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Cleaning Up In 1913, five California entrepreneurs invested $100 apiece to make bleach using water from the salt ponds around San Francisco Bay. The next year, the company acquired a plant in Oakland, a diamond-shaped logo, and a corporate name derived from the words "chlorine" and "sodium hydroxide." While Clorox's bleach and diamond logo are still the company's best-known assets, capturing 62 percent of the U.S. market, the company has been acquiring other well-known cleaners and insecticides since the late 1960s. Pine-Sol, Soft Scrub, S.O.S Pads, Liquid-Plumr, and Black Flag are all Clorox brands - as are products as diverse as Kingsford charcoal briquettes, Fresh Step cat litter, and Hidden Valley salad dressing. Clorox also benefits from a significant presence abroad: the company has workers in 70 countries including Australia, China, Canada, Japan, Russia, and conutries in Latin America and the Middle East. It's all in the brand With more than 40 well-known brand names, brand management is crucial for Clorox, which has lately emphasized growth in its laundry, household cleaning, and insecticide businesses. The company also makets Brita water filtration systems, a product that has enjoyed rapidly increasing sales over the last few years. Part of Clorox's strategy for the 1990s has been expansion overseas, especially in Latin America and Asia. International sales now comprise 18 percent of Clorox's total revenue. And the firm continues to churn out new products: in its 1998 fiscal year, Clorox shot out 41 new ones. Still not bad Financially, Clorox has pleased shareholders in recent years - Clorox profits have consistently exceeded analysts' expectations, a happy state of financial affairs that has driven Clorox's stock price skyward. In the five years leading up to 1999, the Clorox stock price zoomed up 372 percent. Clorox has an internal measure of performance called the Clorox Value Measure, adopted in 1993 to correlate with stockholder value. That measure grew 20 percent in 1996, and a still-not-bad 10 percent in 1997. Without much hype, Clorox has steadily risen through the ranks of the Fortune 1000, by nurturing its flagship brand and acquiring companies that complement its core competencies. Welcoming First Brands In 1999, the company acquired Glad bag and STP motor-oil maker First Brands Corporation for $2 billion, becoming the largest household manufacturer and marketer in the U.S. German consumer products giant Henkel has paid attention to Clorox's healthy earnings since 1974. Henkel now owns 30 percent of Clorox stock, and the two firms share research efforts and R&D knowledge. But other investors haven't seemed all to happy with the acquisition - the stock has fallen as much as 40 percent since the acquisition.
Clorox does most of its hiring through on-campus recruiting, employees report. "There is a certain level of snobbism at Clorox when it comes to the school one came from," says one Clorox insider. "Generally the company recruits directly at the college interviews," advises another. "However, if you are aggressive, you can be quite successful if you contact the company directly and are willing to make a trip to Oakland." Clorox lists its recruiting schedule on its web site, located at www.clorox.com. The company's extensive career web pages also allows applicants to e-mail resumes, and breaks down job opportunities by department and qualifications. Many of the departments in Clorox offer rotational programs designed to give new hires an overview of the company. Those looking to find positions as associate marketing managers with a Clorox brand unit should expect stiff competition: "The brand management program generally only recruits MBA's from top business schools," says one insider. "I am aware of only a couple of instances in my nine years at Clorox that we have hired undergraduates into brand." One summer brand intern remarks that the brand personnel "are all intelligent, highly motivated individuals from top MBA schools." However, another marketing insider says that while "the company is generally looking for MBAs in marketing. BAs do slip in too." The company's entry-level finance and accounting development program (FADP), unlike its marketing function, "recruits primarily from undergraduate business schools," insiders tell us. That program looks for candidates with an undergraduate business or economics degree and a minimum 3.0 GPA, employees tell us. For R&D position at the tech center, insiders say, "Clorox recruits pretty aggressively at several West Coast universities, but not very much elsewhere." Clorox lists its recruiting schedule on its web site, located at www.clorox.com. The company?s extensive career web pages also allow applicants to e-mail resumes, and sift through job opportunities by department and qualifications. All functions report a mix of technical and fit questions during the interview process: "Usually interviewers are interested in your background, your interpersonal skills, your problem-solving skills, your technical skills, your prior experience and so on." One R&D insider reports: "a candidate will typically have five to seven interviews of approximately 20 minutes each during the day. You have three to four interviews before lunch, then the host takes you and up to two other persons out to lunch, then you have two to three interviews after lunch."
The numbers crunch Insiders describe Clorox's culture as driven by specific goals, and, as such, more constrained and less freewheeling than some of its West Coast counterparts. "We are a very analytical organization, and pride ourselves in knowing just about everything there is to know about our business from a quantitative numbers standpoint," reports one employee. "It is an atmosphere of strong direction and purpose," says an insider in research and development. "We are results oriented - hitting the number - but we are willing to take appropriate business risks," says another. One marketing insider puts it more bluntly: "Either you make your numbers on a fairly consistent basis, or you should start looking for employment elsewhere." This insider says there is "something of an up-or-out policy" in brand. Conservatives united With respect to this emphasis on goals, "a lot of people in the industry have compared our culture to that of P&G," says one insider. Those familiar with Procter & Gamble's notoriously bureaucratic and professional culture will know that being compared to P&G isn't exactly like winning a beauty contest: "The work culture is very conservative - not very dynamic but still interesting," notes one marketing insider. Says one insider, "I think Clorox is a satisfying place if you can adapt to the somewhat East Coast style of management." And yet another reports that "as with most corporations, Clorox has its issues with respect to bureaucracy, particularly with respect to getting appropriate sign-off on special projects and other brand management decisions." Female role models Although Clorox may have an "East Coast" style of management and culture, it is West Coast progressive in certain aspects. "There's very good representation of both women and minorities," says one insider in a function with close contact with brand employees. "Half of my brand manager counterparts are women, with about the same proportion in junior marketing roles. Half of my brand manager counterparts are members of ethnic minorities." "We had an African-American vice president who left the company in the past year to head up another company," another insider remarks. "I think we have room for improvement when it comes to ethnic minorities, but we have ample representation from which to draw." "We're a pretty diverse group of people, with many women and minorities in key positions," says one R&D worker. One marketing insider remarks that the company has "great female role models." "I know several women in management positions and we now have a woman on the Clorox board," says another employee. "She got huge applause at the yearly meeting." Livin' large outside of the office Employees are also proud of the company's community involvement. "Clorox is very active in community affairs," boasts one. "During the annual United Way fund raising drives that occur late each year, Clorox has ranked No. 1 in total contributions the last five years of all Bay Area companies. I think that says something about our company and its people." "They encourage community service and participation in outside activities," says another. "They want you to have a life outside of work." "It's almost an expectation that Clorox people will personally get involved in some non-profit venture (schools, churches, community activities, etc.," says one employee. "I think that's one of the most important things about us that really sets us apart from most other organizations." Artsy awakening Clorox is also trying to instill a more entrepreneurial atmosphere. "We tend to give people significant levels of responsibility at relatively early points in their career," says one insider. "There is a strong push for creativity. Creativity meetings, programs and incentives are in place rewarding unusual or creative thinking. Activities like off-site team-building and creativity seminars are common." Summing up the mix of old-business and forward-looking culture, one employee says that "you have to consider that Clorox is working from a very conservative background. That being said, it is my perception that our current management is very open-minded about evolving the company into something that is successful and sustainable into the next decade."
Attn: Corporate Staffing, Dept. INJCM Human Resources P.O.Box 243051 Oakland CA 94623 (510) 271-7625 (510) 208-2673
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