Surprise and delight at Woolies’ new CEO pick

UNUSUALLY for the CEO of a major retailer, Woolworths’s newly appointed CEO, Zyda Rylands, seems to shun the limelight. This means two of the most striking aspects of the appointment may not get the media exposure they deserve.

Rylands is not only the first black CEO of a major South African retailer, she is also the first female CEO.

In terms of employment equity this puts Woolworths well ahead of the pack. Pick n Pay is a distant second but Spar and Shoprite hardly even feature in the transformation stakes.

The big retailers don’t need to cosy up to the government as much as companies that rely on government business or licences, but with most of their employees and customers likely to be female and black, there are sufficient reasons to transform.

Rylands, who is a nonexecutive director of the Black Management Forum, says competence comes before colour and gender. “Having said that, I would like to see more women in business across all sectors,” she said.

“As a leader, I welcome and encourage diversity as it brings the depth and variety of insight, experience and knowledge that we need to succeed as a South African and African retailer,” Rylands said in an e-mailed response to questions.

Rylands’s appointment to the top job has caused as much surprise as her 2010 appointment to head Woolworths Food.

Ahead of that appointment, Rylands, a qualified chartered accountant who joined Woolworths in 1995, held the unusual title of “director of people and transformation” at Woolworths and headed support services.

“We were surprised by the move to head up food,” says someone who worked in the group at the time. “With a BCom and work experience in human resources, many of us thought Zyda would be too risk-averse to make a success of food, but we were proved totally wrong.”

Food has been Woolworths’s strongest division since Rylands took over. She drove the increase in the group’s market share by bringing in national brands to complement Woolworths brands and encouraging consumers to do not just convenience shopping but their monthly shopping at Woolworths.

Analysts are impressed by her but most have not met her. Although she attends all the AGMs she is not always at results presentations. Asief Mohamed of Aeon Investment Management, who has not met Rylands, welcomed the move because of her track record and because she has come through the ranks.

Retail analyst Syd Vianello has met Rylands, describing her as “an amazing person”. “She did not need a profile, she’s always just getting on with the job.”

The one occasion that Rylands did break cover was to deal with the media backlash around Woolworths’s copying of Frankie’s Ginger Beer. The spat between the family-run Frankie SHY?: Zyda Rylands first headed the food division and Woolworths made a significant dent in the brand, with management seen as bullies.

This may have persuaded Rylands not to engage publicly with the BDS campaigners determined to stop Woolworths importing any goods from Israel.

Rylands says her new position will not lead to any change in how the group engages with BDS. “Woolworths has no political affiliations. We respect the constitutional rights of organisations to express their views lawfully without infringing the rights of others. We respect our customers’ right to make individual choices, which is why we clearly label every product’s country of origin.”

Rylands didn’t need a profile, she just gets on with the job