Ronak Mashru, General Manager of UK & Ireland for Glanbia Performance Nutrition was recently recognised as a diversity and inclusion role model in the Consumer Goods and Grocery sector by The MBS Group Intelligence and IGD (Institute of Grocery Distribution). In partnership with PWC, these two organisations launched a first of its kind study into Diversity and Inclusion within the consumer goods and grocery sector. MBS and IGD set out to recognise people from diverse backgrounds to demonstrate the breadth and depth of inspiring talent in the sector.
According to MBS and IGD: ‘These role models were nominated and selected because of their inspiring leadership, their wider contribution to the sector or society, their success as a mentor or sponsor of D&I issues and their track record of supporting and publicly committing to D&I initiatives. In a difficult year, they are also leaders who have shown strength during the Covid-19 pandemic.’
Glanbia is on a journey to creating a more inclusive culture and we look forward to rolling out a new number of initiatives in 2021.
We are really proud of Ronak – you can read more about his inspiring story and career to date in the interview below.
Ronak Mashru is the General Manager, UK&I, Glanbia Performance Nutrition
My story starts with my family. My grandad and parents are East African and came to the UK from Uganda in the early 1970s. There, they were successful business owners who had a good life. But then came ldi Amin's. military coup of 1971, and all Indians were forced to leave Uganda. My family felt fortunate to be welcomed by the UK, a gratitude that runs deep. I came out of this lovely clash of cultures and enjoy both, with that classic Indian upbringing of people coming in and out of the house all the time.
I graduated from UCL and Cambridge but actually got a job as a stand-up comedian! I did that for a couple of years, so I was able to experience something different before joining P&G and starting a career in consumer goods. I was at P&G for six years, with Diageo for seven. At Diageo it was great to be at the forefront of a lot of diversity conversations, particularly in the last couple of years there. It was becoming a much bigger topic. Then I joined Red Bull in the role of Commercial Director. I found that at Red Bull you were very much allowed to be yourself. But all of that opportunity and setup, I think, goes back to the graft and hard work I learned from my grandad.
About five years ago, I was asked what my dream job would be and I said I'd love to be the MD of a health nutrition business with growth ahead of it. lt's exciting to be in that position now. The additional challenge of the pandemic means we are in an even better position to make an impact on the nation's health. To have the chance to make some difference feels good.
Have you had any career role models?
Yes, there was my grandad for a start and also leaders I'm currently working with. A senior leader suggested two books he wanted us to read- Rebel Ideas and The Growth Mindset. It's great to be working as part of an organisation where this is going to be the mindset.
As a leader, is there, something, you do to actively and personally to create an inclusive environment?
Yes, and one is hiring decisions. I'm always curious about who we hire and what they're going to add to add to the team, particularly at the leadership level. And then I also look on a cultural level. I'm a believer in building cultures from the bottom up with support and coaching from leadership teams. If company culture is shaped by the team, then everyone can buy into it straight away because they've been central to forming it.
What do you think are the main benefits of having a, diverse, workforce
The right thing to do is to foster a workforce that is representative of your consumer base, and a workplace where people feel they can be themselves. I think the more diverse a workforce you've got, the more likely you are to have a culture that's resilient enough to handle the ambiguity and volatility we will go through - and are going through at this time.
Is there any particular challenge that you've learned from the most?
I definitely have a desire to be successful in everything I commit to but in reality, most of your learning comes from harder times-so I'm trying to enjoy and embrace the setbacks as opposed to worrying about them.
What do you hope your sector will look like in five to 10 years' time?
I think there are already some great things happening, especially in terms of recognising our industry’s responsibility to the nation's health. This is definitely one of the reasons I joined Glanbia - and you can see us all working together on that. Food and grocery is also a well networked, social industry, where people look out for each other. I hope that continues.
What are the biggest challenges preventing further progress on D&I ln the sector?
I think everyone realises we're not perfect, but the more individual experiences you hear about, the more you learn. I think there are two challenges. The first is ensuring we focus on individual experiences, not generalisations. The second is making sure that D&I is recognised as the driver of, performance it is, instead of getting focused on short- term metrics.
If you'd not had your career in business what would you have done?
I would have been a comedian. I definitely wouldn't have taken over dad’s corner shop-that was hard work. I enjoyed my time as a comic, because even then it gave me a platform to talk about a clash of cultures.
Has there been a book that’s inspired you along the way?
The Founders Mentality from Bain &. Co speaks a lot about never ignoring that frontline employee, as they are closest to consumers and what the business needs.
Any final D&I observations?
At a corporate level, we are doubling down our efforts in this area, with sponsorship from our CFO, Mark Garvey. We're working· with a company called Mix Diversity to shape our thinking and we've kicked off focus groups to see what's working and what's not. I'd like to think, just in the 12 months l've been here, the change that I've seen in gender diversity alone has been visible.