Last year, as Australia emerged from its pandemic woes, Puma Oceania GM Daniel “Pancho” Gutstein and his executive team brought around 50 employees into head office.
“They didn't know what was going to happen,” Gutstein says. “We just said, Hey, we have a workshop, we'd like you to come.”
Lining the office’s desks were canvasses for each employee, covered in a little white sheet. As they lifted the sheet, they saw a line drawing of their teammates standing next to them. And for the next two hours, they painted their teammate.
“It was about reconnecting and re-seeing each other,” Gutstein says. “And we used that time to talk as a team about how do we move forward?
“How do we take what was good from lockdowns - not there was anything great about it, but it taught us to work more efficiently, taught us to use technology better, it taught us to use video conferencing, it gave more flexibility in terms of managing your life and your job - how do we combine that with the best of before?
“You need people together, you need to collaborate in person, you need to build bonds of trust.”
And so, Gutstein and his team spent a few hours mapping out a whole plan for the brand and its APAC employees. Today, that has manifested into regular monthly connects as a corporate team to continually improve its practices, as well as conducting a net promoter score (NPS) survey with its employees across Australia and New Zealand three times a year.
In Australia, Puma operates 17 stores, an online website and manages its own warehouse distribution centres.
From this and similar global initiatives, Puma was named a top employer in Australia and 21 other countries in 2023 by the Top Employers Institute, with its Asia Pacific (APAC) region adding this title for a second year. Its European region scored this title for the fourth time, while its North American and Latin American regions scored for the first time this year.
The Top Employer survey covers six areas and 20 topics such as people strategy, work environment, talent acquisition, learning, diversity & inclusion and wellbeing.
Gutstein says Puma’s ANZ market has grown on par with its counterparts worldwide over the last several years.
He says this is mostly driven through wholesale distribution in the region, which includes Rebel in both Australia and New Zealand, JD Sports and Footlocker, and Accent Group subsidiaries such as Platypus, Hype DC, Subtype and Tribe. The brand is also distributed through Myer and on The Iconic.
“We've made progress in that space in the last several years with the likes of Rebel and Footlocker and JD and the Accent Group. And I'm really proud of that," Gutstein says.
“We're also really focused on locally creating a culture where people feel empowered, and they feel like they can fly.”
Gutstein says the ongoing NPS surveys are part of Puma’s ongoing strategy around employee retention and growth.
“It really is all about people and making sure they feel seen and heard and supported,” Gutstein says. “And if they're energised, then they're going to deal with the plethora of problems that are going to come our way - these last several years, we've faced a ton.
“What I'm most proud of the brand in Australia/New Zealand is really their determination to face whatever the challenge is, to learn from it, and grow as individuals.
“And consequently, as a business we've grown, and we've improved our presence, and we've improved our brand standing.
“That gives me a lot of optimism as we look towards the future.”