Chris Johnson to become Nestlé’s head of HR after Peter Vogt announces retirement

Nestlé has announced that Chris Johnson, currently Head of Nestlé Business Excellence and a member of the Group Executive Board, will succeed Peter Vogt as Head of Group Human Resources, effective from August 1, 2018.

The company said Johnson would assume his new responsibilities in addition to his current ones, as Head of Group Human Resources & Business Services.

Peter Vogt will retire at the end of next month after a long and distinguished career of 38 years at Nestlé.

After joining the company in 1980, Vogt embarked on a career that included roles as a product specialist in Japan, manager of the Nestlé business in Hong Kong, marketing division manager in Malaysia and Market Head of Nestlé Sri Lanka.

In 1996, Vogt took over the leadership of the Swiss frozen food & ice cream business and was appointed Market Head of the Nestlé Nordic region in 2000. He returned to Asia in 2005 as Market Head in Indonesia and later became Market Head in Malaysia and Singapore.

He was appointed Head of Group Human Resources for Nestlé in 2013.

During his tenure as Head of Group Human Resources, Vogt strengthened the business focus of the HR function and was instrumental in fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion at Nestlé.

In a statement, Nestlé said Vogt has always been passionate about building talent and teams and “served as a role model for many of his colleagues, exemplifying Nestlé's values rooted in respect​.”

Johnson joined Nestlé as a marketing trainee in the Carnation Company in 1983. After various roles at Nestlé USA and in Japan, Johnson moved to Nestlé Waters in 1995 as Senior Area Manager for the Asia region. In 1998, he was appointed as Market Head of Nestlé Taiwan.

From 2000, Johnson led the worldwide development and implementation of IT business solutions. He then became Market Head in Japan in 2007, and was appointed Head of Zone Americas in January 2011. Since October 2014, Johnson has headed Nestlé Business Excellence.