HRM Report: Purpose, Practices, and Employee Relations at Unilever

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, using Unilever as a case study. It begins with an introduction to HRM, defining its purpose and functions, and then delves into the core aspects of recruitment and selection, comparing the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. The report further explores the benefits of various HRM practices, such as employee security, selective hiring, and performance-based compensation, and examines how these practices contribute to organizational profit and productivity. It also highlights the importance of employee relations in HRM decision-making and discusses the impact of employment legislation. The report concludes with an overview of HRM practices within the work context, offering insights into how companies like Unilever can optimize their human resource strategies for long-term success.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ......................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
P1 Purpose and function of HRM................................................................................................3
Purpose of human resource management....................................................................................5
P2 strength and weakness to different approach of recruitment and selection............................5
P3 Benefits of different Human Resource Management practices..............................................6
P4 HRM practices raising organizational profit and productivity...............................................7
P5 employ relationship in HRM decision-making.......................................................................8
P6 Employment legislation and their impact on HRM decision-making....................................9
P7 HRM practices in work context..............................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
Books and Journals....................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management is a department in the functioning of an organization which
mainly looks after the selection and recruitment of the staff best suited for the post in the
organization. It also focuses on the functioning of different department and people within the
organization. Ensuring that best work practices are followed within the organization. Unilever is
a UK based multinational corporations which deals in various products like food, cosmetics,
baby food, personal care etc. It has presence all over the world and it is also listed on London
Stock Exchange. In the further report purpose and functions of HRM will be discussed. Strengths
and weakness of different approaches of recruitment and selection and the benefit of HRM
practices will be determined.
MAIN BODY
P1 Purpose and function of HRM
Functions of HRM are classified in three categories:
Functions related to management Workforce planning- Research is considered to be the major part of this function.
Collection of information is being done under this process to identify the future and
current needs of workforce and predicting employees changes in behaviour pattern and
attitude and their effect on the organization (Bernardin, and Russell, 2006). Organizing- Task allocation is done to the members of the organization in Unilever. Directing — Providing the right directions to the employee for the better result in the
organizations' outcome and achieving the goals and objectives and all this is possible is
UNILIVER because of providing the right direction and motivation to the employees.
 Controlling — After the employee perform, their performance is been checked,
compared and verified with the ingoing plan in Unilever. If the required performance is
not given after the comparison then control measures are to be taken.
Functions related to operations Recruitment and selection — Recruitment is a positive process and selection is a negative
process as in recruitment applications and invited and in selection unsuitable applications
are rejected which in result bring prospective candidate to the organization to meet the
objectives of the organization.

 Job design and analysis — Job design refers to such that the outlining and organizing of
different tasks and activities responsibility into a single unit of work to achieve the
objectives set by Unilever. Appraisal of performance — Professionals of the human resource department are
required to perform this to ensure that the performance of employee is at the level of
acceptance in Unilever. Training and Development — Training is very essential to enhance the skills and
knowledge of employees to perform the job better. Training and development program is
organized for both the existing and new employee in Unilever. The employees are being
prepared for taking higher level of responsibility through the training and development
program. Administration of salary and wages — Human resource department specifies the salary
paid to the employee according to the job role and type in Unilever. The human resource
also includes of the compensation of wage administration, incentives, fringe benefits,
salary administration etc. Employee welfare- The function includes of different type of facilities being provided to
the employee for their well-being in the organization. Maintenance — Human resource management always try to retain the best performing
employee in the organization which includes in the process of maintenance in Unilever. Maintaining Labour relations — It is the function performed by HRM to interact and
communicate with the employees which are represented by trade union. Employees form
a union to obtain more strength in decision-making of wage, different working condition
and benefits in Unilever. Personnel research — This research is done by the human resource engagement to gain
more knowledge and opinion on wage and salary, welfare activities, working condition,
promotions, leadership etc. all this helps to better understand employee satisfaction,
turnover and termination in Unilever.
 Personnel record — The function involves maintaining and recording of information
regarding application forms, employee absent, employment history, working hours and
all the other data related to employee. All this is handheld by the human resource
management in Unilever.

Advisory function Advise the top management- Managers give advice the top-level management for the
formulation and evaluation of different policies and programs in Unilever.
 Advise the head of department- Managers advise heads of different department on matters
such as performance appraisal, selection, job design etc.
Purpose of human resource management.
Human resource department ensures better facilities to their employees for achieving the
organizational goals and objectives at Unilever. It provides many other facilities which includes
of training facilities based on changing environment. The major purpose of human resource
management is to facilitate the organization with different tools and techniques to ease the
working environment of Unilever. Another important function is to retain its employees for the
better and log run of organization (Stewart, and Brown, 2019).
P2 strength and weakness to different approach of recruitment and selection.
Recruitment methods
Internal job posting
Strengths: It enhances employee morale, allow the employer to fill the position fast, reduce cost
per hire, improves the quality of hiring, improves employ loyalty. Weakness: An employee suffers a better paying job outside of the organization, increased
competition, change in the existing employees' behaviour towards the promoted
employee (Mondy, and Martocchio, 2016).
Social media posting Strengths : Helps in targeting a wider audience, it's a modern approach of recruitment
method, the recruiters easily get the background information of the candidate,
accessibility increases in this function. Weakness : Privacy issues, inaccurate information, time-consuming, unspecified talents.
Recruitment agencies Strengths: Time saving, agencies have industry and market knowledge, help in branding ,
supporting and interactive hiring experience.

 Weakness: It's an expensive process, mixed priorities, competitions (large company's pay
more to hire the best talent)
Selection process
Telephonic interview Strengths : Quicker and better, cheaper and affordable, evaluation of personality, multiple
reach. Weakness : Body language, behaviour, not much effective, presence is not confirmed.
In person interview Strength: Can get to know the office and team members
 Weakness: Cant refers to notes at the time of interview
P3 Benefits of different Human Resource Management practices. Employee Security : As human resource are one of the most important asset of the
organization so it automatically becomes the most important factor of HRM practices to
give full protection to the employee in terms of providing security to the employee and its
spouse for the future perspective of the employees security. There is a job security as well
in the security which brings in the security of job one is doing. There should be an
official agreement between the two regarding the job security providing perfect
documentation regarding the job for example the offer letter (Ansari, Farrukh, and Raza,
2020). Selective hiring : Hiring the right people in the organization, selecting preferably the best
suited candidate for the organization who adds value to the organization. Selecting and
bringing the right people to the organization builds a competitive advantage. In today's
world as it is full of digitalization recruitment becomes easy and manageable for the
company like Unilever. Selective hiring is done in Unilever which is a good way of
hiring the right people there are three terms to be considered under this selection criteria
which are as follows:
◦ Ability : The selected candidate should be able to do the job, with the perfect
knowledge and skills required for the position (Noe and et.al 2007).
◦ Trainable : The selected individual should be in such a state that training can be given
and. The aptitude to learn and keep developing should be there in the individual.

◦ Commitment : The person should be responsible enough to commit and work at the
time of joining the organization. Self managed and effective in working with teams: Team work is the most important
factor which is to be considered. Team management and efficiently working in groups
enhance the performance of employee and employer. It adds values to the oriented goal
which the organization wants to achieve. Fair and performance based compensation : People considered under this are above
average employee which in the near future will add value to the employ and to the
organization. The organization apply best practices and work together to add more value
to the organization (Flamini, Gnan and Pellegrini, 2020). Training in relevant skills : After the hiring of the best people in the organization there
should be a program developed for the retention of those employees in the organization.
Relevant training should be given in the specific manner so the employ skills get polished
and will be there in the long run of achieving the organizational objectives.
 Creating a flat and egalitarian organization: Every employ in the organization should
be treated equally some employees are (critical) than other in achieving the
organizational goals. Every employ is valuable and should be treated as others in the
organization.
P4 HRM practices raising organizational profit and productivity
Employee retention : It is among the best practices performed by HRM to raise the productivity
of Unilever. Employee retention is cost saving to the organization. As the existing employee do
not need training again and again and the employees who are efficient in working are to be
considered to be the employee who need retention in the organization. Retention is done for the
organization profit in terms of keeping the employ engaged in the organization for a longer time
period which is beneficial for both employ and organization (DeCenzo, Robbins, and Verhulst,
2016).
Recruiting : This the process of short-listing and selecting candidates in the organization for the
long term purpose, the recruiting and selection function is done in such a way at Unilever that the
company targets potential and job oriented candidates for the organization because the selection

process not be repented again, once done productively could be very helpful for organization in
the long run.
Talent Management : It involves the process of managing the talented employee in the
organization for the profitably of the organization as per the need and wants of the organization.
The organization keeps retaining the employee which is a continuous process for the employees
to be in the organization for achieving the future goals of the Unilever (Hendry, 2012).
P5 employ relationship in HRM decision-making
Healthy employee relation with the human resource management in Unilever leads to
more efficient in decision-making and creating a motivated work force. It also adds more value
to the organization which in results increase the sales level of the organization.
Good and healthy relation with the HRM will lead to long term profitability and security
of work and will keep enhancing the positivity in the environment which result in a healthy
environment and productive employee.
Similarly, the employees also expect from the organization or management to be helpful
to them in terms of keeping the organization environment healthy and a positive place to work at.
There are some more factors which an employs seek out of the organization which includes of
job security being provided by the organization (Gigauri, 2020). They expect to be treated
equally in the organization as there should be fair treatment, sufficient incentives and also
employees should be encouraged to participate in the decision-making in the organization. Also
the working environment of the company should be safe in terms of health care issues and
cleanliness. As the employees are working in the organization there should be a job security to
the employ which further helps the employee to be more productive and proactive in the
organization.
P6 Employment legislation and their impact on HRM decision-making
Equality Act 2010
The Equality act 2010 protects the people against any discrimination done on the basis of
gender, race and any other characteristics (Armstrong, 2006). Unilever also abide this legislation
into their organization as they do not discriminate employees based on age, gender, race and any
other characteristics. It is the duty of Unilever to treat the employees fairly and giving every

employee all the rights pertaining to employment. Therefore, when HRM hiring for any vacancy,
must keep this act in mind and should not discriminate the employees when hiring.
Minimum Wages Act 1998
This act suggests a minimum wages that the employer must pay to its employees in return
for their services. The government has determined minimum pay per hour and the employers are
entitled to give them at least the prescribed wages and not less than it. (Noe, and et.al, 2017).
This impact HRM decision-making by a certain amount set by the government for paying
the salary and wages as when making the policies regarding wages and salaries, HR of Unilever
must keep the minimum wages to be paid in mind.
Health and Safety Act 1974
This acts protects the employees against various risks which are present at the workplace
and can impact the health of workers. There are certain responsibilities on the part of both
employer and employees (Kerdpitak and Jermsittiparsert, 2020). Proper medication facilities
should be provided within the organization for better practices of security analysis at Unilever.
Unilever must ensure that the working environment should be safe for employees to work proper
facilities of ventilation and basic needs should be there in the organization. This brings which
brings a lot positive change in the working environment of Unilever and also increase the
satisfaction of the employees.
P7 HRM practices in work context
Offer letter
Unilever
Burton-on-Trent, United Kingdom
[phone]
Date :18/01/2021
MR DAVID USOH
55, Marry Street
ENGLAND
[phone]
Dear Sir

Unilever is pleased to inform you that with reference to your interview on 20/10/2020, you have
selected for the job position of sales executive. The roles and responsibilities are:
Attending the sales visits.
Maintaining proper sales records.
Attending meetings and conference on behalf of the company.
Achieving sales target.
Your joining date is confirmed at 24/01/2021, as per the following terms and conditions
1. You are entitled to a CTC of £45 per month payable.
2. You agree completely to the terms and condition of appointment at Unilever.
Looking forward to seeing you at the office on 24/01/2021.
Job Description
Position : Sales Executive
Reporting : Sales Manager
Position summary: This position will add on to the total sales of the company and also to the
revenue of the company.
Job responsibilities :
The person will be responsible for attending the sales visits.
Maintaining proper sales records.
Attending meetings and conference on behalf of the company.
Achieving sales target.
Salary : Best in the industry
CONCLUSION
In the above report it has been concluded the purpose and function of HRM and their
different approaches to recruitment and selection and employ relation in the organization which
includes of Managerial functions, Operative functions and Advisory function. HRM has various
benefits for the organization as well as the employees. Internal job posting, social media posting
and use of recruitment agencies are the various approaches of recruitment. While internal job

posting improves employee morale, it changes the behaviour of the other employees towards the
one who has been newly promoted.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ansari, N.Y., Farrukh, M. and Raza, A., 2020. Green human resource management and
employees pro‐environmental behaviours: Examining the underlying
mechanism. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management.
Armstrong, M., 2006. A handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page
Publishers.
Bernardin, H.J. and Russell, J.E., 2006. Human resource management (p. 736). Tata McGraw-
Hill.
DeCenzo, D.A., Robbins, S.P. and Verhulst, S.L., 2016. Fundamentals of human resource
management. John Wiley & Sons.
Flamini, G., Gnan, L. and Pellegrini, M.M., 2020. Forty years of research on human resource
management in family firms: analyzing the past; preparing for the future. Journal
of Family Business Management.
Gigauri, I., 2020. Influence of Covid-19 Crisis on Human Resource Management and
Companies’ Response: The Expert Study. International Journal of
Management Science and Business Administration. 6(6). pp.15-24.
Hendry, C., 2012. Human resource management. Routledge.
Kerdpitak, C. and Jermsittiparsert, K., 2020. The Impact of Human Resource Management
Practices on Competitive Advantage: Mediating Role of Employee Engagement in
Thailand. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy. 11(1). pp.443-452.
Mondy, R.W. and Martocchio, J.J., 2016. Human resource management. Pearson.
Noe, and et.al 2007. Fundamentals of human resource management.
Noe, and et.al, 2017. Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New
York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Stewart, G.L. and Brown, K.G., 2019. Human resource management. John Wiley & Sons.