A senior colleague at work recently mentioned that Procter and Gamble [PG] recruited his daughter as a management trainee. She would work at the corporate headquarters in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. He said, “She interviewed at General Electric [GE] and got rejected in the last round of interviews. She was very disappointed; GE was her top choice.”
General Electric’s management practices and vast managerial talent are widely recognized as one of the world’s best. Its leadership development program and the John F. Welch Leadership Center at Crotonville, New York state, receive wide publicity, especially in the print media.
Procter and Gamble is equally well known as one of the best breeding grounds for managers. Its reputation for hiring the best young talent, training them rigorously, and challenging them with opportunities in marketing, product strategy and operations is legendary.
“Many CEOs and top managers in corporate America are Procter and Gamble alumni,” I explained to my colleague that his daughter out to be thrilled she joined Procter and Gamble. “So, she has a chance, haan?” replied my colleague, ending the conversation.
Procter and Gamble Alumni
From memory, I compiled a list of current corporate leaders that, at some point in their careers, worked at Procter and Gamble. Here it is for your reference.
- Jeffrey Immelt, CEO, General Electric
- Steven Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft
- Steve Case, former CEO, America Online (AOL)
- James McNerney, CEO, Boeing
- Margaret Whitman, CEO, eBay
- Stephen Sanger, Chairman and CEO, General Mills
- Crispin Davis, CEO, Reed Elsevier
- Scott Cook, CEO, Intuit (Quickbooks, etc.)
- Michael Szymanczyk, Chairman and CEO, Philip Morris USA
- Paul R. Charron, Chairman, Liz Claiborne
- Bernd Beetz, CEO, Coty
- James Orr, CEO, Convergys
My first job out of college was with P&G in the coffee Division. Great training. An unexpected perk was thevtrading of “damaged” P&G products every Monday at our Affiliated IGA HQ.
My immediate manager was a buffoon. Total turd.
Put my time in then bolted to for J&J. Both solid, trustworthy companies.