Best Practices in Global Talent Management: A Case Study on Unilever plc

This research project focuses on studying the best practices in global talent management within multinationals, specifically through a case study on Unilever plc. It aims to identify the practices adopted in talent management, evaluate their impact on employee productivity and retention, and propose recommendations for improvement. The research questions explore the concept of talent management, the practices in Unilever plc, the effects of global talent management on employee performance, and recommendations for improving talent management practices in multinational companies.

RESEARCH PROJECT
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TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................3
Title..............................................................................................................................................3
Aims and Objectives....................................................................................................................3
Research questions.......................................................................................................................3
Rationale......................................................................................................................................4
Significance..................................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................................4
Theme 1: Idea of talent management in an organization.............................................................4
Theme 2: Practices of talent management...................................................................................5
Theme 3: Impact of employees productivity in context to talent management...........................5
Theme 4: Recommendations for talent management practices...................................................6
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.............................................................................7
Research type...............................................................................................................................7
Research approach.......................................................................................................................7
Research philosophy....................................................................................................................8
Data collection.............................................................................................................................8
Sampling......................................................................................................................................8
Data analysis................................................................................................................................9
Ethical consideration....................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS..................................................................................................9
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION......................................................................................................18
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................18
Recommendation.......................................................................................................................19
Reflection...................................................................................................................................19
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................20
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................22
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Title
“To study, best practices in global talent management within multinationals and effects on
employee productivity and retention: A case study on Unilever plc.”
Aims and Objectives
Aim:
The aim of the chosen project is covered in the points underneath:
 To identify the best practices adopted in the global talent management in multi-national
companies like Unilever. The effect of talent management practices on employee productivity and retention.
Objectives: The objectives for the research project is explained in the points below:
 To describe the concept of talent management and a brief understanding of how they are
adopted in multinational companies
 To determine the best practices and approaches to talent management in Unilever
 To evaluate the impact of global talent management on employee productivity and
retention in Unilever
 To propose recommendations on the improvement in the current practices in MNCs to
improve the approaches to HRM.
Research questions
 What is the fundamental concept of talent management in context to multinational
companies?
 What are the talent management approaches and practices that are implanted in Unilever
plc?
 How does the global talent management approaches affect the employee retention,
performance and productivity in Unilever?
 What are the recommendations that can be used by MNC's to further improve their
present talent management practices?
Rationale
Talent management is a very essential factor which has to be considered in an
organization so that there would be higher operations and functioning which would be present.
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Reason for this topic is that there must be good understanding and analysation of talent
management. End result would be higher for businesses which are present in the market which is
going to be a great factor. Motivation and quality of workforce is going to be well maintained
and performance and operations of organization is also be improved with time as well.
Significance
Importance of this research is that there must be good understanding of factor which is
talent management so that there is would be higher performance and operations which would be
present. Recruitment, development, retains the workforce, etc. are very essential in a business
and this factor is going to make sure that the employees are having a higher satisfaction level
which is going to be good for the trust and loyalty of the employees in the company. Talent
management is a very essential factor making the company be able to work towards goals easily.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
Theme 1: Idea of talent management in an organization
As per the view of author (Eghbal and et.al., 2017), right talent has to be present in the
company so that the business goals can be achieved on time. There are long term objectives and
goals which an organization has for themselves in the market which needs to be achieved on time
so that there must be higher competitive advantage. Training and motivation has to be given to
the workforce so that there is going to be higher outcomes of the organization and the talent also
has to be well maintained. Strategies have to be modified with time so that there is going to be
higher operations which is going to be there.
According to (Amiri and Safariolyaei, 2017), planning has to be done so that talent
management is going to be present in the company which is going to be a great factor for
Unilever. Unilever has not been able to perform well in the market because of the competition
which is present that needs to be improved so that there is going to be higher achievement.
Quality of the products and services has to be well maintained so that there the company can
maintain their loyalty and trust of the customers which is going to be a great factor
(Savanevičienė and Vilčiauskaitė, 2017). In international market there must be effective working
and performance which have been present in workforce so that there is would be higher
productivity and operations.
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Theme 2: Practices of talent management
In according to (Edwards, 2017), gap between the internal environment can be created
very easily which has to be well maintained so that there is going to be higher satisfaction.
Development is very essential so that competitors will be able to have a higher outcomes and the
sales be higher. Benefits have to be given to the workforce so that there be higher outcomes in
the firm. Talent management makes sure that work is being done effectively so that organization
will be able to benefit overall. There are a lot of targets which a business set, and they need to be
achieved so that the organization will be able to have higher reputation and brand image in the
market (Ganaie and Haque, 2017). Problems, issues, conflicts, etc. rise in an organization and
specially in the international market so that there would be higher operations and productivity.
The author suggests (Almohtaseb and et.al., 2020), there is lot of resistant from
employees to changes which is present in an organization which has to be well managed. Talent
management makes sure that there are effective measures which are being taken and that would
be a great factor. There are a lot of policies and measures which are there and that makes sure
that there are high practices which are taking place and make the performance of firm overall be
improved. There are barriers which can make the financial factor get affected which has to be
monitored and controlled by Unilever which is good for the reputation and brand image of the
company.
Theme 3: Impact of employees productivity in context to talent management
In opinion of (Makarius and Srinivasan, 2017), employees must remain motivated which
makes company be able to achieve the targets and objectives which they are having. Workforce
is given their personal preferences which is built so in order to be able to have effective working.
Completion of tasks must be present in Unilever because demands and needs of customers is
increasing which well be maintained and that makes functioning be higher. Recognition for
efforts which are being put in company have to be well analysed so that company will be able to
have higher advantages in market and expenditure is minimum.
In view of (Meyer and Xin, 2018), traditional methods for maintaining talent
management is not be effective in nature which would make performance of company be higher.
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Productivity and operations of company has to be maintained and also make the migration factor
of employees be under control. The styles of management has to change so that there be effective
working and burden on employees is going to reduce. Management has to make decisions
according to the employees so that there be higher satisfaction which is present. Style of leaders
in Unilever is autocratic which has to be improved and made sure that there is effective working
and performance which is to be there and good understanding as well.
Theme 4: Recommendations for talent management practices
As per the view of (Yaseen, Shatnawi and Obeidat, 2018), HRM must have the right
practices which are supposed to be there which is going to make company be able to operate
effectively. International market is having a lot of issues which can make workforce not be able
to focus on working. Skilled employees have to be hired which is going to make performance of
company be higher. Right methods and theories have to be used by HRM so that there would be
higher operations and working that is present so that organization will be able to make a place
for themselves. There is lot of pressure on the employees of Unilever because of the imbalance
which organization is having in market which has to be well managed and improved upon so that
there to be effectual working. Expenditure must be done on workforce so that there is be right
measures and improvement which is present for the development of the entire organization
nationally and internationally.
Author (Kamal and Lukman, 2017), also considered that, culture of Unilever is very
different from one another which has to be well maintained so that company. This will be able to
have a higher performance and working in the market that is going to be a good factor for overall
performance. Observation of HRM department present in Unilever has to be improved so that
there are right employees which be hired and effective workforce be present in organization.
Confidence must be present and higher frame works has to be used so that there is higher
operations. Positive working environment has to be created so that there is higher influence and
working be better so that there are right practices which be involved. Changes have to be adapted
easily so that there be higher information which is present so that right use of working which is
there and policies also have to be improved upon so that the company will be able to have higher
inspiration which is going to be helpful.
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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research type
Rsearches are of two types which being qualitative and quantitative types which can be
considered in a research. The focus of the report would be upon qualitative research is would get
out the best of results and outcomes of this research. Quantitative research is statistic and number
research which is going to get in higher analysis and collection of work which is going to be
present (Johnson, Gibbs Grey and Baker-Bell, 2017). This research is also getting a lot of
detailing which can not be trusted because all the surveys are different from one another.
Qualitative research is hypothetical and understanding of one can be used after analysing the data
which is collected so that there is going to be a different take on things and different and
interesting outcomes can be taken out. Qualitative research is used because of the nature of this
type and there is a detailed understanding of this type which makes the performance of the
company be higher.
Research approach
Inductive and deductive approaches are different types of researches which can be used
in a research project so that there is a better sense of direction which is present. Deductive
approach is to question and test an existing theory or method which is present and inductive
approach is reasoning the aim so that be higher achievement is to be present. The research is to
be focused upon inductive approach so that there is to be higher achievement and outcomes
which can be achieved. Methods and theories have to be used in right approach so that there is to
be higher functioning and improvement which would be there (Abdurrahman and Mulyana,
2020).
Research philosophy
There are three types of philosophies which are present which are interpretivism,
positivism and realism which can be included in the research project so that there is going to be
higher sense of direction which is going to be present. Interpretivism is not going to focus on
casual explanation but the report is going to focus on the overall functioning and that is going to
7

be higher understanding (Flick, 2020). Positivism is going to only focus on the positive impact
and working of the topic selected which is not good because there has to be effective
interpretation which is going to be required which is going to be a great factor for the overall
development. Interpretivism type is focused upon in this research so that there are higher
achievements and outcomes with better understanding which is present in audience.
Data collection
To be able to collect the data there are two types of collection which is present that is
primary and secondary research which is required so that there is to be higher functioning which
is to be present. Primary data is collected from source itself and secondary data is taking account
of the third party as well which is being influenced in working so that there is right working
which would be there (Arantes do Amaral, dos Santos and Rodrigues, 2018). The research
project is going to focus on both the aspect so that there is going to be effective understanding
and outcomes of this report which is going to be present.
Sampling
Sampling is also of two types which are probability and non-probability and the research
is going to focus upon probability research. There are 30 respondents which actively participated
in this activity which helped in getting out the right interpretation. The respondents would be
associated with company in some way or another for example the employees. Non probability
type is very bias and that is not to be effective for the results which is going to be present in this
research and make sure that there is random selection of employees which is there making sure
that there is going to be right response which the questionnaire is going to have (Gear, Eppel and
Koziol-Mclain, 2018). There has to be equal chances and selection which has to be done so that
there would be higher operations.
Data analysis
The report is focusing on qualitative approach therefore thematic analysis is going to be
used in the research so that the topic, ideas and pattern of this research is going to be higher
which is a great factor. Thematic style is used instead of statistical analysis because the types of
8

research is used is qualitative which is not having a lot of statistics in nature and interpreting
them is not possible. There are a lot of interviews and improvement which is going to be present
as well that is going to get the best to the audience. Large qualitative research can also be
analysed effectively and make the working even better which is going to be a great factor for the
overall working (Park, 2017). Interviews and other proper working has to be present so that the
outcomes are going to be effective and audience would be able to connect with the data which is
being presented to them.
Ethical consideration
There was a lot of respect which was present and that is going to be effective for the
overall functioning as well. Bias or any kind of unethical working was not present but instead
there was a consent form as well which was filled in by the audience so that there is going to be
good involvement which is going to be there (Devi, 2017). There has to be no harm which must
be done while doing the research and there were none which took place. Data was not stolen
from anywhere and that is to make sure that the data presented is authentic in nature and trust
worthy as well.
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS
Data analysis is a framework which is used so that the information can be inspected and
transformed to easier form in order to reach out to a larger audience. It is important to have data
analysis in research projects in order to make sure that the audience understanding and the
outcomes is going to be higher.
Theme 1: Is talent management being focused upon by Unilever management for the
employees?
Is talent management being focused upon by
Unilever management for the employees?
Outcomes
Yes 16
No 9
9

Maybe 5
Total 30
Interpretation: From the above graph it can be analysed that there are 16 employees who feel
that there is effective measures which are being taken in the company for talent management.
Talent management is to get in higher satisfaction level of the customers which is to make the
company have higher productivity and operations overall. 9 out of 30 people thing that there is
no talent management which is present in Unilever which is to make the employees not be able
to operate effectively in the market. And there are 5 out of 30 people think that there is maybe an
implementation of talent management which they are not aware about. Communication is very
important and when 5 people are not aware about it then there has to be a change in making sure
that there is effective working that would be present in the company.
10
16
9
5
Is talent management being focused upon by Unilever management for the employees?
Yes
No
Maybe
Illustration 1: Is talent management being focused upon by Unilever management for the
employees?

Theme 2: What are the benefits accordingly to you of talent management?
What are the benefits accordingly to you of
talent management?
Outcomes
Flexibility 8
Employees development 3
Retain employees 4
Improve manager and employees engagement 9
Hiring process 6
Total 30
Interpretation:
Theme 3: Flexibility is being provided by management to manage the current performance?
11
Flexibility
Retain employees
Hiring process
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 8
3
4
9
6
What are the benefits accordingly to you of talent management?
Column B
Illustration 2: What are the benefits accordingly to you of talent management?

Flexibility is being provided by management
to manage the current performance?
Outcomes
Strongly agree 7
Agree 12
Neutral 4
Disagree 5
Strongly disagree 2
Total 30
Interpretation: There are 12 people out of 30 and 7 people out of 30 who have said agree and
strongly agree respectively which is a great factor for the company to have which is going to
make sure that there is positivity in the organization which is being maintained for the long run.
4 people said that they are neutral with this idea and 5 disagree and 2 strongly disagree which is
12
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
7
12
4
5
2
Flexibility is being provided by management to manage the current performance?
Column B
Illustration 3: Flexibility is being provided by management to manage the current
performance?

going to have a negative impact in some part of the working of the organization which has to be
well managed and maintained so that the organization will be able to maintain their competitive
advantage in the market. Current performance of Unilever is being able to match the standards
and expectations of the clients which is a great factor for the company to have so that there are
going to be higher outcomes that would generate.
Theme 4: Feedbacks of employees is being taken and are actions being implemented after that?
Feedbacks of employees is being taken from
time to time and are actions being
implemented after that?
Outcomes
Yes 14
No 11
Sometime 5
Total 30
13

Interpretation: From the above picture it can be concluded that there are 14 out of 30
employees of Unilever who agree with the statement that there are feedback and are being taken
seriously and are worked upon so that the satisfaction of the employees can be higher. There are
11 employees out of 30 which respondent no as to there are no feedbacks which are being taken
and improved upon in the organization. There are 5 out of 30 employees which said that there
maybe these factors which are being considered by the HRM of the company in order to make
sure that there are right working environment which can be provided to the employees. Talent
management is going to be maintained if there is right use of feedbacks from employees and
improving upon it.
Theme 5: The performance is being reviewed effectively in Unilever Plc and encouragement for
the employees is present?
The performance is being reviewed Outcomes
14
Yes
No
Sometime
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
14
11
5
Feedbacks of employees is being taken from time to time and are actions being implemented after that?
Column B
Illustration 4: Feedbacks of employees is being taken from time to time and are actions being
implemented after that?

effectively in Unilever Plc and
encouragement for the employees is
present?
Yes 13
No 8
Maybe 6
Sometimes 3
Total 30
Interpretation: From the above graph it can be analysed that there are 13 people out of 30 who
responded yes for the encouragement which the organization is receiving from the organization.
The performance of the employees has to be measured so that there is to be higher sales. 8 out of
15
13
8
6
3
The performance is being reviewed effectively in Unilever Plc and encouragement for the employees is present?
Yes
No
Maybe
Sometimes
Illustration 5: The performance is being reviewed effectively in Unilever Plc and
encouragement for the employees is present?

30 people said that there is no encouragement which is present in Unilever. 6 people out of 30
respondent said that maybe and 3 people said sometimes which means that Unilever will have to
make sure that there is good understanding and communication with the employees and HRM so
that there is going to be higher understanding in the employees of the working which is present.
According to the talent present the performance has to be monitored so that the risks and
weakness of the company can be improved upon.
Theme 6: Is there a sense of motivation for the employees by the management which is present
in Unilever Plc?
Is there a sense of motivation for the
employees by the management which is
present in Unilever Plc?
Outcomes
Agree 16
Neutral 8
Disagree 6
Total 30
16

Interpretation: There are 16 out of 30 employees who responded for the agreement of the
management which is present and the motivation which they are providing from the observation
from the picture above. 8 were neutral and 6 said no for the management being able to provide
the right functioning for the organization. Demands and needs of the customers is changing
which has to be addressed by the company so that there is going to be higher sales and operations
which is going to be present in Unilever. Management also has to try to understand the
employees which is going to make the decisions be made accordingly and that is going to make
the working environment more effective. Talent management is going to get in a sense of
motivation as well because there is good sharing and communication within all employees so
that there is good interaction and improvement that is present.
Theme 7: Do you feel that talent management is being used for recruitment purpose as well?
Do you feel that talent management is being Outcomes
17
Agree Neutral Disagree
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
16
8
6
Is there a sense of motivation for the employees by the management which is present in Unilever Plc?
Column B
Illustration 6: Is there a sense of motivation for the employees by the management which is
present in Unilever Plc?

used for recruitment purpose as well?
Strongly agree 11
Agree 7
Neutral 8
Disagree 3
Strongly disagree 1
Total 30
Interpretation: In recruitment there is a lot of impact of talent management which is present and
that is going to make the performance level of the company get affected. 11 people strongly
agreed with this factor, 7 agreed, 8 were neutral, 3 were disagreeing and 1 out of 30 respondent
strongly disagreed that there is going to be any affect in the recruitment which is taking place. It
18
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
0
2
4
6
8
10
12 11
7
8
3
1
Do you feel that talent management is being used for recruitment purpose as well?
Column B
Illustration 7: Do you feel that talent management is being used for recruitment purpose as
well?

is important for the organization to make sure that there are right actions which are being taken
so that there is effective functioning and working that is going to be present. Management and
HRM of the company have to get in the right talent in the company so that the working and
objectives of the organization are going to match with the reputation which the company is
having in the market.
Theme 8: Recommendation for Unilever Plc to maintain talent management.
Interpretation: Unilever's employees think that there has to be effective working and
communication so that they feel more accepted and want to work more which is going to be a
great factor for the overall working. Talent management is present because the company is being
able to maintain their standards and functioning in the company which makes a great factor for
further growth. Recommendation which the employees gave is that there have to be experienced
and well skilled employees which must come in the company so that there is going to be higher
operations and functioning that is going to be present in the organization.
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above research that there must be good understanding of
talent management so that there is going to be higher outcomes which the organization is going
to observe overall. Talent management is going to make the working of the company be higher
and reputation be maintained as well. Talent management gets an overall development in the
organization which is going to get in competitive advantage in the company as well. There are a
lot of developments and improvements which can take place in the company which is going to be
effective and efficient for the working of the firm. There are a lot of factors which can be helpful
for the organization as well so that they can work upon them which is going to be a great factor.
Improvement with the changing time is essential so that they would be able to compete in the
market and that is going to be a great factor overall and the company will be able to have a
higher influence in the market as well.
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Recommendation
Talent management in Unilever has to be taken seriously in order to be able to get in the
right skills and knowledge employees which is going to make the organization be able to achieve
their targets and goals very quickly. There are a lot of theories and measures which management
can take in order to make sure that there is going to be effective working that would be present
and make the standards and reputation of the company be higher. The methods for recruitment
and encouragement for the workforce will have to change so that there is going to be higher
outcomes and improvement that would be present.
Reflection
The research methodology which is used in this report is right and made the targets and
objectives be achieved very quickly which is a great factor. Next time there is going to be a use
of effective quantitative research method which is going to give higher achievement be present.
Changes are important so that there is going to be different learning and development which is
present. The research has been able to reach its aims and make sure that the outcomes are
effective so that there is higher operations and functioning that is going to be present.
20

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abdurrahman, L. and Mulyana, T., 2020, June. Parallel Construction of Information Technology
Value Model: Design-Science Research Methodology. In 2020 8th International
Conference on Information and Communication Technology (ICoICT) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.
Almohtaseb, A.A and et.al., 2020. Impact of talent management on organizational performance:
The moderating role of an effective performance management system. International
Journal of Business and Management.15(4).
Amiri, M. and Safariolyaei, N., 2017. Talent Management among IT employees. International
Journal in Management & Social Science. 5(4). pp.86-89.
Arantes do Amaral, J.A., dos Santos, L. and Rodrigues, R.J., 2018. Combining Project-Based
Learning and Community-Based Research in a Research Methodology Course: The
Lessons Learned. International Journal of Instruction. 11(1). pp.47-60.
Devi, P.S., 2017. Research methodology: A handbook for beginners. Notion Press.
Edwards, M.R., 2017. Employer branding and talent management. The oxford handbook of
talent management. pp.233-248.
Eghbal, F and et.al., 2017. The effect of talent management process on the research performance
of faculty members with the mediating role of organizational justice. Форсайт, 11(2
(eng)).
Flick, U., 2020. Introducing Research Methodology: Thinking Your Way Through Your
Research Project. Sage.
Ganaie, M.U. and Haque, M.I., 2017. Talent management and value creation: A conceptual
framework. Academy of Strategic Management Journal. 16(2). pp.1-9.
Gear, C., Eppel, E. and Koziol-Mclain, J., 2018. Advancing complexity theory as a qualitative
research methodology. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. 17(1).
p.1609406918782557.
Johnson, L.L., Gibbs Grey, T.D. and Baker-Bell, A., 2017. Changing the dominant narrative: A
call for using storytelling as language and literacy theory, research methodology, and
practice. Journal of Literacy Research. 49(4). pp.467-475.
Kamal, M.Y. and Lukman, Z.M., 2017. The influence of talent management practices on job
satisfaction. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social
Sciences. 7(7). pp.859-864.
Makarius, E.E. and Srinivasan, M., 2017. Addressing skills mismatch: Utilizing talent supply
chain management to enhance collaboration between companies and talent
suppliers. Business Horizons. 60(4). pp.495-505.
Meyer, K.E. and Xin, K.R., 2018. Managing talent in emerging economy multinationals:
Integrating strategic management and human resource management. The International
Journal of Human Resource Management. 29(11). pp.1827-1855.
Park, J., 2017. Knowledge production with Asia-centric research methodology. Comparative
Education Review. 61(4). pp.760-779.
Savanevičienė, A. and Vilčiauskaitė, B., 2017. Practical application of exclusive and inclusive
talent management strategy in companies. Business, Management and Education. 15(2).
pp.242-260.
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Yaseen, H., Shatnawi, Y. and Obeidat, B., 2018. Reviewing the literature of the effect of talent
management on organizational effectiveness. Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-
JSS). 7(2). pp.139-156.
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APPENDIX
1. Is talent management being focused upon by Unilever management for the employees?
 Yes
 No
 Maybe
2. What are the benefits accordingly to you of talent management?
 Flexibility
 Employees development
 Retain employees
 Improve manager and employees engagement
 Hiring process
3. Flexibility is being provided by management to manage the current performance?
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Neutral
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree
4. Feedbacks of employees is being taken and are actions being implemented after that?
 Yes
 No
 Sometime
5. The performance is being reviewed effectively in Unilever Plc and encouragement for the
employees is present?
 Yes
 No
 Maybe
 Sometimes
6. Is there a sense of motivation for the employees by the management which is present in
Unilever Plc?
 Agree
23

 Neutral
 Disagree
7. Do you feel that talent management is being used for recruitment purpose as well?
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Neutral
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree
8. Recommendation for Unilever Plc to maintain talent management.
24