Mentholatum was founded in 1889 in Kansas. As the name implies, one of the company’s most prominent ingredients was menthol, extracted from peppermint plants in Hokkaido, Japan. So, it is fitting that the company is now owned by Japan-based Rohto Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd. Manufacturing and marketing for UK, Europe and Middle East customers is based in East Kilbride, Scotland.
Rob Yateman, Managing Director UK, Middle East and Africa, was appointed in 2015 and has a strong interest in building a more inclusive workplace, reaching out to all employees so that there’s understanding of common goals and objectives. However Yateman also wanted to foster two-way communication, listening to the diverse voices around his company’s territory. To deliver on this vision, Mentholatum has taken a path familiar to employee communications professionals, from printing large-scale informational posters distributed around the factory and offices, through to web-based intranets that were challenging to manage and had little take-up outside the office management. To broaden engagements the company also provided factory floor workers with their own tablets. However, these initiatives didn’t improve two-way communication, while also being difficult to manage and refresh.
