Critical Elements of CPG Executive Success

Posted by The Garner Group on May 13 2016

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Having a reliable, steadfast consumer packaged goods executive is just one of the building blocks for business growth. In today’s competitive marketplace there are certain characteristics a business requires for it and the executive to achieve prosperity and innovation. Certainly consumer goods is a crowded market, and shoppers may easily feel overwhelmed by choices. Consider how long your typical list is while grocery shopping. Now consider the fact that there are at least nine major brands of crackers alone, and that is just one item to weigh decisions over. For the consumer to choose your product in as little as one-third of a second, your business requires three key elements: customer data, communication, and the right culture.

Consumer Data

Failing to be creative and make new products that stand the test of time is a direct result of not having sufficient consumer data. You will make finding and retaining workers difficult for CPG recruiters because companies that fail to innovate are more likely to see employee turnover. While recruiters try to find workers who will be happy in your business, failing to be inventive will drive that talent away. It’s no surprise that workers will seek other employment if projects continue to crash, one after the other. 


Executives are more successful when they have adequate means of collecting consumer data on buyers' wants and needs. Consider accessing your customer sales or service records, activity on your social media accounts, surveys you've administered, and live behavior on your site to mine for new ideas. Having research to guide a team’s efforts will help limit the number of project failures and improve employee outlook which in turn helps CPG executives succeed due to lower turnover rates.

Teamwide Communication

Poor communication will result in lower CPG executive effectiveness. Collaboration from every aspect of a project is imperative throughout the creative process. Your company vision must be clear across every job title to achieve new product success. Managing open team communication will help ensure product success which translates to executive success. If your business is diverse in age, you may notice finding a single avenue of communication that works for everyone is difficult. Your millennial employees may love the constant contact of Skype whereas your senior associates prefer email. Consider your team's preference and find a unified communications solution that allows everyone to stay up to date on project happenings. Your CPG recruiter is another resource. During your CPG executive search, make sure you emphasize adding an employee who is cooperative and engaged in company communication. Working with your recruiter to hire and shape a team that communicates in the most optimal way will lead to CPG executive success. 

Creative Culture

Last, but certainly not least, your company's prosperity is directly affected by overall company culture. How your team works is one of the most important factors in predicting productivity and overall business success. Executives who allow their employees to be creative and take risks will uncover ideas that dominate over those companies with a desolate company culture. Boring meetings, exhausting protocols, office politics, and memos will kill CPG success whereas enabling individual thought will yield more new product ideas from a team. Consider hiring a diverse team of individuals. A CPG recruiter can help with this so that you get unique ideas and input. Executives with employees that feel safe enough to innovate will reap the benefits.

Conclusion

Executive success is team success. Even if you hire a CPG executive with all of the right training and credentials, they will fail if they do not understand the need to innovate and the actions necessary to nurture their team’s creativity. A CPG recruiter can help your business flourish by recruiting individuals who mesh with company culture and these important elements.

Topics: recruitment, CEO, CPG, executive

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