COVID-19: INTERVIEW WITH IMANE ZAOUI, GENERAL BUSINESS MANAGER, NESTLE MOROCCO

“Our biggest challenge: instilling new reflexes”

What is Nestlé’s situation in Morocco today?

Since the beginning of the crisis, business has continued with the necessary adjustments. All jobs have been kept and several priorities have been set. The first concerns the safety of all our employees, whether they work at our production unit in El Jadida, in logistics, in the sales force or at head office. In all our premises, we have introduced social distancing measures and made the wearing of masks compulsory. In El Jadida, the teams work in sealed-off shifts so that they do not meet. As for the other functions, they are working remotely.

Our second priority is to ensure business continuity, because we offer staple products. This is a responsibility towards Moroccan society. In addition, it was also necessary for us to honour our commitment to the 6,000 farmers involved in our milk collection, a good part of whose daily resources depend on continued operations with us. Especially as this crisis coincided with Ramadan, which sees an increase in milk consumption… We had to show adaptability and agility to honour our commitments. And all our teams were fully mobilised to that end.

The third priority was solidarity and fulfilling our role as a corporate citizen. Nestlé thus answered the call of His Majesty King Mohammed VI by contributing 4 million dirhams to the National Fund dedicated to the fight against Covid-19, half as a donation and the other half in products.

How do you approach a possible return to work?

The teams are eager to get back to working in the office, but we are not going to act hastily.

We have set up a committee that is working on all the measures to be put in place for a return to the premises. We will first wait for the authorities’ guidelines and then we will act gradually. As long as we can, we will encourage remote working.

At head office, we are working on layouts that respect social distancing and all safety standards: door handles, signage, disinfection equipment… Because the biggest challenge is instilling new reflexes. What is certain is that departments will be organised into teams that will work on a rotating basis so as not to have too many employees at head office at the same time.

What could be the positive aspect of this crisis?

In fact, I was impressed by the agility and adaptability of my teams. Nestlé has always acted in favour of flexibility. In this respect, the crisis accelerated things and showed that other, equally effective, ways of working are possible. Some feared a drop in productivity. For us, the opposite was the case: the teams were very efficient. Of course, technology is there to help us, but the employees are showing unity. Everyone is contributing their piece of the puzzle and finding satisfaction in their contribution. I am very proud of and very impressed by the level of commitment of my teams.