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Haleon's HR head Matthew Randall knows potential is a terrible thing to waste. Matthew Randall, recently promoted to head of HR for South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa at Haleon, has a soft spot for creating peace and seeing people grow into their potential. It is a passion he carries from the workplace to the football field, where he volunteers as a youth coach in Durban. With his remit now extending across a region he believes is brimming with possibility, Matthew brings a passion for developing people and a conviction that Africa's greatest asset is its people. Speaking to CHRO South Africa, he reflects on why peace at work matters, what it takes to develop people and the potential he sees across Africa. Q: What does taking on responsibility for both South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa mean to you personally and professionally, and what excites you most about the opportunity? For me, it is about having the opportunity to create greater impact. It is a real honour to be entrusted with such an important agenda in a region that is strategically significant to our business. Africa has enormous potential. The continent has a young and growing population, incredible talent and rapidly developing markets. I believe it has a significant role to play on the world stage, creating opportunities for businesses, communities and people alike. What excites me most is the opportunity to contribute to that journey through our people agenda. Building an organisation that can unlock growth, develop talent and create opportunities for people, while staying true to our purpose of delivering better everyday health with humanity. For me, that is where the personal and professional opportunity really come together. I genuinely believe Africa is on the rise. Whether you look at the talent, entrepreneurship, consumer growth or economic opportunity across the continent, there is enormous potential. It is a privilege to be part of that journey and, in some small way, to contribute to creating greater dignity, opportunity and prosperity for people across the continent. I find a great deal of purpose in that. For those of us who have the opportunity to work across Africa, I hope we never lose sight of what a privilege that is. There is an incredible opportunity in front of us, not only to build successful businesses, but to help create opportunities for people and communities that can have a lasting impact. Q: What have been your first priorities in the early days of your expanded role? My first priority is ensuring we have an organisation that can support where the business is going. Growth ultimately comes from people, so we need the right capabilities, structures and leadership in place to execute successfully across a diverse range of markets. As I step into this broader role, I want to balance moving with speed on the matters that are most critical to the business while taking the time to listen, learn and understand the different markets, our people and our leaders. Doing so will help ensure we make informed decisions, prioritise effectively and build sustainable solutions that support long-term success. Q: Now that your remit has expanded, is there anything you intend to do differently, or are there parts of your leadership approach that you want to deliberately keep unchanged? The principle I will not change is my belief that our people have to be at the heart of our strategy. Creating an environment where people can thrive, bring their best selves to work, grow and feel that they are making a meaningful contribution will remain fundamental to how I lead, regardless of the market. What does need to change is the scale at which I think about impact. In South Africa, I could often see the direct connection between an intervention and its outcome. With a broader, multi-market scope, I need to think differently about how we create that same impact across a much larger and more diverse set of contexts, while still remaining relevant to the needs of each market. Q: Haleon is ultimately in the business of helping people live healthier lives. What are some of the things HR does to ensure that the organisation is also a place where its own people can do their healthiest, best work? I could give the standard answer: people need to feel valued, have a sense of purpose, understand the mission and feel that they belong. All of those things are absolutely true. But for me, there is something even more fundamental: people need to feel a sense of peace at work. That may sound like a strange concept in a high-performance organisation. There will always be pressure, deadlines, ambiguity and a need to deliver exceptional things. I am not talking about creating a workplace without challenge or accountability. By peace, I mean creating an environment where people feel psychologically safe, where there is trust, where they can speak openly, where they know they are respected and where they do not have to spend energy protecting themselves from the organisation or from one another. When people have that foundation of trust and safety, they can focus their energy on doing great work. To me, that is an important part of creating an environment where our people can reach their full potential. Q: What is one lesson about people that you have learned through your career that you think is particularly relevant to leading in the health sector? Purpose and meaning matter. People want to know that what they do matters, and I think that becomes particularly powerful in our industry. At Haleon, our purpose is to deliver better everyday health with humanity, and the connection between what we do and the lives of consumers is tangible. Our products and solutions can genuinely improve people's everyday lives and help make health more accessible. That gives our people something meaningful to connect to. As leaders, our role is to make that connection real, not simply put the purpose on a wall but help people understand how their roles contribute to it. For me, the strength of our Win as One strategy comes from people feeling connected to a common goal and understanding the role they play in achieving it. When people see that connection, performance tends to follow. Q: What are you most likely to be doing on a Saturday morning? You will typically find me in the gym on a Saturday morning. But if I am in Durban, there is a good chance I will either be surfing or coaching youth football as a volunteer. Sport and community are particular passions of mine. I enjoy the energy and competitiveness of sport, but I also love what sport can do for people and communities, particularly young people. There is something very rewarding about being able to contribute, even in a small way, to developing the next generation. Q: What's one thing you make time for no matter how busy the HR work gets? Time for reflection. I try to create space to step away from the noise and think about the bigger picture: how I am showing up, how I am doing personally, whether we are making progress against the significant agenda in front of us, and what I could be doing differently as a leader. I also reflect on how I can best serve the needs of the business and our leaders, while making sure that we continue to create the right environment for our people. HR can become incredibly busy very quickly. Reflection gives me the opportunity to make sure that I am not simply responding to what is urgent, but remaining focused on what is important. Sphumelele Khumalo is the senior writer for CHRO South Africa. With a background in health journalism, she brings a passion for storytelling and an interest in exploring the human side of every story, one word at a time. When she's not meeting deadlines, you might find her experimenting in the kitchen, or chasing sunsets. Jannes van Aswegen, HR executive at Innovation Group South Africa, believes that not every lightbulb moment happens under fluorescent boardroom lights because he has learnt that the quieter moments can be the most productive ones. 05 October 2026 Sandi Richardson's 13 years at RCS have taught her that organisational heritage should have a handover plan. 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Haleon appoints vandana Chamaria as Head of Oral Health, South Asia. Chamaria brings over 23 years of experience across marketing, business strategy and brand building. Vandana Chamaria has joined Haleon as Head of Oral Health, South Asia. She announced the appointment on LinkedIn. Chamaria said, "There's something quite special and exciting about coming back to Consumer Health, where I spent several early years of my career - this time in a very different role and with a very different perspective to bring to the table." Chamaria brings over 23 years of experience across marketing, business strategy and brand building, having worked across categories including consumer products, healthcare, hospitality, retail and internet businesses. Prior to joining Haleon, she was Chief Marketing Officer at Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters. Earlier, she held roles at Google, Yum! Brands and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, among others.

Haleon is buying better shelf space, can the visibility help it against procter & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive? Haleon's improved shelf placement is driving US market-share gains, but investors must determine whether that growth can remain profitable without heavy promotional support. Published September 24, 2026 at 12:40 pm EDT Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN) is trying to win the US consumer-health market one shelf at a time. The Sensodyne and Advil owner has secured more prominent positions at Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT), Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), and other major retailers by offering improved commercial terms, including lower prices, stronger promotions, new products, and exclusivity. The strategy is already coinciding with market-share gains. Haleon's portion of the US consumer-health market increased from 11.4% in February to 12% by August, according to NielsenIQ data cited by Reuters. The challenge is determining how much of that growth reflects stronger underlying demand, and how much depends on promotional spending. Bull case. Better shelf placement can materially improve Haleon's (NYSE:HLN) visibility in crowded health and personal-care aisles. The company researched how shoppers search for its products and found that consumers generally look for brands first, followed by premium and new products within the branded section. Haleon used that research to recommend placing products at eye level or directly above its existing lineup. It also shared forecasts with retailers showing how the proposed changes could increase sales, helping persuade Walmart, Target, and other chains to adopt the new arrangements. You can also read about how Walmart and Target's Shelves are Becoming a Battleground for Budget-Conscious Shoppers in our recently published article. The strategy appears to be working across more than one category. Haleon said the shelf resets are supporting market-share gains in oral health, which includes Sensodyne, Aquafresh, and Polident. Its Centrum vitamins also benefited after retailers placed the products at eye level and supported them with promotions. Haleon's expanding US share compares favorably with some established competitors. Procter & Gamble's portion of the US healthcare market declined to approximately 10.8% in July, while Colgate-Palmolive's share of the oral-care, personal-care and household market remained flat at just under 5%, according to Bernstein's analysis of NielsenIQ data. These percentages cover differently defined markets and should not be treated as direct like-for-like comparisons, but they indicate that Haleon gained ground while some competitors were flat or declining. The company's portfolio is also well suited to a more cautious consumer environment. Toothpaste, pain relief, and vitamins are generally treated as practical purchases, potentially giving Haleon greater resilience as households prioritize essentials, and offering retailers exclusive products and innovations may strengthen these relationships further. Walmart and Target receive differentiated merchandise and promotional support, while Haleon secures the visibility needed to challenge larger established brands. Bear case. It is significant to note that Haleon is paying for that visibility through lower prices, promotions, exclusivity, and other favorable commercial terms. Although these concessions can increase volumes and market share, the company has not disclosed their effect on profitability. Promotional dependence is particularly important. More than 21% of Haleon's second-quarter US sales came from products sold with promotions, according to NielsenIQ data analyzed by Bernstein. That does not mean those sales were unprofitable, but it raises the possibility that some recent growth was encouraged by discounts rather than stronger full-price demand. The consumer environment creates another difficulty. Middle-class Americans have become increasingly cost-conscious as elevated fuel prices pressure household budgets. Even essential products must compete for limited spending, making price an increasingly important factor in purchasing decisions. Competitors can also respond. Haleon's shelf-space gains are not necessarily permanent, and rival consumer-health companies may offer retailers stronger discounts, new products or exclusivity of their own. Maintaining premium positions could therefore require continued commercial investment. The available figures do not prove that improved shelf placement alone caused Haleon's market-share increase. Product launches, pricing, brand demand, and promotional activity may also have contributed. Conclusion. Haleon's strategy is producing encouraging early evidence. Its US market share has increased, while improved placement is supporting oral-health and vitamin brands across some of the country's largest retailers. The central question is whether Haleon can retain those gains without sacrificing too much pricing or promotional spending. Better shelves can attract attention, but lasting value will depend on converting that visibility into repeat purchases and profitable growth.