Business Communication Strategies for Unilever: A Comprehensive Report

This report provides a detailed analysis of business communication within the context of Unilever. It begins by emphasizing the critical role of communication skills, including effective listening, speaking, and observation, and their impact on achieving business objectives. The report highlights the importance of effective communication across Unilever's hierarchical structure, especially in a global business environment, and its role in fostering strong employee relations and maintaining positive relationships with clients and suppliers. It then delves into the different methods of communication employed by Unilever, including verbal, written, and non-verbal communication, assessing their impact on the company's operations and profitability. The report concludes by summarizing the significance of effective business communication for the overall success of the business, underscoring the need for continuous improvement in communication strategies and skills.

BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Communication skills.............................................................................................................3
Role of effective communication...........................................................................................4
Impact of different methods of communication.....................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Communication is the key of success in both academic and professional life. This is
majorly pertaining to the fact that communication is the only way of sharing information and
ideas with one another (Escobar-Rodríguez and Bonsón-Fernández, 2017). In context of
business, communication is very necessary because of the reason that if communication will not
be clear then objective of business will not be accomplished. Thus, the present journal will
outline the communication skills and the role of communication in achieving business objectives
within Unilever. Also, this will discuss about the different methods of communication within
business.
Communication skills
The communication skills include the ability of the person to share information and facts
and figures with another person. For the communication to be effective it is necessary for the
sender to make the receiver understand the message in the same way as they want to pass. But
for Unilever the communication needs to be very effective as if communication is not effective
then here will be many problems. Thus, for this good communication skills need to be possessed
by manager and other employees of Unilever. These skills involve following-
Effective listening- For communication to be effective the most important skill is of
effectively listening. This is because if employees will not listen to the other person in proper
manner then communication will not be proper. This is because if the message is not listened
properly then it will not be addressed in the same manner as it is intended to be done (Sherrow,
Lang and Corbett, 2016).
Speaking- This is also an important skill to be inherited among employees of Unilever
because if they will not clearly speak then how the other person will understand it. Thus, for
good communication skill the employee must know about how to speak in effective manner,
Observing- This is also a skill required in order to have good communication skills. This
is majorly because of the reason that sometimes even the communication is not made just by
speaking. Rather sometimes the communication is made by just observing it and then
communicating in way of non- verbal communication. This is done just by expressing it or
sometimes by giving a facial expression or even by the body language.
Other than these three skills there are also many different types of skills which needs to
be possessed by the employees and managers of Unilever (Froud, Tischer and Williams, 2017).

The major reason underlying this fact is that without communication not a single business
activity is undertaken in successful manner. For instance, if top management is not able to
effectively communicate the objectives with the lower level. Then how these people will be able
to achieve the objectives of the business (Clokie and Fourie, 2016). Also, in another example,
where employee of customer service department of Unilever is communicating with the
consumer and the person is not able to understand the requirement of the consumer in clear
manner. Then it is not at all possible for department to implement the requirements of consumer
within product. Thus, this may result in loss for Unilever.
In the end it can be said that only communication is not necessary but along with this
other skill like effective listening, clear speaking is also necessary for the communication to be
proper and understandable.
Role of effective communication
For attaining success, it is very necessary for Unilever to have effective and fluent
communication within all business structure. The business structure is defined as the stages in
the business through which the decision and other information are being passed. There is a large
hierarchical chain of employees which is being used in Unilever in order to accomplish the aims
and objectives of the business. Thus, for working in such large chain it is necessary for Unilever
to use effective communication. This is necessary as if at any stage of hierarchy, the message is
misinterpreted or miscommunicated then this will not assist company in attaining the business
objectives.
Thus, here the communication plays an effective role for the success of Unilever.
Another major role of communication comes because the business operates in global business
environment and deals with many different countries. Thus, here the communication is very
necessary because this helps in effectively ascertaining the needs and requirements of other
consumers of different countries. Also, another role of effective communication in overseas
business of Unilever is that the offices are in remote areas and also there is multiple time zones
and for this the communication need to be effectively managed. This is majorly pertaining to the
fact that even if one single information is missed then the whole activity will be hampered and
this will impact the overall achievement of goals of business (Lentz, 2018).
Another major role of effective communication in Unilever is that this increases stronger
relation and coordination among employees of Unilever. This is usually because of the reason

that if communication will be effective among employees then they will work with one another
in coordination and harmony. Thus, this will help employees in fostering their performance and
engagement with company objectives. Hence, it will result in proper accomplishment of
objectives of business. Along with this another important role of effective communication is that
this help Unilever in maintaining good relation with the clients and other suppliers of raw
material (Mayfield and Mayfield, 2017). This is only possible because of good and effective
communication with other parties outside the business trust the company. Also, because of this
good communication the other parties trust Unilever and sometimes also provides them discounts
and benefits of doing business in effective manner.
Impact of different methods of communication
From the above it can be seen that communication is very important and necessary for the
profitable working of company. Thus, there are many different ways in which Unilever can
communicate with its employees and other stakeholders. The major methods which Unilever
uses in order to communicate with other employees and stakeholder are as follows-
Verbal communication- This is a type of communication where the message is passed on
to the other person in form of saying. In simple words, verbal communication is the one in which
information is being shared with other people by saying and speaking with another person. This
is a very good method of communication because here all the explanation is provided with the
message itself. This has a good impact over the operations of Unilever because if there is any
confusion at time of communication it is solved at the same time. Thus, with help of this the
confusion of employees is cleared at the same time and this does not impact the performance of
the employees. For example, face to face or communication made over telephones and intercom
within whole organization. Good verbal communication has a great impact over profitability of
company because with good communication the coordination among employees will be good
and they will produce good output. This will eventually result in increase in the profitability of
company.
Written communication- This is another form of communication in which Unilever tries
to communicate with each other in form of writing the messages. This is done with help of
different mediums like formal written letter, emails, text messages and many other written
sources (Oussii and Klibi, 2017). This method of communication effectively impacts over the
working of company because if there will be miscommunication then it will lead to decrease in

working efficiency. The impact of this communication is good over Unilever as these written
messages can be kept as proof for future references. Another impact of this communication over
working of Unilever is that this method of communication is more useful when message is to be
transferred to a large number of people. Thus, here only written communication will be helpful.
Non- verbal communication- This is a type of communication wherein neither words are
spoken or any written message is passed. Here the communication is made with the facial
expressions and the body language of the people. This includes stud of facial expression at time
of communication. Like for instance, a manager is instructing their subordinate and if after
explanation they give a smile then manager can think that they have clearly understood the
message. In the same manner if they give a confused expression then it might be possible that
they have not understood the message in clear manner (Communication methods, 2020). The
impact of this method of communication is very good as without saying a word or by written
message the employees are able to understand each other. Thus, this increases their mutual
understanding and they work in more coordinated manner.
CONCLUSION
In the end it can be summarised that business communication is very effective and
efficient for the success of the business. It is so because without communication no information
can be shared with one another and no business activity can be performed. Thus, the present
study stated that there are many skills required for effective communication like active listening,
proper observation, clear speaking and many others. Also, there are many different methods
through which effective communication can be made like written, verbal and non- verbal
communication.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Clokie, T.L. and Fourie, E., 2016. Graduate employability and communication competence: Are
undergraduates taught relevant skills?. Business and Professional Communication
Quarterly. 79(4). pp.442-463.
Escobar-Rodríguez, T. and Bonsón-Fernández, R., 2017. Facebook practices for business
communication among fashion retailers. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management:
An International Journal.
Froud, J., Tischer, D. and Williams, K., 2017. It is the business model… Reframing the problems
of UK retail banking. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. 42. pp.1-19.
Lentz, P.J., 2018. Rhetorical Grammar in the Business Communication Classroom: Cultural
Capital vs. Privileged Rhetoric. In Rhetorical Theory and Praxis in the Business
Communication Classroom (pp. 45-66). Routledge.
Mayfield, J. and Mayfield, M., 2017. Leadership communication: Reflecting, engaging, and
innovating.
Oussii, A.A. and Klibi, M.F., 2017. Accounting students’ perceptions of important business
communication skills for career success. Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting.
Sherrow, T., Lang, B. and Corbett, R., 2016. The flipped class: Experience in a university
business communication course. Business and Professional Communication
Quarterly. 79(2). pp.207-216.
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Communication methods. 2020. [Online]. Available through: <
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/management_concepts/communication_methods.htm >