Managing Staff in Unilever: Challenges and Techniques

This report discusses the challenges and techniques involved in managing staff in Unilever. It explores the impact of rules and regulations, trade unions, and international labor organizations on HR practices. Performance management techniques such as key performance indicators and management by objectives are also discussed.

Individual report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Performance management techniques .............................................................................................5
Future issues that may arise in managing staff ...............................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management plays an important role in all the organisations and they
mange all the activities in the company (Healthfield, 2020). Unilever plc is a public limited
company which was founded in 1929 by Lever Brothers and Margaine Unie line. Its headquarter
is in London, England and it serves worldwide.
MAIN BODY
Unilever plc is a British multinational company which provides different products like,
food, energy drinks, baby food, cheese, ice cream, soft drinks, tea, coffee, cleaning agents, pet
food, toothpaste, chewing gum, beauty products, breakfast, cereals, pharmaceutical and
consumer healthcare products. The products of Unilever company are available in around 190
countries. Unilever is divided into three main divisions like, foods and refreshments, home care
and beauty care and personal care. Unilever is chosen as it is one of the well known company
across the world and provides many products to the customers (Albors-Garrigos, Igartua and
Peiro, 2018).
This organization has created good image in the market and making new products to
attract consumers. The company provides good quality products to consumers and at reasonable
price. The organization generates more profit and customers are satisfied as quality of products is
good. Total revenue of the company in the year 2020 was €50.724 billion, operating income was
€8.303 billion, net income of the company is €6.073 billion. As the company is having good
financial position and good reputation in the market so this organization was chosen. It provides
products all over the world and people like the products as the quality is good. Managers of the
organization manages and control all the activities. They give instructions to employees how
they have to do work and complete task on time (Delery and Roumpi, 2017).
Unilever operates in many countries internationally like, Africa, Algeria, Burundi, Egypt,
Americans, Canada, Asia Pacific, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Europe, Austria, Belgium. As
Unilever is the company which provides all the products that is essential for everyone and they
provide good quality products which attract customers to buy. The company also provides
products at discount or offers are given on purchasing products. Unilever is one of the famous
company across the world and the motive of the organization is to provide better quality products
and services to the customers and to satisfy customers it is important that new and innovative

products should be provided. The managers of the company make plans or strategies for the
benefit of company and for future growth of the organization. Training is provided to employees
so that they can develop skills and helps in enhancing their knowledge (DeNisi and Murphy,
2017).
Impact of rules and regulations, trade regulations and international labour organization on
HR practices
Human resource management plays an important role in each and every organization.
They are having many roles which they have to perform and responsibilities which they have to
manage for the smooth running of the company. Human resource manager recruit and select best
person for the company which has all the essential skills and qualifications that are required for
the vacant position. They conduct written test, check resumes, arrange group discussion and take
interview of candidates .
It is the responsibility of human resource managers to select appropriate candidate for the
company who can contribute in achieving goals and objectives of Unilever. They are also
responsible for providing training to new employees and develop skills of existing employees
who are not performing well and they have to improve their work to complete the task on time.
HR managers measures performance of every individual employee to check that everyone is
working properly or not. They set standards for employees and give instructions according to
that so that organizational goals can be achieved (Krylov, 2019).
Rules and regulations are made in every company so that employees can be satisfied and
it helps in creating good image in the market. Rules and regulations are important because it
helps in maintaining safe and healthy environment of the Unilever, all the employees will work
properly and try to complete their work on time. Rules are necessary because if there will be no
rules in the company then everyone will according to their choice and therefore work will not be
completed on time and this will be a loss for the organization.
It affects HR practices as managers have to make policies and procedures of the company
according to the rules and laws that is applied on the company like, health and safety act, 1974,
equality act 2010. These are some act which is applicable in Unilever to maintain good
environment in the organization and also helps in satisfying employees. So, rules and regulations
have positive as well as negative impact on the organization and HR managers of Unilever

company has to make policies and procedures according to the rules and laws that are applied
(Kubeš and Rančák, 2018).
Trade union is a group of members whose aim is to protect the interest of members at the
workplace. Trade unions can affect human resources practices when they feel that something is
not correct in the policies or any other issue related to hiring process, compensation schemes or
benefits that are provided or based on research. When employees form a group they can go on
strike or stop working till their needs are not satisfied. It has negative impact on HR practices as
if all employees come together then they can create issue which is not good for the company.
International labour organization is an agency which is responsible for dealing with
issues related to employment across the world. It affects HR practices in Unilever company as
the main aim of international labour organization is to promote rights at workplace and more
opportunities for the employees. While making policies it is difficult for managers to decide
what they should do and how to mange all the activities so that employees can be satisfied. So,
international labour organization affect the working of HR managers and they have to make
changes for the benefit of company as well employees (Lee and et.al., 2019).
Performance management techniques
Performance management techniques refer to the methods that is used by managers to
measure or monitor the performance of employees so that goals and objectives can be achieved
and training programs can be arranged by the managers to improve performance of workers and
this will help in increasing productivity of organization. Performance management techniques
that is used in Unilever in origin country are key performance indicators and management by
objective.
These technique helps in monitoring the performance in UK, managers of Unilever
company measure performance of employees by using key performance indicator technique by
which managers can determine overall productivity of company. It is a set of quantifiable
measurements which is used to determine company's strategic, financial and operational
achievements (Mohammadfam and et.al., 2017) .Comparison is done by managers between
employees as they set standards and after completing the work it is measure with actual
performance. This helps in improving performance of employees as training is provided to them

to improve their skills and can contribute in achieving goals and objectives of the company. It is
important that employees should focus on achieving targets of the organization and helps in
building god image in the market. This technique cannot be used in Australia as Unilever has
branch in Australia because it is not possible to measure performance of individual employee
and compare it with other companies (Verhoes and Wynen, 2018).
Another technique that is used by Unilever company to measure the performance of
employees is management by objectives . In this technique goals and objectives are clearly
defined so that employees did not face any problem and they can contribute in achieving
organizational goals. This is a process in which goals are define and standards are set for the
employees, they have to work according to the instructions given to them. This is a good method
to motivate employees to complete their work on time and this will increase overall productivity
of the company. It has negative impact as sometimes if an employee did not achieve standards
that are set they get disappointed or demotivated (Moktadir and et.al., 2020).
In host country i.e., Australia different techniques are used for managing the performance
of employees. Methods that are used to improve the performance of workers are 360 degree
feedback and balanced scorecard. In 360 degree feedback managers collect information from all
the people in the surrounding. Feedback is collected from all the people working in company and
on the basis of this rewards are decided. Managers analyse performance of every employee and
after that they decide which employee should be given reward or incentive for performing well
and contribute in accomplishing goals of the company. It has negative impact that when
feedback is collected may be some person give wrong information due to personal issues. So,
feedback should be gathered from everyone and then decision should be taken by managers
regarding to which employee reward should be given and which employee should be given
punishment (Strohmeier, 2020).
Another technique which is used in host country is balanced scorecard. It is a strategic
planning and management system. In this technique daily work is assign to employees and they
have to make strategy accordingly to complete the given work. It helps managers in measuring
performance of employees and make strategies or pans to improve the performance of
employees. There are four perspective of balanced scorecard are, financial, customer, internal
process and learning and growth. With the help of this technique managers can determine which

employee is working hard to accomplish goals of the company and which employee needs
training to improve the performance (Quesado, Aibar Guzmán and Lima Rodrigues, 2018).
Future issues that may arise in managing staff
It is difficult to manage staff members because all the employees are from different
countries. All the employees are having various skills and they are from different culture so it is
not possible to manage staff members. It is the responsibility of managers to solve issues of
employees and try to improve their performance.
Issues that may arise Recommendations how recommendations can be
achieved
Communication : it is
one of the biggest
issue which may arise
in managing staff in
the host country. In
different countries
language varies and
people will face
difficulty in
communicating with
each other. Every team
member is having
different personality
and different way of
talking.
Managers should be
prepare and they should
fix the criteria like,
employees should be
given work in teams so
that they can interact
with each other. They
should be provided
training so that they
should know how to
complete the task on
time.
Recommendations can be
achieved by taking necessary
decisions which are beneficial for
the company. It is the
responsibility of managers to give
work in groups so that employees
communicate with each other and
as they will start talking, they will
start understanding behaviour of
each other. In sometime
employees will know about
personality and behaviour of the
employees.
Absence of structure :
in an organization if
there will be no
structure then it is
difficult for employees
Managers should make
proper structure which
is to be followed by
every employee. In the
structure goals and
Recommendations can be
achieved by taking necessary
steps or making proper plans so
that company can earn more
profit and this will increase the

to work and managers
will be confused that
what work should be
given to workers.
objectives of the
company are clearly
defined and employees
have to work
accordingly. This will
help company in
completing the given
work on time.
productivity of the company.
CONCLUSION
From the report it can be summarised that, human resource department plays a crucial
role in managing all the activities of the country. Unilever is one of the well known company
across the world and people are trusting on the company. Rules and regulations, trade union
regulation and international labour organization has impact on HR practices as due to theses
issues managers has to make changes in the policies and they have to apply laws for the safety of
employees. Performance management techniques are described and how it differs from origin
company. Further, issues which may arise in managing staff like, communication, time
management etc. is discussed.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Albors-Garrigos, J., Igartua, J. I. and Peiro, A., 2018. Innovation management techniques and
tools: Its impact on firm innovation performance. International Journal of Innovation
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Delery, J. E. and Roumpi, D., 2017. Strategic human resource management, human capital and
competitive advantage: is the field going in circles?. Human Resource Management
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DeNisi, A. S. and Murphy, K. R., 2017. Performance appraisal and performance management:
100 years of progress?. Journal of applied psychology. 102(3). p.421.
Krylov, S., 2019. Strategic customer analysis based on balanced scorecard. Ekonomicko-
manazerske spektrum. 13(1). pp.12-25.
Kubeš, V. and Rančák, J., 2018. Sustainability of organization performance via management
techniques. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues. 5(4). pp.1031-1042.
Lee, J., and et.al., 2019. Enhancing employee creativity for a sustainable competitive advantage
through perceived human resource management practices and trust in
management. Sustainability. 11(8). p.2305.
Mohammadfam, I., and et.al., 2017. Evaluation of the quality of occupational health and safety
management systems based on key performance indicators in certified
organizations. Safety and health at work. 8(2). pp.156-161.
Moktadir, M. A., and et.al., 2020. An investigation of key performance indicators for operational
excellence towards sustainability in the leather products industry. Business Strategy and
the Environment. 29(8). pp.3331-3351.
Quesado, P. R., Aibar Guzmán, B. and Lima Rodrigues, L., 2018. Advantages and contributions
in the balanced scorecard implementation. Intangible capital. 14(1). pp.186-201.
Strohmeier, S., 2020. Digital human resource management: A conceptual clarification. German
Journal of Human Resource Management. 34(3). pp.345-365.
Verhoest, K. and Wynen, J., 2018. Why do autonomous public agencies use performance
management techniques? Revisiting the role of basic organizational
characteristics. International Public Management Journal. 21(4). pp.619-649.
Online
Healthfield, M. S., 2020. Human Resource Management. [Online]. Available
Through:<https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-human-resource-management-1918143>
[Accessed On April 7, 2021].