L'Oreal

The overview

L’Oréal is one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, manufacturing and selling a wide range of beauty products for both women and men. Based in France, it was founded in 1909 by a chemist named Eugene Schueller. It now operates in around 130 countries around the world, and achieved turnover of €19.5b in 2010.

Its core L’Oréal Paris brand is well known for its famous (and oft-parodied) advertising slogan, ‘Because you’re worth it’, but the company also owns many other popular hair and skincare brands, including:

• Biotherm
• Body Shop
• Diesel
• Garnier
• Kiehl’s (this even includes some pet products)
• Lancome
• Maybelline NY
• Redken
• Softsheen Carson
• Vichy.

This portfolio gives the company a wide-ranging appeal; reportedly, 67 per cent of UK women use at least one of its products, and four of its products are purchased by UK consumers every second.

Research and development

The company also has a strong research division, which focuses on improving scientific knowledge of colour, skin, and hair and developing new and innovative products. For example, one of the current projects involves a pill to prevent grey hair. A total of €669m was spent on cosmetic and dermatological research in 2010, with 612 new patents registered. L’Oréal owns 18 research centres around the world, in France, China and the US.

Business opportunities

The company has set a target of gaining one billion new customers by 2020, and has adopted various strategies to meet this goal. For example, it has been expanding its operations in emerging markets such as India and Mexico in recent months, and for good reason: sales at its Indian subsidiary alone are reportedly growing at 30 per cent each year. The company aims to achieve 50% of sales from emerging markets within 10 years.

Other major growth initiatives include:

• An increased focus on male grooming products, promoted via social media.
• Adapting its global products to reflect the different tastes of consumers in each market.
• Seeking new acquisition targets.

Rankings and awards

• Listed in the Euronext CAC 40 index (an index of the French stock market based on its top 40 companies).
• Ranked 96 in 2011 FT Global 500 (the Financial Times’s snapshot of the world’s largest companies).
• Ranked 121 in the 2011 BrandFinance Global 500 (which attempts to assess the ‘value’ of global brands).
• Ranked 4 in the 2011 BrandFinance ranking of the world’s top cosmetics brands.
• Came 15 in the 2011 Interbrand ‘Best Global Green Brands’ ranking.
• Ranked 45 in the 2010 Interbrand ‘Best Global Brands’ list.
• Voted tenth best company to work for on UK employee review site TheJobCrowd.
• Won the 2011 TARGETjobs award for most popular employer in the consumer goods sector.

Salary and benefits

Starting salary
£28,000.

Operational salary (comes into force on completion of the one-year graduate programme)
£29,500.

Other benefits

• 25 days’ holiday per annum (increases over time)
• Contributory pension scheme (awarded a Pension Quality Mark)
• Profit-sharing scheme
• Life assurance
• Private medical insurance
• Discounts on dental care
• Discounts on various products at the staff shop
• Subsidised gym membership
• Social events such as a monthly free bar
• ‘Lifestyle’ benefits including dry-cleaning services, childcare vouchers, and early Friday finishing times during the summer.

Culture and values

The company’s ‘core values’ include:

• A passion for adventure.
• Enrichment through diversity.
• Leading innovation in beauty.
• Striving for excellence.
• Valuing individual talent.

These are aligned with the competencies it looks for in its staff, which include innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Together, these underscore the perpetual sense of change in the beauty industry.

Young and fun culture

Staff cite the lively, youthful workforce as one of the highlights of working for L’Oréal.

The company’s culture is frequently described as ‘young’ and ‘fun’ by its staff, who cite the lively, youthful workforce as one of the highlights of working for L’Oréal. The term ‘meritocratic’ is also commonly used, indicating that hard work is usually rewarded, and many employees have also expressed enthusiasm about the level of responsibility they were given even in the early stages of their careers.

Potential downsides can include long hours and high pressure levels, according to some. However, most say they work standard office hours, and are given the freedom to manage their own workloads.

After-hours activities

Most current and former graduates say there is a good social scene within the company, with regular outings and sporting events such as weekly five-a-side football tournaments. In the past, social activities have included comedy nights, pub trips and a football holiday in Sweden. There are also various conferences to attend, and the company holds a free bar for employees each month.

Internal communications

The company cites outstanding communication as vital to its operations. Accordingly, a number of communication-based training courses are made available to staff, including those on:

• Media relations.
• Negotiation techniques.
• Presentation skills.
• Personal effectiveness.

Openness and freedom of speech are also ‘welcomed’ by the company, with employees encouraged to engage in ‘open exchanges’ of opinion and to interact freely with people of all levels. This in turn helps support the flat, informal working environment that the company aims to establish for its employees.

Diversity in the workplace

As perhaps may be expected from a beauty company, the majority of L’Oréal’s global workforce is female, with women representing 63 per cent of staff in 2010. Women also accounted for 54 per cent of managers, but only 21.4 per cent of the executive committee.

The company stresses the importance of equality in employment, and has introduced various initiatives to help ensure fairness in training and remuneration. For example, it has signed deals with trade unions to review remuneration practices, and has delivered diversity training to thousands of managers across Europe since 2006.