THE WINNER OF THE CEO of the Year Award at the GG2 Leadership Awards, Salmin Amin has had something of a baptism of fire.
Amin is the relatively new CEO of pladis, the biscuits and chocolates giant that is parent to McVitie’s and GODIVA, taking the reins in late 2019.
He has been credited with reviving the company, making global efforts to put diversity and inclusion at the top of the agenda, and setting the tone for his team to lead the way.
Pakistan-born Amin had less than a year as CEO under his belt before the cataclysm of the pandemic and lockdown hit the market. Covid-19, however, left this graduate of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management seemingly unfazed, and pladis has seen its brands strengthen during the 2020 emergency. It merely underlined Amin’s reputation as one of the most talented and capable brand experts around.
Amin’s particular talent is perhaps entwined with his life journey, which demonstrates several turns on the route to where he is today. It began in Lahore, where his family lived and where he went to school.
“I was 17 years old,” he told the GG2 Power List previously. “I (had) just finished my A-levels in Pakistan at the time and it was sort of expected that if I did reasonably well, it made sense to go abroad to study. So, I went on to university in the US, really to study engineering.”
He completed his degree and looked set on a conventional path – he was labouring in the field, or under the field to be more exact, wearing his hi-vis jacket and hard hat. He knew even then he wanted to go in a different direction but wasn’t sure if it would be a gentle curve or a hairpin bend that was involved.
“For a whole host of reasons I decided to go and study business at the Kellogg School. And that's where the big epiphany for me was.
He continued: “There were two big things that I learned at business school, beyond the subject matter that one studies.
“`````````One was a tolerance for ambiguity: in effect, the uncertainty of certainty. And that, for me was a massive ‘Aha!’ that has continued to be with me to this day. How do you deal with ambiguity and still function? How do you still make decisions despite ambiguity?
“The other thing,” he continues, “was to really understand and frame the question you want the answer to. Because many times you go down rabbit holes, and you think you've got the right question. But in fact, we're not quite asking precisely the question that you need to.”
After completing business school, Amin joined Procter and Gamble, where he would stay for a decade, working in several countries – he has lived and worked in the US, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and the UK – managing brands. His positions, including marketing director, covered multiple consumer categories including hair care, paper products and food.
The experience he gained at P&G primed him for later adventures, including 17 years at PepsiCo, where he rose to become global chief marketing officer, fine-tuning one of the widest and most recognisable brand stables in the world.
During his time at PepsiCo, which included five years as president of UK & Ireland business, followed by four years as global chief marketing officer (CMO), Amin developed and marketed its snacks portfolio across the world, while also driving forward its ‘front-of-pack’ labelling initiative – high-visibility panels which display information about a product’s nutrition and ingredients, to help consumers make healthier choices and avoid chronic diseases.
Before his latest appointment at pladis, Amin was in post as chief operating officer of the global commercial division of US chemicals giant S.C. Johnson & Son.
In 2009, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from De Montfort University. He is on the board of ITV plc as well as on the global advisory board for his business alma mater, the Kellogg School of Management.
Amin’s is a voice we can predict will increasingly be heard in both business and culture. And Amin’s is an important voice, for diversity and inclusion in the workforce as much as his market acumen.
“I think a diverse and inclusive company will almost always deliver better business results,” he explained. “You don't have to take my word for it. There have been a number of studies that have been done, which show how when boards and management teams and managers are made up of diverse individuals, in an inclusive company with diversity of ideas as well – as a way of thinking – those businesses always prosper economically.
“I think it’s the case for doing what's right, because I believe we are better when we resemble the populations that we serve. And we are better because we understand those populations better then, and deliver better results,” he added.
In his acceptance speech at the GG2 Leadership & Diversity Awards, Amin said: “At Pladis we are on a journey which we believe is focussed on parity, equity and on being a perpetual learning organisation.
“We believe that building inclusion, shapes the right culture and, we are determined to build an inclusive company.”
A year earlier, he had convened a global external advisory board made up of established leaders in the field of inclusion and diversity to support pladis’ journey to build a vibrant, inclusive and diverse workforce.
“As we continue to build a culture that celebrates our differences and values inclusion, we must be challenged by both our colleagues and by external voices. That is one of the key reasons for setting up this board,” Amin commented at the time.
Amin added that he “cared deeply” about the cause and considered it important the workforce reflects the diverse customer base of the business. “My mission is to ensure pladis is a place where diverse, bright, ambitious and passionate people come and thrive,” he said.
