
LIMITLESS aspiration has gone a long way to making a self-confessed challenge junkie into a global superpower in her own right.
There is no other way to describe Pauline Hogg, an obvious woman of substance who has developed from a graduate trainee at Sainsbury’s learning all aspects of Retail Operations to a passionate HR Business Partner to the Global Markets Finance Leadership team and Global Supply Chain Finance at Unilever, including Global Procurement which accounts for the company’s €33bn spend.
Oh and did I mention she qualified for the British Universities Tenpin Bowling team and later became vice captain of the British squad?
Well, Pauline continues to strike – gold that is – and Naked Leader is excited that she has agreed to speak at their annual Conference on October 24 in London.
Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch multinational consumer goods company co-headquartered in London and Rotterdam. It is the world’s third-largest consumer goods company measured by 2012 revenue, after Procter & Gamble and Nestle.
Pauline has extensive background in Retail and FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), and enjoys a dynamic and purposeful environment whilst nurturing a healthy loathing for inefficiency and bureaucracy. A background in Retail has also helped develop a strong passion for real products and real people.
Animal welfare, disaster and humanitarian relief, environment and poverty alleviation are among her admirable interests while Leadership Development heads up a list of 27 skills.
‘I look after around 1,500 managers across the organisation,” she says. “I’m looking forward to the conference and being able to speak my mind around my views on talent management.
‘The world of work and demographics are changing and working for a huge organisation like Unilever we see that more than anything else.
‘There are changes in our population, our ageing population and the needs and wants of our employees. We’ve developed a programme which I’m looking forward to sharing. It’s all around opening people’s minds to what’s possible, getting honest with people and seeing some great results.’
Having already climbed Kilimanjaro, Pauline is continuing to scale new heights in business and in her personal challenges and she is dedicated to ensuring people are engaged, energised and fulfilled in making and saving money in business.
‘Pauline is at the absolute cutting edge of HR in a business sense,’ says Naked Leader Founder David Taylor.
‘Unilever have a special project which involves finding out where people are in their career, assessing their strengths and ambitions, and helping them focus on what they want to achieve in their career. Pauline is dedicated to HR being a business function.
‘She manages to combine her passion with a logical approach to business. She is always searching for evidence to support the role HR plays in delivering for the company. Ensuring people realise that HR serve the customer as much as anyone.’
David and Pauline have been working in unison for the mutual benefit of both parties for six years, in particular with coaching sessions.
Rosalind Howard, Naked Leader’s Managing Director, adds: ‘When you meet Pauline she is very down to earth and approachable. She is both awe-inspiring and impressive, an amazing person with huge capabilities, while she is humble too.
‘My colleague Claire Batey and I had the privilege to meet with Pauline on the roof garden at Unilever’s headquarters near Blackfriars.
‘When you see her working in her own environment you realise what an amazing job she has and how well she delivers it.
‘We are inviting top-level people to speak at our conference on business. We are thrilled that Pauline is one of them.’