About

Responsible for legal, company secretarial and HR, Chris Bignold’s exceptionally wide remit brings with it a panoptic view of Kellogg’s Asia Pacific operations. ‘There has been a lot of learning on the job, particularly in those first 12 months but it has been a very rewarding experience’, he says. ‘As I have developed my capabilities, I have also integrated further into the business and developed new ideas and understanding of it, through the strategic work that I have played a lead role in managing’. Heading a cross-functional team, he has made it a focus to heighten the value legal can add, and promote greater integration. To this end, he spearheaded an internal strategic review, to identify the possibilities available. He has also reorganised the function along specialist lines, aligned with core business areas, and moved key team members to focus on different jurisdictions in the region. ‘This has enabled specialist lawyers to go narrow and deep on key business issues and unlock our key objective of transferring their skills, expertise and business knowledge to provide critical support in other Kellogg markets’, Bignold says. One tangible result of this has been reduced reliance on outside counsel. He also implemented a comprehensive overhaul of all processes, reviewing where to automate, eliminate or outsource, with a view to simplifying them. ‘It was my view that we had to be more agile as a business unit and more tactical on how we deployed our legal budget’. He has also formalised training and talent development within the team, and in Bignold’s view, it is here where his achievements as legal head really begin and end. ‘Above all it’s been the people I have worked with, and had a hand in developing, that has been critical to our success and the biggest highlight of my career’, he says. ‘Watching team mates thrive, develop new capabilities and go on to bigger and better roles, has always been my biggest motivation and the most rewarding part of my role’.