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Newcomer to fashion. Iconic luxury brand Chanel—recognized for its couture, perfumes, and purses—has recently hired its first woman of Indian descent, Leena Nair, to lead it. The role represents the start of her career in the fashion industry and as CEO. Switching from her prior employer—a consumer goods company with hundreds of brands and a presence in nearly 200 countries—to an exclusive label called for a mindset shift, Nair explained. [Fortune]
Trailblazer. As the new CEO of Chanel, Leena Nair says she’s in “a completely different world” than when she was at Unilever as its chief human resources officer (CHRO). Nair, who started the job in January 2022, was selected to lead the luxury brand by its board of directors, as well as by its chair and co-owner. Not having served as CEO before, Nair was a somewhat unconventional pick for the company. But she says she brings plenty of strengths from Unilever, including “scale, size, and globality.” [WSJ]
Break with tradition. The COVID-19 pandemic broke traditional models of employment, says Leena Nair, former CHRO of Unilever, in an interview with McKinsey alum Mary Meaney. Creating personalized solutions for employees in 190 countries has been a huge challenge, Nair explains. To help, Unilever developed a platform called COVID Awareness and Situation Intelligence that can predict infection and hospitalization rates. Local leaders were able to use the platform’s data to decide when to open an office.
Working dynamically. Even before the pandemic, Unilever was investing in digital tools that enable people to work fluidly, Nair says. One digital tool matches people who have capacity in particular areas with those who are looking for those skills. In 2020, that enabled Unilever to move resources from the hard-hit parts of the business to those that were growing. About 10,000 employees have been redeployed or have used the platform, Nair adds. See five lessons Unilever’s past CHRO says she’s learned since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
— Edited by Belinda Yu, editor, Atlanta
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