Procter & Gamble Polman worked for
Procter & Gamble (P&G) for 27 years, starting in 1979 as a
cost analyst. He later served as managing director of P&G UK from 1995 to 1998, president of global fabric care from 1998 to 2001, and group president for P&G Europe in 2001.
Nestlé Polman joined
Nestlé in 2006 as chief financial officer. In February 2008, he became vice president and head of the Americas branch.
Unilever Polman served as chief executive officer of
Unilever from 2009 to 2019. On 1 January 2009, Polman succeeded
Patrick Cescau as chief executive officer of
Unilever. During his tenure, the company launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, a strategy focused on reducing the company’s environmental impact and expanding social initiatives. He discontinued short-term earnings guidance, stating that quarterly targets encouraged decisions that harmed long-term performance. Polman also said he aims to increase the share of Unilever’s sales in emerging markets from 57 percent (up from 47 percent in 2008) to 70 percent. In 2013 and 2014, Unilever missed sales targets in six of eight quarters, prompting criticism from some shareholders, who questioned Polman’s emphasis on sustainability. Polman cited the shortfalls to currency fluctuations and slower growth in emerging markets rather than company strategy. In 2016, Polman’s total compensation was €8.3 million, including a base salary of €1.2 million. A 2017 Bernstein report ranked Unilever first among peers for market-share gains not driven by acquisitions and rated the company “Outperform". In 2018, the
Financial Times reviewed Polman's ten-year term as chief executive. despite public opposition in the
Netherlands. In October 2018, Unilever cancelled plans to relocate its headquarters from
London to
Rotterdam. In November 2018, it was announced that Polman would step down as
chief executive officer, with
Alan Jope named as his successor, effective 1 January 2019.
Systemiq / Imagine World In July 2019, Polman co-founded Imagine World, an organization focused on
poverty and
climate change. The entity works with corporations on initiatives related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In 2022, Imagine World was acquired by Systemiq, with Polman remaining a board member as well as a major shareholder. Systemiq, a certified
B-Corporation, is an environmental consultancy firm headquartered in London, focused on environmental strategy and climate-related research.
Other activities Polman is a former chair of the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development and sat on the board of directors of the
Consumer Goods Forum, leading its sustainability efforts. He is also a member of board of the
UN Global Compact. At the invitation of UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon, Polman was one of the 27 members of the
UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. At the invitation of former Mexican President
Felipe Calderón, Polman was on the International Council of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. Polman has served on the Global Advisory Board of TPG’s Rise Funds alongside
Bono and
Jeffrey Skoll. He serves as
co-chair of EQT Future Mission Board with
Jacob Wallenberg. Polman is also the co-author of
Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take. 2013He has co-authored a report published by the
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) that criticizes the efforts of the UN's
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as not ambitious enough. Instead of aiming for an end to poverty by 2030, the report, "An Ambitious Development Goal: Ending Hunger and Undernutrition by 2025", called for a greater emphasis on eliminating hunger and undernutrition and achieving this goal by 2025. Polman co-founded the Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition, led by former Dutch prime minister
Jan Peter Balkenende. He is a member of the World Economic Forum International Business Council and the Global Taskforce for Scaling up Nutrition (SUN), and he was part of the European Resource Efficiency Platform Working Group, chaired by European Commissioner
Janez Potočnik. He was co-chair of the
World Economic Forum 2012. He is a counsellor of One Young World and trustee of the Leverhulme Trust. Polman was co-chair of the B-20 Food Security Taskforce. Polman was on the board of Unilever from 2009 to 2019. He was formerly on the boards of
Dow and
Alcon. Polman is also part of the Leadership Vanguard, an initiative aimed at identifying and supporting the next generation of leaders, focusing on redefining value. He has been a member of
IESE's International Advisory Board (IAB) since 2015. He is president of the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, a foundation he created alongside fellow climber
Erik Weihenmayer to benefit blind children in Africa, and chair of the Perkins International Advisory Board. In 2016, Polman was selected by former UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon to be an SDG Advocate, tasked with helping build widespread support for the UN's SDGs. He was again appointed in 2019 by the current Secretary-General of the
United Nations,
António Guterres. Polman is co-chair of the Global Commission for the Economy and Climate, with
Nicholas Stern and
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. He is a member of
The B Team, chairing the group from August 2018 to September 2021. In 2019, Polman was appointed as Chair of the Board for University of Oxford,
Saїd Business School. In 2024, Polman appeared as himself in the Netflix documentary
Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy. ==Personal life==