Portraits in Leadership
Harry Bennett
Sitting on Harry Bennett’s desk is a little plaque that asks, “Is it Estée Lauder?” Ever since Bennett arrived at Estée Lauder 13 years ago as the first (and still the only) vice president of technical packaging, he has initiated standards that help answer that question. These standards measure the extent to which a package design concept meets the company’s engineering requirements, value analysis specifications, and regulatory issues. They are consistent across all of Estée Lauder’s 18 independent brands.
To this end, Bennett has led his team in implementing more than 100 testing procedures and 20 corporate specifications for components, which every brand rigidly follows. These specifications have become the definition of an Estée Lauder package.
Part of Bennett’s responsibility is evaluating new technology that can drive new package development. He is proud of how its use has sped up package development at Estée Lauder. “Twelve years ago, we had one person working on a CAD system who made about 80 three-dimensional models each year. Last year, that same person worked on more than 125 projects and created more than 2000 models,” Bennett says.
Convincing the design teams at Estée Lauder that the engineering team is an asset—not a hindrance—to creativity was one of Bennett’s challenges when he first joined the company. Now, package design has become a true collaboration among everyone involved. A technique known as concurrent engineering is applied during the design phase so that when a packaging concept is approved, it is immediately ready for supplier selection and 90% ready to be manufactured.
Bennett is most surprised at the fast rate at which new technology has become available. “I was always sure of the direction we were moving in, but it is still amazing to me how fast we are getting there,” he comments. Learning how to use new technology can be stressful for anyone, but Bennett has always managed to inspire and motivate his staff.
Bennett began his career formulating personal care products at Philip Morris. Originally trained as a chemist, Bennett says, “There isn’t a day that goes by when that experience in chemical formulation development doesn’t help with my present responsibilities.”
During his years at Avon, Bennett’s career took a turn toward packaging. His formulation background enabled him to lead the group assigned to make ingredient labeling changes when new regulatory issues emerged. Assignments in package development and purchasing followed. Later, he worked for the Shulton division of American Cyanamid, where he became aware of the impact that technology has on packaging. He moved on to L’Oréal (Cosmair at the time), where he was director of package development.
An important lesson in leadership for Bennett has been to learn when to step back and trust his staff. “You have to lead, not do. Sometimes it takes courage to let go of your own personal vision of how a new process should be developed and let someone else drive a project. You need to have faith that you have capable people working for you. This is a wonderful formula for success, and it lets me be just as proud of my staff’s accomplishments as they are themselves,” he explains.
By encouraging suppliers to improve manufacturing capabilities and develop processes that later become available to other companies, Bennett is truly a leader to his team as well as to the entire industry. “It is very exciting to know we are raising the bar for the industry, and it is extremely satisfying to feel that I am challenging my colleagues to reach that same level of performance,” he says.