HRD in a values-driven business: The Body Shop International plc

Abstract

Jim McNeish is Head of Global Learning and Development at The Body Shop: an internationally recognized brand specializing in cosmetics and toiletries retailing based on products derived from natural products that are neither tested on animals, nor extracted in a way that is environmentally harmful, nor manufactured by means of exploitative employment practices. The Body Shop is a values-driven business. It rejects traditional marketing in favour of 'campaigns' on environmental, animal and human rights, and also has pioneered the implementation of stakeholding by means of social auditing processes that involve not only customers and suppliers but also the workforce. The dress code is casual, and staff interactions are friendly and informal. Until 1998, Anita Roddick, the charismatic founder of the business in 1976, was Chief Executive of what had become a global business with a turnover of £293 million in 1998. The distinctive green and black Body Shop logo can now be encountered anywhere from Washington DC to Singapore and from Paris to Sidney. However, adverse global trading conditions in the 1997/1998 financial year in both Asia and the USA prompted a major restructure of the business leading to the divestment of manufacturing and wholesaling to a focus upon the core of retail. Jim has been with The Body Shop for over three years after an earlier period of employment with BP. Unusually young for a senior HRD professional (he is 32), he has trained in psychology and is a committed Christian. Jean Woodall interviewed him at The Body Shop headquarters—a huge pagoda just outside Littlehampton, a small town located on the South East coast of the UK. Jean Woodall is Professor of Human Resource Development at Kingston University and Reviews Editor of Human Resource Development International.