Greif’s Watson (CONT’D FROM PAGE 1 )
feel safe,” Watson said — while the importance of account- ability aligned to value creation is also addressed. The Greif Way also espouses that the company must seek to deliver a superior customer experience, create value for customers through a solutions-based approach, and earn customers’ trust and loyalty. The Greif Way addresses ‘Enhanced Performance’ through value-driven growth — “Nothing creates value unless you do it for the customer,” Watson said — margin and free cash flow expansion via the Greif Business Sys- tem, and integrating sustainability to the company’s busi- ness model. “The environment and sustainability have to be core to the business,” said Watson, who spoke of the relentless pursuit of continuous improvement, especially in regards to marginal gains. “If every one of our 16,500 employees can make a small but significant improvement
to our customers’ experiences every day, then those mar- ginal gains become very significant over time,” he said. Like most companies, Greif faced a massive upheaval from Covid-19. From supply chain disruptions to econom- ic uncertainty, nothing personally affected Watson more
than the inability to visit face-to-face with his multi-national team members. “You cannot lead culture from behind a desk,” he said. This meant that, like many others, Watson had to turn to Zoom, but he has worked around the clock to make certain to stay in touch with team members and to hear what they have to say. “To be a leader, you must first listen,” he said. “In addition, you must respect people’s time, employees and customers. So, if I am doing a Zoom meeting with someone who is overseas, we conduct the call on their time. That means if I have to make the Zoom call at 4:00 a.m. my time, I’m happy to do so. I want people to know, as part of our culture, that their time is important to me.” Watson also shared the Core Values at the heart of The Greif Way: Ethical : We can be trusted to do what is right. Grief’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics guides our decisions and actions. Strong through diversity : We encourage and embrace our diversity of culture, lan- guage, location and thought. Our differences define but do not divide us; our common inter- ests unite us. From the many we are one: Greif. Serious about sustainability : We honor our history as we focus on our future. We use fi- nancial, natural and human resources wisely without compromising the ability of future gen- erations to meet their needs. Committed to continuous improvement : We always look for ways to make our work, products, services, and our company better. As a parting thought, Watson made it clear that there is nothing accidental about a com- pany’s culture. “You must be intentional in driv- ing culture.”
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August 16, 2021
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