NEW YORK (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co <PG.N> will cut about 15 percent of its management staff as part of a bid to improve productivity and accelerate growth, the company said on Monday.

The vast majority of the job cuts will come through attrition as employees retire or leave the company, P&G spokesman Paul Fox said.

The maker of Pampers diapers, Crest toothpaste and a host of other personal care and household products also said it is aiming to raise annual productivity growth -- or the value of sales per employee -- from 6 percent to 7 percent or 8 percent over the next five years.

Fox said the company will increasingly focus its efforts on the 41 brands that generate annual sales of more than $500 million -- such as Tide detergent and Swiffer cleaners.

Those brands produce more than 90 percent of the company's profits, Chief Executive A.G. Lafley said last week at the Consumer Analysts Group of New York conference in Florida.

P&G also said it plans to reduce the number of distribution centers it operates globally by half.

"We're committed to flat or declining headcount for the foreseeable future," Lafley said at the conference. "We will continue to invest in our faster growing businesses."

P&G is also aiming to eliminate duplication between organizations, he said.

The company's shares were up 33 cents to $66.54 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Justin Grant in New York; additional reporting by Dhanya Skariachan in Bangalore; editing by John Wallace)