Month: March 2024

Originally Published by Personnel Today

Laura Jenkins is UK & Ireland Lead HR Business Partner at global spirits giant Bacardi. She tells Personnel Today how no two days in the HRBP role are the same, and how a commitment to inclusion means staff stick around. 

One of the biggest misconceptions about working for Bacardi is that it’s part of a much bigger brewing or drinks business, when it’s the largest, privately held spirits company in the world.

At more than 160 years old, Bacardi runs not just its famous rum brand, but also well-known spirits such as Grey Goose vodka, Patron tequila, Bombay Sapphire gin, and Martini. It’s also a family business, where colleagues are known as “primos” (Spanish for cousins), and there’s a celebration of its founders every year.

Laura Jenkins has been with Bacardi for 10 years and is now lead HR business partner in the UK and Ireland. She works alongside two other business partners – one who covers learning and development and the other who looks after benefits. Every day brings up something different, she says.

“I really like the lack of hierarchy,” she says. “I connect with leaders but also with people at every level in the business, fostering an entrepreneurial spirit. Ideas come from all over the business and if you have a great idea you are encouraged to share it.”

There is a global HR function that acts as a framework for local and functional HR operations, she adds, but HRBPs are given a great deal of autonomy to drive projects ‘on the ground’, and there is a culture of “steal and share with pride”, so if something works in one area, then teams are encouraged to apply it elsewhere.

“It opens up a varied role within the HR business partner space because you connect with everyone in the business,” she adds. Furthermore, the fact Bacardi is run privately means there is more freedom to blur boundaries than be fixed in one function or area.

“In previous businesses [I worked] there was more pigeonholing, as in ‘this is your role’ and stay in it,” she says. There are only around 9,000 “primos” globally, meaning departments can be relatively agile in terms of making decisions and getting things moving.

Belonging at Bacardi

‘Belonging at Bacardi’ takes the family theme further, encompassing the company’s efforts across diversity and inclusion. “We have self-nominated champions for belonging – they are volunteers rather than ‘volun-told’ – and it all comes from the ground up,” Jenkins explains.

Champions have been involved in staging talks and learning sessions with external partners such as LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, or working with specialist neurodiversity recruiter Enna.

The company has been named as one of the world’s top employers for women by Forbes, and aims to have 45% female representation in management and executive positions by 2025.

Belonging sits within Bacardi’s wider ‘Good Spirited’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy, which has four pillars that cover its environmental impact; supporting people to make ‘good choices’ and drink responsibly; empowering a fair and inclusive workplace; and responsible sourcing.

Examples of work within these strands include the company’s partnership with alcohol support organisations such as Drink Aware and promoting education about responsible drinking, or on the environmental side, there is a focus on backing up any claims with facts, rather than “greenwashing”.

But is it challenging to bring all of this together and still maintain the happy, family theme? Jenkins says she thrives on the ‘all hands on deck’ culture at the company.

“I love a culture that allows us to be fearless and challenge the status quo,” she adds.

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t challenge back. If someone says they want to do something we can say it’s not the right time, for example. People trust that we treat each other respectfully, we talk about feedback being a gift.”

Sticking around

Jenkins attributes the sense of belonging at the company as the key reason she has stayed for the past decade, and for its high levels of employee retention overall. “The business appreciates me for who I am – whether that’s a mother, a daughter – I get the flexibility I need,” she says.

The company is often celebrating 10-year, 15-year and even 20-year anniversaries for long-standing employees, and career development is a big focus for HR and recruitment teams.

There is an internal talent acquisition team known as Bacardi Executive Search Team (BEST) that is focused on building individuals’ career development pipelines and mapping out how these will work within the company – another driver behind high retention. Early careers joiners have a range of possibilities in front of them, says Jenkins.

“We treat our entry level sales positions like a talent pool,” she explains. “We say we will develop you because you’re the next generation of the business. This is the group with the largest headcount and they’re out talking to customers and getting a feel for the business.”

She has only been in the HRBP position for seven months, so feels “there is still a lot to learn”. But Jenkins hopes to do more in the L&D space and further progress Bacardi’s focus on building talent from within.

“We give primos permission to shape and plan a career programme, giving them the time and space to do so. Think about when you plan a holiday or a wedding, versus what we do for our careers at times. We want to help them to build a journey to their end goal,” she says.

CENTENNIAL, Colo., March 19, 2024 /3BL/ – The Penang Science Cluster, a STEM grantee of Arrow Electronics, hosted the third annual FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC) Malaysia Championship in Penang, attracting 22 teams from 17 local schools. FTC is part of the FIRST® Robotics Competition, an international engineering contest that charges student teams with building and programming industrial-size robots.

Two teams – Pasirian Rex and Robodes – captured the top two prizes and will advance to the 2024 FIRST Championship in Houston in mid-April. Pasirian Rex is advancing for the first time in the competition, and the trip to Houston will mark the team’s first foray outside Malaysia.

“Witnessing students in action at the FIRST Tech Challenge is always a highlight. It showcases the results of months of work, emerging from collaboration, problem-solving and mentorship,” said Aimy Lee, the Penang Science Cluster’s chief operating officer. “The Penang Science Cluster plans to continue facilitating this amazing opportunity for both students and mentors with the FIRST Tech Challenge and many of our other programs.”

FTC pairs students, ages 12 to 18, with adult coaches who guide them through the challenge of building a robot from a reusable platform and training it to perform various tasks. More than 50 mentors, teachers and volunteers supported this year’s competition. 

Arrow announced its alliance with the Penang Science Cluster in the fall of 2023, providing funding to support the organization’s 2024 programming and work. Arrow employees based in Malaysia have also volunteered for the nonprofit’s events, including serving as judges for an invention competition, Coolest Projects Malaysia. 

Arrow invests in programs globally that expand access to STEM learning opportunities and is a longtime supporter of FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).

About Arrow Electronics 
Arrow Electronics guides innovation forward for thousands of leading technology manufacturers and service providers. With 2023 sales of $33 billion, Arrow develops technology solutions that help improve business and daily life. Learn more at arrow.com.

About Penang Science Center 
Penang Science Cluster (1015105-A) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization with a mission to build a healthy pipeline of talent in Penang and Malaysia by sparking interest in science and technology, creating a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among our young in Penang and Malaysia.

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While companies work to reduce their environmental impacts, they also should design their products to help solve consumers’ challenges in a more sustainable way.

A consumer challenge can be defined as a “job-to-be-done”, which is simply a problems people are trying to solve. From this perspective, products aren’t just things people buy, but also something they “hire” to solve their problem. 

This is important because there is a great opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of a product’s use phases. This is even more critical when such products require water and energy, like showering, doing laundry, or washing dishes. While it’s critical that companies continue to reduce their own operational and supply chain footprints, products also have an important role to play in the creation of sustainable habits at home. Consumer insights shed light into how brand influence and product innovation can inspire new behaviors. 

By developing products that perform well and are better for people and the planet, this helps the consumer complete their job more easily, and helps to reduce the corresponding environmental impact. Developing a solution that can deliver performance for people and planet requires a deep understanding of how a person uses a given product and their surrounding environment. 

The following outlines how Procter and Gamble (P&G) applies consumer insights to reduce the environmental impact of dishwashing using a three-principal approach. First, P&G studies how people use the product through understanding their surrounding environment; second, develops a deeper understanding of why certain behaviors exist; and finally, leverages the insights in the product design. 

1. Zoom out to understand the full picture of the environment the consumer is in.

As P&G creates both dish soap and dishwasher detergent, we study handwashing and auto-washing habits. It’s important to put ourselves in the shoes of consumers to understand what’s happening in the kitchen and why so that we can define the job to be done and problem to be solved. That information, powered by additional consumer insights, informs the product requirements for our innovation. 

Some consumer behaviors we study include: How often is the sink running? How long do the dishes sit there? How many dishes are washed by hand? What temperature is the water? How much water is used? How many dishes are put into the dishwasher?

These questions and more enable a better understanding of behaviors that use water and energy in the kitchen.  

2. Understand how people feel about the task to get to the root of their behavior.

Washing dishes is a chore and typically people want it done fast and conveniently. Many busy people state that they feel overwhelmed by the sight of a full sink of dirty dishes. People then adopt compensating behaviors that they think will help them get the job done more efficiently. Some examples:

Keeping the faucet running in order to save time, resulting in significant water and energy use;Soaking dishes to shave off time scrubbing;Cleaning dishes on an ongoing basis to prevent stuck-on messes versus doing them all at the end;Increasing the water temperature to help dishes dry faster, resulting in increased energy use; and,Washing dishes before loading them because they don’t believe the dishwasher will get them clean, resulting in wasted water and energy.

Understanding the why behind the actions – in this case a desire for efficiency combined with a distrust of dishwashers – gives R&D teams ideas for new solutions that foster more sustainable habits. 

3. Leverage insights to design products for performance for people and planet.

With an understanding of people’s behaviors and the motivation behind them, P&G can then design products to help shift habits while delivering against the job to be done. In this case, the job is fast and effective dish cleaning that avoids resource intensive compensating behaviors. 

Through a study of dishwashing habits and the water and energy used, P&G R&D determined that dishwashers should be the preferred choice to reduce environmental impact during the product use phase. All it takes is eight dishes washed by hand to use the same amount of water and energy that a dishwasher uses. Using a dishwasher, people can save 100 gallons a week.  

By understanding consumer barriers to dishwasher usage, P&G R&D teams optimized the chemistry in Cascade Platinum Plus dishwashing pods to clean dishes better and eliminate the need for pre-washing or re-washing. The solution conserves resources and helps save time by avoiding soaking or pre-rinsing – people scrape the dish off and immediately load it in. 

While dishwashers offer the most sustainability benefits over hand washing, some people don’t have them. Dawn Powerwash was developed to reduce water and energy use for people that hand wash their dishes. The R&D team simplified the experience by avoiding water at the onset of cleaning dishes. The result: refillable packaging and formulation designed to release suds without the need for water to activate them.

Making dishwashing a faster and easier chore can also inspire further sustainable habit adoption, such as cooking and eating more at home.

Innovating a Superior and Sustainable Product 

Consumer brands have a responsibility to identify where impact can be made and where they can step in to innovate, leading to a superior and sustainable product that delivers added value. 

A science-based approach is important because it shows where the biggest improvement for the environment can be made. A consumer-inspired product is equally important because it results in a satisfied consumer when function and experience is delivered. The two must be merged for a holistic proposition that people want to buy.

When done right, the result is something we can all get behind: products that delight, enable better habits and reduce environmental footprints at home. 

This article was originally published on GreenBiz.com

On March 18th, we celebrate Natural Gas Utility Workers Day, an annual occasion dedicated to honoring the commitment and hard work of those who ensure the smooth flow of natural gas to our customers, regardless of weather or time of day. For the ninth consecutive year, we pay tribute to our employees who maintain over 3,600 miles of natural gas pipeline, serving more than 140,000 customers in New Castle County.

“Meeting our community’s need for safe, reliable and affordable natural gas is the main objective of our natural gas team members,” remarked Serena Wilson-Archie, director of Delmarva Power’s gas operations. “This team of essential workers provide real-time service every day throughout the year, including holidays, to ensure the gas infrastructure is solid and that our customers are served with gas to heat their homes, cook their meals and dry their clothes.”

Around the clock, our team responds to emergencies, with an average response time to a gas odor of 23 minutes, and conducts routine inspections essential for the safety and efficiency of our natural gas system. Their efforts not only keep gas flowing but also contribute to ongoing modernization initiatives, enhancing the system’s reliability and safety. The comprehensive modernization of the natural gas distribution network in northern Delaware is a fundamental aspect of our commitment to deliver safe and dependable natural gas service to our customers.

As part of this endeavor, we are systematically upgrading our aging natural gas infrastructure, which includes cast-iron and bare-steel main and service lines. Annually, we upgrade over five miles of natural gas mains throughout our service region, replacing them with state-of-the-art plastic pipe. This transition not only enhances safety, but also improves durability and reliability.

As we celebrate Natural Gas Utility Workers Day, we stand in solidarity with our peers across the country, including Exelon sister utilities PECO and BGE, to recognize the vital role of natural gas workers. Together, we raise awareness of their tireless contributions and express our gratitude for their unwavering dedication.