansion and development.

Sustainability was one of the main topics Jawa was supposed to concentrate on. With an emphasis on minimizing its environmental effect and fostering social responsibility, HUL developed into a market leader in sustainability in the Indian consumer products sector under Mehta’s direction. Jawa was anticipated to maintain this focus and expand on HUL’s current initiatives to transform the company into a more sustainable one.

Digitalization was a different topic on which Jawa was anticipated to concentrate. With an emphasis on utilizing data and analytics to enhance its business operations and customer experiences, HUL has already made considerable progress in digitizing its processes. Jawa was supposed to speed up this procedure and use technology to promote innovation and expansion at HUL.

Industry professionals and investors welcomed Jawa’s selection as HUL’s new CEO and MD. Many thought he was a capable leader who thoroughly understood HUL’s operations and culture and was in an excellent position to advance the business.

Overall, one of India’s major consumer goods corporations experienced a pivotal moment with Sanjiv Mehta’s retirement and Rohit Jawa’s appointment as HUL’s new CEO and MD. Investors and business experts were upbeat about HUL’s future under Jawa’s leadership, and the leadership transition was seen as a smooth and well-planned procedure.

Edited by Prakriti Arora