Leena Nair: From Being Unilever's Youngest Ever CHRO To French Fashion Group Chanel's Global CEO

Adding another feather to her cap, Leena Nair, the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of Hindustan Unilever, was on Tuesday named as the global CEO of French fashion group Chanel.

Leena, who has been a trailblazer at Unilever for about 30 years and is also a member of Unilever Leadership Executive, will take up this new assignment in January 2022 and be based in London.

Currently aged 52, Nair has the rare distinction of being the first female, first Asian, as well as the youngest-ever CHRO of Unilever, which is in itself is a household name globally in beauty & personal care and foods & refreshment segments.

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Her journey at Unilever

Nair¡¯s journey at Unilever began way back in 1992 when she joined as a management trainee. And over the decades, she has kept on rising and learning in the company, and has taken up many roles, from Factory Personnel Manager of Lipton (India) Ltd in 1993 to Management Development Planning Manager of Hindustan Lever in 1997, and also as Employee Relations Manager of Hindustan Lever in 1996.

Also Read: Here's Everything You Need To Know About Leena Nair, The New CEO Of French Fashion House 'Chanel'

Her emphasis on diversity and inclusion

Leena has always placed a great emphasis on diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Within just a month of being made HR Director India at Unilever, she extended the maternity policy, introduced the flexibility policy to work out of home, and boosted the proportion of women in the workforce in Unilever from 3% to 30% today.

And in 2007, Leena became the first woman in the Management Committee of Unilever in 90 years to head the HR department. A year later, she also became the first woman to be on the Unilever South Asia Leadership Team.

Her Background

Leena Nair, who is admired for her people-centric approach to leadership, was born in Kolhapur, Maharashtra in 1969, and is an XLRI Jamshedpur alumna. She has been featured on Fortune India¡¯s Most Powerful Women 2021 list as well.

She becomes the second Indian-origin woman after Indra Nooyi to become Global CEO. Nooyi, who is also a mentor to Nair, was the global CEO for PepsiCo in 2006 before stepping down in 2018.

Also Read: 7 Great Leadership Lessons From PepsiCo's CEO Indra Nooyi

The new innings and road ahead

Leena¡¯s new innings would be at The French fashion group Chanel, which was founded in 1910 in Paris by fashion legend Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, and is one of the world's largest luxury goods groups.

Leena Nair will replace Alain, who served as the group¡¯s global CEO since the exit of Maureen Chiquet in 2016. Alain Wertheimer is a French Billionaire, who owns the company with his brother Gerard Wertheimer, and is set to take up the role of global executive chairman of the group and be replaced by Leena as Group CEO.

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