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People
Alberto-Culver was family founded and the family remains key shareholders in the company. Leonard Lavin was the company's first President, CEO and Chairman of the Board. Today he remains as a director and its Chairman Emeritus. His wife Bernice served as the company's vice-chair, secretary and treasurer until her retirement from the board in 2004. Carol Lavin Bernick - the Lavins' daughter - is Executive Chairman of the Alberto-Culver Company. Perhaps because of that tradition, perhaps because of the proven value of a strong culture in driving the company's growth, Alberto-Culver has been and continues to be a leader in recognizing the importance of family values - in its workplace culture and in support of programs in our communities that help families in need -- and in the development of cultural initiatives that enhance communication and create a focused, motivated, innovative, cohesive work force.
In the early 90s, driven by the need to reinvigorate the consumer products business and with extensive surveys of the workplace in hand that identified key problem areas, Carol Bernick launched an overhaul of the company's culture. The key building block for this change was a unique mentoring and communications role called Growth Development Leaders. The responsibilities for this program were assumed by existing managers and directors who had demonstrated people skills. Each GDL has the responsibility for a group of 12-15 employees, in some cases directly drawn from their functional areas and, in many cases not. The GDL assumes the responsibility for serving as a two way communications link between the group and senior management. Company policies, priorities and programs are communicated through the GDLs to their groups and ideas, questions, concerns and rumors and communicated by GDLs to the appropriate management area for response. Through regular meetings with management followed by regular meetings with the groups, through ad hoc meetings addressed to a specific issue, through sessions that address workplace concerns and ways we can work better, the GDL process creates a regular two-way conversation between management and every member of the team. This breakthrough program was profiled in a June, 2001 article in the Harvard Business Review.