3. Accountability Introduced
• October 2005, Gary Rodkin became
President and CEO of ConAgra Foods
– Built leading brands and winning teams
and General Mills, Tropicana, and
Pepsico
– Bachelors from Rutgers; MBA from
Harvard
• One of his first communications was
to introduce his vision – that CAG is a
great company with a bright future
4. Accountability Introduction
• Rodkin immediately introduced three
guiding principles
– Accountability
– Simplification
– Collaboration
• “I’m looking for people who can take these
principles to heart, who live by them, are
already evaluating everything they do
against them and helping others in their
organization embrace them.”
5. Accountability
• We live up to our commitments
• We agree on goals, objectives and
strategies
• We commit to budgets and metrics
• We drive for flawless execution
• We don’t offer excuses
• We offer solutions
6. Accountability
• Rodkin:
“Accountability is really about trust. It begins by
making sure you have the right people with the
right skill sets in the right jobs. Then you agree
on the strategies, objectives and metrics, and
give people the tools they need to get the job
done and trust them to go out and do it. As our
organization evolves, we’re going to be sharing
accountability, which makes it important for us
to get the wiring right, to understand what our
roles and responsibilities are and how we can
team up to get results.”
7. Accountability
• Rodkin:
– After his first year:
• Feels the best about accountability
• 6+ on a scale of 10
• Core of accountability is trust
• Has seen cultures based on “I’m going to tell you what to do”
mentality where leadership doesn’t trust people to execute
• It takes time to break out of that mold; to begin to trust enough
to hold them accountable for meeting clearly communicated
expectations
• Good people respond to accountability; it empowers them to
get the job done
11. Accountability - Supply Chain
• Create a structure that best positions our
people for success
– Eliminate layers and increase spans of control
• Goal:
– Change the way we operate to ensure CAG can
generate and sustain profitable growth
– Focus on fundamentals and get processes right
13. Accountability - Supply Chain
• Taking the lead in accountability
– Attacked cost structure
– Large capital investment for 4 supply
chain-focused systems
• Each provides tools to
– Help cut costs
– Improve planning
– Deliver lowest TDC (total delivered costs)
– Better manage finished goods inventory
– Reduce working capital
14. Accountability - Supply Chain
• Progress and results tied to
– Thinking
– Acting
– Behaving
as one team
• Communication is critical and
expected
• Drives unity and collaboration
16. Accountability in Consumer Affairs
92% of U.S. consumers form their image of a
company based on their experience with
the contact center
Purdue University, Center for Customer-Driven Quality
A typical business hears from only 4% of its
dissatisfied customers – the other 96%
leave, 91% for good
Jim Barnes, Secrets of CRM
17. Accountability in Consumer Affairs
• Vision: To increase consumer loyalty through
our brands and the relationships we build with
our consumers
• Strategy: Enhance and reinforce our
relationship with consumers by providing
information, education and incentives that will
link with our ConAgra portfolio of brands that
span every eating occasion
• Tactic: To own each and every interaction with
our consumers
18. Accountability in Consumer Affairs
Aspects of operations we assumed:
• Hiring
• Training/Coaching
• Turnover
• Employee Engagement
• Scalability of service levels
• Technology
• Productivity
• Type & level of connectedness with consumer
19. Accountability in Consumer Affairs
Placing accountability at the front-line:
• Compensation levels
• Assume ownership past first contact
• Individual decision-making
• Recommendations for improvement
• Manage & set their own schedules
• Determine their office set-up
• No home visits
• Access & encourage reps to listen to their own
recordings
20. Guiding Principles in Consumer Affairs
SIMPLICITY
• In-house vs. managing an outsourcer/contract
COLLABORATION
• Increased collaboration across the company
through new training model
ACCOUNTABILITY
• Through our trust and pushing accountability to
the front-line, our at-home employees feel they
own the relationship with the consumer
21. Results of Accountability
OPTIMIZE . . .
$1m annual savings
increase in consumer wallet share
EXCEED . . .
the expectations of our employees
the expectations of our consumers
NOURISH . . .
our employees
our passion for consumers
22. Summary
• Accountability begins at the top level
• Accountability needs to be defined
– What am I accountable for?
• Goals and objectives, along with metrics
– What are the consequences?
• Good and bad
• We are pleased, but not satisfied
