Employee Relations and Stakeholder Engagement in Unilever

This report evaluates the employee relationship in Unilever and discusses the importance of employee relations and employment law. It explores the different types of rights, duties, and obligations of employers and employees. The report analyzes the impact of positive and negative employee relations on stakeholders and provides solutions for managing the employment relationship.

BSc (Hons) Business Management (Top up)
BMP6005
The Work and Employment Relationship
Assessment 1
How employee relations can influence the
behaviour of
different stakeholders
Submitted by:
Name:
ID:
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Content
Introduction 1
An explanation of the value and importance of employee relations
in application as well as explanation of the fundamentals of
employment law p
An explanation of the different types of rights, duties and
obligations an employer and employee has within the workplace.
An exploration of various mechanisms for managing the
employment relationship and make justified solutions for a range of
specific organisational examples p
A stakeholder analysis for the organisation and analysis of how
stakeholder engagement and contribution can support positive
employment relationships p
An analysis of the impact of both positive and negative employee
relations on different stakeholders p
Conclusion p
References p
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Introduction
Employee Relation can be defined as relationship between employee and
employer working in an organisation. It is seen that if they have collaborative relation
than the organisation is able to achieve goals and objectives effectively (Sun and
Bunchapattanasakda, 2019). In this report the employee relationship in Unilever is
evaluated. It is a British Multinational organisation that deals in consumer goods.
There are around 155000 employees that work happily in the organisation. There is
discussion related to the important of employee relation in an organisation and the
laws followed regarding the same. The rights and duties of both employer and
employee are evaluated in this report. Stakeholders play a major role in the
organisation so the positive impact of the same is also part of this report. In the end
of this report there is evaluation related to negative as well as positive impact of
employee engagement on the stakeholders.
An explanation of the value and importance of employee
relations in application as well as explanation of the
fundamentals of employment law
Employee relations play a major role in success of an organisation. It is seen
that a company has various employees. If they are happy and able to develop
relation with employers the work done is more effective (Saks, 2019). The
importance of employee relations is discussed below:
More Employee Loyalty: It is important to note that if there is positive
relation in employee and employer in an organisation then the employee become
loyal for the company. They are able to get good working environment in the
company and that supports them to work in an effective manner. It is seen that loyal
employees are asset for the Unilever and this helps the company to achieve goals
and objectives successfully.
Increased Motivation: There is need of healthy working environment in an
organisation. By having good and healthy relation with the employees motivate the
employees to perform better (Osborne and Hammoud, 2017). It is seen that
motivated employees are assets for the company. It is seen that in Unilever best
efforts are done by the employers so that they have healthy relation with the
employees and they are motivated. The motivated employees enhance the
productivity of the company.
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Less change of workplace conflict: It is seen that if there is good relation in
the employees of the company then there are less chances of conflicts. It is seen
that the employer of Unilever has ability to solve the problems of the employees and
provide them with best available solution. The less conflicts motivates the employees
and they are able to work effectively. Equality in the Unilever is also a factor of
motivation for the employees.
Improves trust and confidence: It is analysed that having good relationship
with the employees enhance trust in them. Trusting the employees helps to motivate
them and complete the goals and objectives effectively (Kwon and Kim, 2020). In
Unilever the employer trust the employees and that enhances the performance of the
employees. The confidence in the employees is required so that they feel motivated
and are able to work effectively.
Employment law in UK are formulated to protect both employee and
employer in the workplace. It has discussion related to legislation on dismissal,
holidays, discrimination, pay and more. It helps to maintain good and effective
relation among the employees and employer in UK. It clarifies all the key points so
that they are able to work in healthy working environment. There are some laws and
legislations that are followed by an organisation. These fundamental laws help a
company to build effective relation among the employer and the employees. The
discussion related to laws followed by Unilever is done below: Equality Act, 2010: It is an act that states that all the employees in an
organisation must be treated in a fair and equal manner. There must be no
discrimination on any ground such age, caste, colour, gender, creed, religion,
culture etc (Albrecht, Breidahl and Marty, 2018). In Unilever all the employees
working at same post are given same pay and opportunities so that they are
able to work effectively in the organisation. National Minimum Wage Act 1998: The employees in an organisation must
be provided with minimum wages as per the work done by them. It is seen
that in Unilever the employees are given the pay for the work done by them. It
is also seen that they are given payment for extra work done by them.
 Health and Safety at Work, 1974: As per this act the employees working in
the organisation must be provided proper safe and healthy working
environment. It is seen that in Unilever the employees are provided proper
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training so that they do not face any issue. Along with that proper insurance
and medical facilities are being provided to them.
These are the fundamentals that assist to maintain good and effective relation
among employees and employers. These laws must be followed by the company so
that the employees are able to work effectively.
An explanation of the different types of rights, duties and
obligations an employer and employee has within the
workplace. An exploration of various mechanisms for
managing the employment relationship and make justified
solutions for a range of specific organisational examples
Rights of employers
 It is right of employer to expect good performance from the employees. In
Unilever the target of work is being assigned to the employees so that they
are able to work as per the expectations of the employers.
 Along with that it is right of employer to ask questions from the employees.
The employees in Unilever are accountable for all the work done by them
employees (Sendawula and et.al., 2018). It is seen that the employer has right
to ask any work related question from the employees.
Duties of employers
 It is duty of employer to provide fair remuneration to the employees for the
work done by them. It is necessary to pay them for the work done by them.
 It is also duty of the employer to provide safe and healthy working
environment to the employees. The safety and security of employees at
workplace is duty of the employer.
Responsibility of employers
 Providing proper training to the employees and enhancing their work
performance is a major responsibility of the employer. It helps the employees
to perform effectively at work.
 It is the responsibility of the employer to provide all the resources that are
required by the employees at workplace.
Rights of employees
 It is right of the employee to not work for more than 48 hours on an average in
a week.
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 It is also right of employee to get equal opportunity at work place and to work
in healthy working environment.
Duties of employees
 It is duty of the employees to take reasonable care of the health and safety at
workplace. They must take care of their health and welfare at best possible
manner in the organisation.
 It is also the duty of employees to hare all the information related to work to
the employer (Young and et.al., 2018). They must also disclose any mistake
done by the while working in the organisation.
Responsibility of employees
 It is responsibility of the employee to follow all the rules and regulations
formulated by the employers. The employee must not break ant rule and
follow them so as to work effectively.
 The employees must be punctual and adhere to the time limits set by the
employer. They must work with harmony and complete the work assigned to
them within time.
Various mechanisms for managing the employment relationship
It is seen that Covid-19 is a challenge that is faced by all the business
organisation. It is seen that the situation of lock-down has caused problem for the
employees. They were demotivated and this was reducing the productivity of the
company (Men, O’Neil and Ewing, 2020). The relation of employers and employees
were diminishing and this has negative impact on the organisation. The company
understood that the employee turnover is enhancing due to lack of engagement in
the organisation. In this situation the steps taken by Unilever are as follows:
 The employees were provided with proper training so that they become ready
for remote working. Training helps them to work effectively at home and stay
productive.
 They started using online platforms to communicate. The use video calling
application enhanced the interaction of the employers with the employees
(Shrotryia and Dhanda, 2019). It helps to develop the relations again and this
motivated the employees.
 The employees were asked about the problems that they are facing and
immediate solution was provided to them. The company enhanced the
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informal meetings so that employees are able to share their experience and
issues. It helps to take necessary actions.
A stakeholder analysis for the organisation and analysis of
how stakeholder engagement and contribution can
support positive employment relationships
Stakeholders are the individuals that are interested in the organisation. They
have impact on the organisation. It is necessary to take care of the all the
stakeholders in the company (Uddin, Mahmood and Fan, 2019). There are internal
as well as external stakeholders of the company.
High power, high interest: It is the first quadrant in which the stakeholders that
have high power in the organisation are being included. Unilever plans to fully
engage these employees and makes all the efforts in order to satisfy them (Motyka,
2018). It is necessary to share all the information with them as they are highly
interested. It includes Board of Directors of Unilever; Government also comes in this
quadrant.
High power, less interest: It is important to keep the individuals of this quadrant
satisfied. These people have high power in the organisation and the company must
not message them again and again (Shuck and et.al., 2017). The customers of the
company come in this category. The customers have high power in the organisation.
Low power, high interest: The stakeholders in this category must be informed
about all the information. These people are highly interested in the details about the
company. The employees have low power but are highly interested the organisation.
Low power, low interest: It is seen that these are the stakeholders that have low
power and less interested in the organisation. They have access to less information
about the company.
Contribution of stakeholders in employment engagement
It is important to note that if company provides all the detailed information to
the stakeholders and analyse them effectively then it has various benefits. There is
direct benefit on the employee relationship. If all the stakeholders of the organisation
are provided with detailed information then it is seen that employees are also
important stakeholders of the company (Ismail, Iqbal and Nasr, 2019). The first
benefit is that there is mutual trust in the organisation and the employees are able to
trust their employees. Along with that it is that the relationship increases as there is
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no stress and each and every information is shared to the employees. The
mechanism of transparency helps in solving the problems effectively. It is also seen
that there is effective decision making process in Unilever as all the stakeholders are
informed. Along with that there is maturity as well as career advancement seen in
the employees as they are provided all the opportunities. All the stakeholders have
their own role but providing them right information helps the organisation to be
successful and achieve goals and objectives
An analysis of the impact of both positive and negative
employee relations on different stakeholders
It is important to note that there is requirement of positive employee relations in an
organisation. It is seen that if there is positive working environment and this has
direct impact on the stakeholders. It is necessary to note that all the stakeholders are
able to get benefits from high and positive employee relations (Pandita and Ray,
2018). But on the other side if there is negative relation among the employees of an
organisation it becomes difficult for all the stakeholders. The negative relation of the
employees causes various issues and the stakeholders never want such situation.
Employees:
Positive: It is seen that if there is positive employee relation in the organisation then
employees are able to work effectively. They are able to work in an effective manner.
Negative: If there is negative employee relation in an organisation. Then there are
more chances of conflicts and the employees will not be able to work effectively.
Employers:
Positive: The positive employee relation in the organisation enhances the
productivity of the company. It helps the employers to achieve the tasks in an
effective manner.
Negative: The employers will not be satisfied with the work done by the employees.
It will lead to disputes and problems in the organisation that can not be solved easily.
This will reduce productivity of the organisation.
Customers:
Positive: The customers will get good products if the employees will have good
relation. The employees will make highly effective and efficient products for the
benefit of the customers.
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Negative: It is seen that the customers will not get high quality products and they will
switch the brand that will have negative impact on the organisation.
Government:
Positive: The government will not interfere and will support the company if there is
good relation seen in the employees of the company.
Negative: The government will interfere in the working of company. This will affect
the smooth operations and will lead to various issues.
It is suggested that an organisation must try to maintain positive employee relations.
It has positive impact on all the stakeholders and benefits them.
Conclusion
From the above report it is analysed that there must be good and effective
relations in the organisation. it is seen that if the employers and employee build
relation then the company is able to enhance productivity. There are various benefits
of employee relations and they are discussed in the report. The employment law
those are essential for the company are mentioned in this report. The duties
responsibilities as well as rights of employers and employee in a workplace are
discussed. Afterwards there is dispersion related to stakeholder analysis and its
impact on the employee relation is also part of this report.
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References
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organizational engagement climate, and employee engagement. Career
Development International.
Ismail, H.N., Iqbal, A. and Nasr, L., 2019. Employee engagement and job
performance in Lebanon: the mediating role of creativity. International
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Kwon, K. and Kim, T., 2020. An integrative literature review of employee
engagement and innovative behavior: Revisiting the JD-R model. Human
Resource Management Review, 30(2), p.100704.
Men, L.R., O’Neil, J. and Ewing, M., 2020. Examining the effects of internal social
media usage on employee engagement. Public Relations Review, 46(2),
p.101880.
Motyka, B., 2018. Employee engagement and performance: a systematic literature
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Osborne, S. and Hammoud, M.S., 2017. Effective employee engagement in the
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Sendawula and et.al., 2018. Training, employee engagement and employee
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Shrotryia, V.K. and Dhanda, U., 2019. Content validity of assessment instrument for
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Uddin, M.A., Mahmood, M. and Fan, L., 2019. Why individual employee engagement
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and organizational citizenship behaviour. Team Performance Management:
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