Nisaba Godrej: Here's what she has to say about the company's values of trust and integrity

Nisaba Godrej on Tuesday took over the role of Executive Chairperson of Godrej's flagship firm Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) from her father and veteran industrialist Adi Godrej, who will become Chairman Emeritus after leading the company for 17 years.

Nisaba, 39, is among the youngest women to head a large-sized Indian firm. Nisaba Godrej's favourite word to describe her family business is 'Antevasin', which in Sankrit means a person who lives on the border. "It means your one foot is where you come from and the other is in the future," Nisaba had told Business Today when she was Executive Director at Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL).

This comprehensively describes the company's vision, which is to be positioned as someone who has a firm grip on the modern consumer's changing needs and aspirations and at the same time also delivers the age-old Godrej values of trust and integrity, Nisaba had said.

A graduate from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Nisaba is married to Kalpesh Mehta, a real estate entrepreneur and has a son.

Talking about how the organisation has evolved in terms of people, Nisaba had said, "When we merged Sara Lee with GCPL in 2010, we took a hard look at our portfolio, and we decided to upgrade our consumers by giving fantastic products at value-for-money pricing. The other key lever I focused on was people."

The idea was to make employees high performers. There was no room for mediocrity. GCPL had also been grappling with the challenge of being perceived as a trustworthy but an "outdated" company. In order to change that perception, it was essential not just to refresh its brand portfolio but also the attitude of the people running the company. The focus on performance increased manifold. She also hired a lot of young employees in the age group of 25-30 to bring in fresh thinking. "Every employee was encouraged to think innovatively. If we promoted a person we told him or her that it wasn't a pat on the shoulder but meant pressing the speed button on the treadmill."

The two innovations that Nisaba is particularly proud off are GoodKnight Fast Card, a mosquito repellant priced at Rs 1, and Godrej Expert Creme Hair Colour, which is packaged in Rs 30 sachets. GCPL is also tapping into the premium segment. It also rolled out a range of premium hand wash and hand sanitizers under the Protekt brand.

Vivek Gambhir, Managing Director, Godrej Consumer Products, said Nisaba is the key architect of GCPL's transformation. "She has been the ultimate visionary."

Nisaba said one of the reasons for GCPL's stellar growth is her ability to hire people who are smarter and better than her. Her best hire so far, she says, has been Gambhir, who joined the company in 2009 as the chief strategy officer from consulting firm Bain & Company.

In the last decade, Nisaba has played key role in GCPL's strategy and transformation and has served on the GCPL Board of Directors since 2011.

She was the brain behind the company's Project Leapfrog initiated in 2007 under which GCPL accelerated domestic organic growth through innovation and consolidation and at the same time went global by investing in emerging markets outside of India.

During the period, GCPL's market capitalisation increased 20-fold from Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore.

Currently, almost half of the company's revenue comes from overseas markets.

In the fiscal ended March 31, 2017, GCPL posted total income from operations of Rs 9,608.08 crore as compared to Rs 8,753.06 crore in 2015-16.

Nisaba has also been credited with institutionalising design-driven thinking in the company and she directly leads product development.

Nisaba's previous assignments within the Godrej Group include successful turnaround of Godrej Agrovet and the creation of a group strategy function to oversee the group s portfolio.

Commenting on her elevation, she said her father's disciplined, results driven and humble approach will always be the core of the group's DNA.

Nisaba is the second among three children of Adi Godrej.

Eldest daughter Tanya Dubash is Executive Director and Chief Brand Officer of the Godrej Group, while youngest son Pirojsha Godrej is the Executive Chairman of Godrej Properties.

Adi Godrej said he would continue to serve the GCPL Board.

(with PTI inputs)