Formerly known as Newell Rubbermaid, Newell Brands is a global $10 billion consumer goods company serving over one billion shoppers worldwide. But it hasn’t always been this way. In 2010, the company was struggling to stay competitive with larger, better-funded, more focused competitors. Newell needed a new, transformative strategy and fast. Former CEO of Newell Brands Michael Polk was a member of the Board of Directors of Newell Rubbermaid and was tapped in 2011 to become CEO of the company, a position he held until his retirement in 2019. Newell chose Polk for his experience driving turnarounds on businesses at some of the world’s largest Consumer Products companies, including Unilever and Kraft Foods.
Former CEO of Newell Brands Michael Polk’s Transformation Effort
It wasn’t easy, but over the course of eight years, Michael Polk’s leadership transformed Newell Brands portfolio, organization, growth capabilities, and financials. Polk shares the accomplishments he’s most proud of from his tenure at [Newell Brands](https://ir.newellbrands.com/news-releases/news-release-details/newell-brands-announces-ceo-transition), which led to the company tripling its enterprise value from $5 billion in 2011 to $15 billion in 2019.
From Holding Company to Consumer-Centric Powerhouse
The company was at a crossroads when the transformative leader joined Newell Brands as CEO in 2011. Operating as a loose conglomerate of businesses acquired over time, Newell lacked the focus and integration necessary to compete effectively. Polk saw an opportunity to transform the organization into a consumer goods powerhouse with a singular, strategic focus. “The goal was to make the whole of Newell Rubbermaid greater than the sum of its parts,” Polk explains.
His ambitious plan repositioned Newell Rubbermaid into Newell Brands, a company comprised of seven consumer-facing global operating divisions in writing instruments, baby gear, food storage, camping and recreation, fragranced candles, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and small kitchen appliances and cookware.
To restructure the portfolio, Newell Brands’ CEO Polk led the company to complete 35 M&A transactions—half of which were divestitures. These transactions made it possible to restructure Newell from a holding company to an operating company, which reduced overhead and created more room in the P&L for investment. Simultaneously with the portfolio work, Newell Brands’ Michael Polk also worked to unlock over $500 million in savings, which increased margins. Polk combined this with a drive to strengthen both the brand development capabilities and the digital commerce capabilities leading which increased digital commerce sales from 9% of global sales in 2011 to over 20% by 2019.
Strengthening Leadership
While Michael Polk and his team saved Newell Brands over $500 million dollars with this new organizational structure and way of working, he knew restructuring alone couldn’t turn around the business. Newell Brands also needed to deepen its leadership bench to turn it into an international CPG powerhouse and deliver sustained results.
That’s why Polk’s team prioritized a blend of internal and external development, building a team of marketing, commerce, and supply chain experts while fostering talent throughout the organization. “The progress we made would not have happened without the strengthening of the leadership team and the investment in talent deeper in the organization,” Polk explains.
Sharp Choices and Smart Resource Allocation
Michael Polk is convinced the combination of smart choices of where to play and how to win coupled with disciplined resource allocation to those priorities was key to Newell Brands’ success. Making the harder right decisions about people and program investment didn’t make him the most popular person in the room, but it had to be done. “In many of my experiences, I’ve found that companies are very, very democratic in the way they allocate resources, whether it’s human capital or money,” he explains. “In a situation where you have to drive change, you have to be much more choiceful, and that means you’ve got to take from some businesses and give to others.”
A Legacy of Growth and Gratitude
While there were questions about whether a more aggressive strategic approach to business development would work at Newell Brands, the transformation efforts at Newell were a resounding success. “I feel quite fortunate to have earned the respect and support of my Board through each phase of Newell’s transformation,” he says. “We met or exceeded our external guidance in 30 of the 32 quarters that I served as CEO, delivered significant value to shareholders through the nearly tripling of the enterprise value of the company .”
While Newell Brands’ financial performance is impressive, Polk finds satisfaction and pride in seeing the fruits of his efforts. “I’ve had so many amazing experiences. I’ve been privileged to live this life and career,” he says. “I feel like I’ve earned parts of it, but some of it is being lucky and being in the right place at the right time with the right ideas.”
