Managing a Successful Business Project: Unilever Talent Management

This project examines talent management strategies within Unilever Plc, a British multinational consumer goods company. It begins with an introduction to talent management and its importance in attracting and retaining employees. The project outlines aims and objectives, including understanding talent management's significance, exploring Unilever's strategies, and identifying challenges. Task 1 focuses on representing aims and objectives, including a literature review on the importance of talent management. Task 2 involves small-scale research using two methods. Task 3 analyzes data and research, including tools and techniques, and presents recommendations. The project also includes a Gantt chart, WBS and a project management plan. The project concludes with a reflection on project completion and meeting objectives.

MANAGING A
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS
PROJECT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Represent aims and objectives for selected organisation........................................................3
P2 Develop project management plan that includes various framework.....................................7
P3 Reflect Gantt chart and WBS..................................................................................................8
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................10
P4 Small Scale Research includes two research methods..........................................................10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................11
P5 Examine data and research by including tools and techniques.............................................11
P6 Present recommendations for framing valid conclusion.......................................................22
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................23
P7 Reflection on project completion to meet objectives or own performance and learning.....23
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................23
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................25
APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................27
Logbook.....................................................................................................................................27
Performance review template.....................................................................................................29

INTRODUCTION
The tenacity of preparing this project is to understand the term talent management and
related strategies along with challenges that organisation would face in performing talent
management function like attracting and retaining employees at workplace. This states that
manpower in business enterprise is highly essential because they work for generating profitable
outcomes so that firm will sustain longer time period (Kular, 2020). Therefore retain and attract
talent in organisation build brand image so that firm will survive for a longer period of time. It
represents that talent management is a full scope practice in company as they evaluate
employee’s performance and attracts new hiring who are able to gain competitive advantage in
marketplace. To effectively complete this study Unilever Plc is to be undertaken that is a leading
British multinational consumer good firm with a total asset € 67.659 billion. It was founded on
1929 and their products are available in around 190 countries in the globe. In Unilever Plc there
are around 155000 employees are working in the entire globe where company have its existence.
This project includes project aims and objectives along with project management process so that
systematic work is to be done. This also presents methodology involving two methods of
research so that best alternative is to be selected for framing valid recommendation and
conclusion at the end of the research. Therefore completing all these activities helps in preparing
reflection of complete work.
TASK 1
P1 Represent aims and objectives for selected organisation
Background of research
This investigation considered the strategies used under talent management within big
organisation in attracting and retaining talent. In today’s business scenario talent management is
a crucial practice to gain profitable results in market place by satisfying employee’s needs and
desires. This particular project offers particular edge to the large business firm due to this they
attract and retain talent by increasing opportunities (du Randt, 2019). Effective employee
engagement is essential for organisation to minimize the blockages faced at the time of
implementing talent management strategies. Therefore, for attaining the brand reputation in

competitive market talent management strategies perform a vital role as it engage and attract
number of customers to attain goals. With the help of talent management function in big
organisation overall performance is improvised. In context of Unilever Plc it is British consumer
goods companies where employees are play a vital role in making connection with customers so
that overall company goals and targets are attained on time. However, in this usage of Talent
management strategies provides insights to employees in relation to performing task so that
competitive edge is enjoyed by firm for longer time period. As per this workers are also feel
secured and engaged within the firm activities that reflects overall development of Unilever Plc
in marketplace. Unilever Plc is one of the giant company in UK and to maintain reputation they
highly emphasis on using talent management strategies in huge manner that reduce risk of
employee turnover so that activities are working in smooth and systematic way.
Aims
“To investigate the strategies that is adopted by top organisation to retain and attracts people”. A
case study on Unilever
Objectives
 To understand the importance of talent management in organisation.
 To explore talent management strategies used by Unilever for attract and retain
employees.
 To identify challenges in talent management faced by Unilever in attracting and retaining
skilled and talented employees.
Literature review
Importance of talent management in organisation
As per the “Ashley Brooks, (2021), viewpoint, talent management is not a simple human
resource term because it involves several activities to hire, develop, retain and manage highly
talented workforce within the company. It demonstrates several importance of talent
management within an organisation that are reflected below:

 Attracts talented skilled and experienced candidate- Having an effective talent
management strategy provides business an opportunity to attract more talent and retain
skilled workforce. This will creates a employer brand that is useful in fascinate potential
candidates so that overall organisation is improved in terms of positive performance and
outcomes (Unilever launches new AI-powered talent marketplace, 2021).
 Encourage employees- It is a main significant of talent management in an organisation.
This keeps the employees motivated and encourages towards the goals achievement and
offers the reason to stay within business entity to perform task for generating profits and
revenues.
 Retain top talent- By having an well - structured practice under talent management
helps in creating employees retention and reducing employee turnover that saves the
expenses of organisation in recruiting and managing performance for a longer time
period.
 Enhance performance of Business- Adopting talent management strategies are play a
significant role in maximizing the overall performance of giant organisation. Due to this
more customers are loyal with firm and generate profitable results. Therefore, increasing
business performance helps in attracting and retaining talent in company for long time.
Talent management strategies used by Unilever for attract and retain employees
As per the viewpoint of “Jay Tankersley, (2018)” Companies need to focus on retain their
best employees to creates winning teams that are motivated and engaged. There are several
strategies used by Unilever to attract and retain employees so that long term proficient results are
attained on time.
 Build effective success profiles- It is best strategy that is taken by Unilever to attract and
retain talent. Therefore, when manager emphasis on recruiting talented job opportunities
than it helps in eliminating the unconscious bias from recruitment process. This helps
giant organisation to gain competitive results in marketplace.
 Facilitate collaboration across departments- Facilitating employees involvement
within the working environment is a crucial talent management strategy. This helps in
gaining access to essential workers and recognizes bottlenecks to prevent flow of

information for taking hiring decision effectively. This assist in retaining existing one and
attracting new talent for goal accomplishment.
 Shift focus to plan success- This strategy of talent management provides the greatest
opportunities in terms of employee engagement and their retention. This enhances
employee’s success and allowed personal growth due to which they explore more career
opportunities.
 Provide rewards to employees- This talent management strategy is adopted by Unilever
where manager provides rewards to employees that enhances quality of work and gives
profitable business growth. This attracts and retains employees due to which firm will
optimize the cost of recruitment process.
Challenges in talent management faced by Unilever in attracting and retaining skilled and
talented employees
As per the Navdeep Kaur, (2021), talent management is facing a huge challenge and
work hard to train to select the top talent and retain them for a longer time period. In case of
Unilever Plc. several challenges are faced by manager in attracting and retaining skilled
employees that are presented below:
 Inexperience of technology- Today’s corporate world is based on advanced technology
to remain updated. Due to lack of using technology experience company would face the
issue of mismanagement in candidate resume. Lack of knowledge about novel
technologies and Software Company cannot attract talent and skilled workforce that
impacted company sustainability.
 Extraordinary demand of compensation- It is a typical challenge that is faced by giant
company while implementing talent management strategies. In this if employees do not
feel valued or compensated than they cannot retain and attracts talent for longer time
period. Due to this firm overall profitability is to be impacted.
 More employee turnover- It is another challenge that is experienced by organisation in
talent management strategies. As in the challenging corporate world if business is not
implemented their objectives properly that enhances employee’s turnover and creating
risk for failure of talent management strategies.

 Ineffective leadership- Due to improper style of leadership, employees feel insecure and
undervalued that impacted the proficiency of business to sustain in competitive market.
Ineffective leadership denied employees to sustain in firm and it enhances overall
recruiting cost and also they cannot hire top talent for productive success.
P2 Develop project management plan that includes various framework
The term project management refers to a road map that considered different elements
which are used to fulfill the needs of completion of project systematically and proficiently. It is a
plan that represent sketch of strategies that are included in completing the project appropriately.
This plan is an integration of several activities that is used to lead the success of particular study.
Therefore by taking help of project management plan researcher effectively remove the obstacles
present in succession path (Chillakuri and Mahanandia, 2018). The main aim of project is to
reach the objectives in smooth and proper manner. Several elements are presented below that
helps Unilever in complete the study systematically:
Time- It is significant factor that is required to reach the objectives of projects in set time
frame. Therefore, set timelines are crucial to avoid risk and discrepancies within study. To
conduct this research proficiently investigator need 52 days in which they ensures all activities
are done in smooth and optimize way.
Cost- This represents all expenses that is needed to complete the project on time.
However, researcher need to ensure that they use activities in optimize manner that incudes
budgeted cost so that effective outcome it presented. The budget for completing this study is
around £400 in which all task are conducted properly.
Resources- It is crucial element of completing research on time. There are essential
resources such as man, machines, material, money etc. all are needed to complete the study in
effective way so that the particular research is reached the closing stage.
Quality- It is crucial to define validity and reliability in particular research. It is
prominent to examine quality in collecting data framing recommendations so that whole project
is done in smooth manner and offer successful result (Leavy, 2018). In this research measure
quality using balance scorecard tool as it offer reliable and valid results.

Scope- The main aim of conducting this study is to enhance the understanding on talent
management in organisation. To fulfill it researcher conduct this research and develops
information related to strategies for attaining and retain talent in giant organisation. The scope is
to complete the whole project proficiently by gaining understanding and knowledge regarding
talent management.
Risk- By indulging in this research, there are several risk that are faced by researcher
such as technical risk due to which project is not completed on time frame. Due to this
communication is not done effectively and information not travels to members due to which
reliability is affected.
Communication- It presents as an basic element of project after set time and scope it is
essential to communicate all activities to members involved in project (Pinzur, 2021). Due to
this it completed on time without creating any misunderstanding and offer positive output.
Within this communication is done between employee, project manager etc.
P3 Reflect Gantt chart and WBS
Work breakdown Structure
This term is an effective tool due to which whole project is done in optimal manner.
Within work break down structure, activities are bifurcated into small segments due to which
perfect results are enjoyed by project manager. In case of Unilever Plc the WBS structure is
presented below:

Gantt chart
It refers to an effective project management tool that is need to set the timing for
completing project activities proficiently and effectively. This is useful to avoid any
discrepancies under project so that it is to be completed in smooth manner (Coe and et. al.,
2021). The pictorial presentation of Gantt chart in context of Unilever Plc is presented below:

By preceding information it is critically evaluated that project management is an effective
process to conduct research properly and reliably. It includes various elements like cost, time,
communication, resources, quality, scope, risk all these are useful to complete research in
smooth manner. In this Gantt Chart and WBS is also help in delegating work as per time
allocation so that whole activities are completed in remarkable manner. If all these factor are not
used in effective manner than researcher face the issue of getting negative results. Using all this
need more time and cost that creates complexity for manager to done in prominent manner.
TASK 2
P4 Small Scale Research includes two research methods
This research need the small scale research that is based on quantitative research,
qualitative research, data collection, sampling etc. based on these terms researcher effectively
select the best alternative for completing this and attain proficient results in collecting and gather
data.
Quantitative research- This research method represent outcomes in numerical manner
as in this researcher makes the use of questionnaire, interviews techniques so that valid
information is collected on talent management strategies content. This includes close ended
questions where data are gathered in measurable manner (Hennink, Hutter and Bailey, 2020). To
conduct the research for Unilever Plc. this factor is highly beneficial because it eliminates error
in completing this project on time.
Qualitative research- It is that type of research method where data is collected in non-
numerical manner as it provides information in theoretical basis. In this researcher collects the
ideas and views of several people in the form of theory aspect to reach the conclusion and frame
recommendation. To use this method open ended questions, observation technique is adopted. In

terms of Unilever Plc. it method is not suitable because sometimes it shows misrepresentation in
data.
Data collection- To complete the study effectively and appropriately it is very necessary
to gather and collect information so that goals are attained prominently. There are two types of
data collection method i.e. primary data collection method in which data is collected by
researcher on their own for very first time (Quinlan and et. al., 2019). On the other hand,
secondary data collection method is termed as that method where researcher collect information
by using books, journal, scholarly articles etc. so that effective data is collected. To conduct this
research both methods is adopted so that proficiency within research is maintained.
Sampling- Collecting data has no boundaries and limits and in this sampling is a process
of selecting a part to conduct research appropriately. It involves two methods of data collection
that is probability sampling and non-probability sampling. To conduct this research probability
sampling is adopted where respondent are chosen randomly (Niezabitowska, 2018). In terms of
Unilever Plc. researcher take 20 samples in which employees and manager are included.
By preceding information it is evaluated that adopting quantitative research method for
completing this particular project is very useful because it provide information in numerical
form. to complete this effectively selecting respondents from large number of people is useful to
present data properly. In this random sampling is adopted that eliminates biasness in people. In
these using primary and secondary sources helps in offering authentic information related to
strategies used by talent management in giant company. all these chosen methods and techniques
helps in completing assignment in budget. If these sources are not used in appropriate manner
than it impact negative on whole study.
TASK 3
P5 Examine data and research by including tools and techniques
Questionnaire
Q1. In your view applying talent management strategies help Unilever Plc. in refining
organisational productivity by attracting and retaining talent?

a) Yes
b) No
Q2. Do you have any understanding related to importance of talent management in giant
organisation?
a) Yes
b) No
Q3. What are the main strategies followed by Unilever Plc. in retaining and attracting talent?
a) Proper organisation structure
b) Offer equality in pay wages
c) Provide effective training facilities
Q4. What is the main aim of using talent management strategies by Unilever Plc.?
a) Retain employees
b) Attract fresh talent
c) Develops subordinates confidence
Q5. Does Unilever Plc. get support in enhancing market image by implementing talent
management strategies within their working scenario?
a) Agree
b) Disagree
Q6. What are the main challenges faced by Unilever Plc. while implementing strategies of
talent management in regular business operations?
a) inexperience of technology
b) Employee Turnover
c) Weak hiring process
Q7. What are the ways of preventing issues faced by Unilever Plc in talent management
strategies?
a) Follow structural hierarchy
b) Conduct regular conventions
c) Develop employee empowerment in making decision
Q8. According to you what are the major benefits of talent management strategies in Unilever
Plc.?
a) Attract new and skilled manpower