People Management in Unilever: Current Issues, Skills and Performance Management Techniques

This report discusses the current issues faced by line managers in people management in Unilever, the skills and behaviours required for effective people management, and the HR processes underpinning performance management.

MG411 Introduction to People
Management

Executive Summary
The people management is being discussed in this report. The problems and issues at
current time that are faced are studied. The skills that helps in management of employees are also
analysed. In end report covers the performance management techniques.

Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
Contents...........................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Current issues that are being faced by line managers related to people management.................1
The knowledge, skills and behaviours to be an effective people manager..................................2
HR processes underpinning the performance management.........................................................4
Recommendations............................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
The business environment has a dynamic nature as there are changes that are always taking
place. The people who are operating in entities needs to be managed for attaining success. The
behaviour of employees needs to be understood that are working in organisations and then best
facilities also need to be given for achieving goals and objectives of company. The human
resource management has an important role to play as it understands the employees along with
their motivation.
This following report covers people management that is present in Unilever. It has its
headquarters that are present in UK and it is a British multinational organisation that sells
consumer goods. It was made in 1929 as well as manages nearly 155000 employees. This report
also covers currents issues that are faced by its line manager. In this report, the skills, behaviour
required for managing employees are also discussed. This report also discusses about HR process
which helps and assists in the performance management.
MAIN BODY
Current issues that are being faced by line managers related to people management
There are many challenges faced by line manager related to people management. The
pandemic has influence the operations of the organisation which has caused problems and issues
for them. Some of the issues are discussed below:
Poor teamwork: The line manager has faced various issues in team working of company.
The productivity has been influenced of the company. The employees need to be managed for
increasing proper coordination in between them (Alfes, 2018). In context with Unilever, they
give their employees with training for effective working in team. The conflicts need to be
addressed on right time by the line manager that are faced by members of team.
Employees Demotivation: It has been observed that the employees are being demotivated
because of pandemic. There is various work related issues that have been seen in employees.
They are issues as they are unable dealing with various situations as well as this has resulted in a
negative environment. There is unsafe working environment that is being felt by employees
which has resulted in reduction of the productivity of employees in Unilever. Unilever’s line
manager has increased communicating with its employees for hearing of various problems of
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employees. There is motivation that has been felt by employees with the help of regular
communication as well as engagement of employees in various activities that are undertaken by
Unilever.
Time management: The ineffective time management is also major problem (Feliciani,
Shimura and Nishinari, 2021). It should be noted that, when tasks are not performed on time, this
can lead to major losses for the company. It is important to carry on various tasks for a company
at right time. If the timelines are being missed, there is no sense in functioning. The new
employees also face time management issues. Unilever’s line manager understands the newly
hired employees’ capabilities and accordingly assign them with right tasks for performing these
on right deadlines.
Adoption of innovation: It is realised that there is resistance by the employees in
changing. The technology and its use is a big threat to them. It is another issue that is faced by
the employees. It is necessary in recent times to use latest technology to achieve lead in market
over competitors. They need to perform for achieving goals and objectives on right time. The
employees need to understand this and should be provided with proper and technical training and
guidance for technology adoption. The technical training will help them in performing tasks in
proper manner as well as achieving success in market.
There are various challenges and issues faced by line manager of Unilever. It is necessary
to address these issues with proper solutions. This will help in attaining goals and objectives of
company.
The knowledge, skills and behaviours to be an effective people manager
There are various skills that are needed by people manager in business organisation for managing
the employees in a proper way. There are various issues and challenges that are being faced in
dealing with people and this needs specialisation (Ganesh, 2021). The people manager of
Unilever possesses these skills, knowledge and behaviour which are discussed as follows:
Communication skills: The proper communication skills are needed for helping people
manager in keeping its employees engaged in company. The proper interaction is needed for
maintaining and developing proper relations. The manager of Unilever manages its employees
by understanding them in a proper way.
Motivating skills: The motivation in the employees is a necessity as it makes them to
carry out their operations properly. Regular timely motivation is necessary to be provided to the
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employees as this makes them to complete their work in a proper way with full dedication.
Unilever’s manager uses various motivating skills for its employees to make them operate in a
proper way in company.
Leadership skills: The proper leadership skills are needed for completing work in a
proper way and that too on time. With proper leadership skills, encouraging employees is an easy
task for providing them with directions for operating in proper way (Gibson, Williams and
Hancock, 2021). The manager of Unilever uses leadership skills for understanding team
members and their work in proper manner and use methods for accomplishing these tasks
properly on predetermined time.
Problem solving skills: Problem solving skills are important in organisations. These
skills assist and guide in understanding the various issues by person that are faced by company’s
employees. In Unilever, all the problems and issues of employees are heard in a proper manner
along with its proper addressing with solutions. It helps in carrying work in a proper way as well
as removal of all the barriers is also there. The proper use of problem solving skills is important
for retaining the employees for longer time in the company.
Positivity: The manager of company needs to be positive as it will have a positive
influence on the team members also. It is important to have and create an environment which is
good and positive in which there are positive and dedicated employees that are present in
company (Prado-Prado, García-Arca and Fernández-González, 2020). The employees are then
dedicated towards their operations that are being assigned to them. Positive and good behaviour
is important for Unilever’s manager. This will help in keeping all the staff members of company
to be ready for operations along with being motivated for functioning in company that have been
allotted to them.
Trust: The manager should possess the ability to trust employees of company. The
employees need to be trusted as this will make them to have confidence and feel motivated in
company as well as also in carrying out their functions in a proper way. Unilever's manager
functions to build and gain trust of the employees for making them feel desirable and valuable in
company (Warhurst and Black, 2021). There is a need to build and gain trust of employees so
that there is easy accomplishment of goals in company.
Understanding: The manager of Unilever is needed to possess proper understanding
skills. With possession of these understanding skills, the behaviour of staff members is also an
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easy task for manager. The problems and issues that are being faced by employees are necessary
to be noted by the manager for making their operations easy and then addressing these for
attaining success in market.
The management of the employees is not an easy task in a business organisation. Various
skills are needed for carrying out the operations and functions of business (Rawson, 2020). The
behaviour and knowledge is important as these help in dealing with the employees as well as also
in keeping them motivated in effective manner for carrying out the work in company.
HR processes underpinning the performance management
The human resource management has an important role to play in an organisation. The
company’s HR works as a connection between employees and higher authority of organisation.
The management of employees’ performance is necessary for attaining success. There are many
problems and issues faced by employees of organisation during operating in the organisation as
well as these need to be addressed (Rayner and Webb, 2022). The performance of the employees
needs to be checked on regular basis for knowing the improvement areas. The process that helps
in underpinning the performance management is explained below:
Performance management review: Regular collaboration and communication is
necessary with the employees in company. The higher authorities collectively plan and
implements effective strategies for achieving success (Sutton,2018). There are mainly four
segments that are present in this model. The four steps of performance management review are
discussed as follows:
 Planning stage: The planning is most integral step that is there in the performance
review. The organisation’s HR should operate and function by keeping in mind, the
objectives for further success. It is important to make plans for attaining goals in effective
manner.
 Monitoring: In the monitoring stage, there is assignment of goals on the basis of months
and quarters. This helps and guides in carrying out all the operations smoothly.
 Reviewing: This step involves the reviewing of the performance of employees by
management of organisation. This helps in knowing their future achievement of goals and
objectives. In the end of the financial year, this step is taken.
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 Rewarding: The employees in this stage are provided with various rewards for their
performance from the management. This has a great impact on the employees’
productivity and also on company. For giving rewards it is necessary to do a regular
check on the performance of the employees for attaining growth and success.
360-degree appraisal: This is yet another method which is used for reviewing the employees’
performance. The feedback of employees is taken with the help of peers, superiors as well as
subordinates for checking real performance of that employee. It is needed to consider all these
feedbacks that are given by members in a very effective way for taking necessary actions for
improving in organisations (Rose, 2018). It is necessary to see that with the help of 360-degree
feedback, there are areas that are improved for attaining success by employees. This makes the
employees completely satisfied and motivated for having effective performance.
Recommendations
The recommendations helping the company are discussed for increasing performance of
employees. These are as follows:
 It is necessary to have employees motivated for achieving the goals and objectives in a
successful way. For keeping motivation in the employees the needs and wants need to be
fulfilled.
 The company should operate with engaging its employees in the organisation. This will
lead to enhancement of the employees’ productivity. These activities will help in overall
growth and development of company.
 It is necessary to give employees with proper opportunities. As well as there is a need to
keep a check on the employees’ performance frequently for knowing the strengths and
weakness and actions related to them can be taken.
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CONCLUSION
It is analysed from the above report, that employees play an important role in a business
organisation. The management of the employees is necessary and that too in effective manner for
achievement of goals and objectives. There are various problems and issues faced by line
manager in entity as well as they are also studied. The skills that are required for management of
the people are also identified in the company. The performance management techniques in the
end of this report are also mentioned.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Alfes, K., 2018. People management in volunteer organizations and charities. In HRM in mission driven
organizations (pp. 47-77). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Feliciani, C., Shimura, K. and Nishinari, K., 2021. Introduction to Crowd Management: Managing Crowds
in the Digital Era: Theory and Practice. Springer Nature.
Ganesh, A., 2021. Introspective Parameter on Talent Management for Service and Manufacturing
Industry Introduction. Academic Discourse, 10(1), pp.84-102.
Gibson, R., Williams, P. and Hancock, J., 2021. An introduction to the assessment and management of
psychodermatological disorders. BJPsych Advances, 27(5), pp.305-312.
Prado-Prado, J.C., García-Arca, J. and Fernández-González, A.J., 2020. People as the key factor in
competitiveness: a framework for success in supply chain management. Total quality
management & business excellence, 31(3-4), pp.297-311.
Rawson, S., 2020. Knowledge management meets information management: ISO30401 introduction. IQ:
The RIMPA Quarterly Magazine, 36(1), pp.21-23.
Rayner, M. and Webb, T., 2022. Global perspectives on sport management education: Implications for
practice–an introduction. In Sport Management Education (pp. 1-4). Routledge.
Rose, M., 2018. Management: Alternatives, Consequences and Contexts, London: CIPD. Rose, M.(2018)
Reward Management: A Practical Introduction, 2nd edn, London: Kogan Page. Human
Resource Management, p.162.
Sutton, A., 2018. People, management and organizations. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Warhurst, R. and Black, K., 2021. Introduction: Professionalising education in Organisation Studies and
Human Resource Management. In Organisation Studies and Human Resource
Management (pp. 1-19). Routledge.
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