A Detailed Report on HRM and Global Business Environment at Unilever

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices within Unilever, a multinational consumer goods company. It begins with an introduction to globalization and the critical role of HRM in international business. The report then delves into Unilever's organizational structure, followed by an examination of the impact of rules, regulations, trade unions, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on the company's operations. A significant portion of the report is dedicated to comparing performance management techniques used in Unilever's country of origin (UK) with those in the US, a host country. The report identifies potential issues in managing staff across different countries and offers practical recommendations to tackle these challenges, concluding with a summary of key findings and insights. This report also includes the impact of absenteeism, and conflict management on the HRM practices in the organisation.

HRM and Global
Business Environment

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
About the organisation...........................................................................................................3
Impact of rules and regulations, trade union regulations, and International Labour
Organisations and its impact on the organisation...................................................................3
The performance management techniques that are used by the organisation in one of the host
country and its comparison with the one followed in country of origin................................3
The issues that organisation may arise in managing staff in host country.............................3
Recommendations to Tackle these challenges.......................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4
Books and Journals.................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
Globalisation is a practice that has removed the barrier of trade and now all the business
organisations are able to operate around the globe. It is vital to note that Human Resource
Management plays a vital role in success of organisations while they operate around the globe
(Vasa and Thatta, 2018). This report is based on Unilever that is multinational organisation and
deals in consumer goods. In this report there is description related to rules and regulation, trade
unions, International labour market on the organisation. There is discussion related to existing
performance management practices that is used by the organisation. There are challenges that the
organisation may face in future related to management of employees. So, the issues as well as
ways to deal with those issues are described in the end of the report.
MAIN BODY
About the organisation
Unilever is one of the British multinational organisations to consumer goods Company that
has its headquarters in UK. It is seen that the organisation own around 400 brands. It is vital to
note that company is largest producer of Soap in the whole world. The company was established
91 years ago in 1929. The turnover of organisation was 53.7 billion euros in 2017. There are
around 155000 employees that are working in the organisation (Obeidat, 2017). It is important to
note that the company follows effective HRM practices to maintain peace in the organisation and
to achieve the goals and objectives on time. The company treats all the human resource as asset
of the organisation and takes care as the productivity depends on the employees of the company.
The company says that the reason of success lies in the hands of the work force and takes care of
the employees. The organisation has its operations along the globe and they try their best to
maintain diversity of employees and motivate them to work effectively in the organisation
Impact of rules and regulations, trade union regulations, and International Labour Organisations
and its impact on the organisation
Rules and regulations are set of principles that are made by the government of the country.
It is seen that all the organisations that operate need to follow all the rules and regulation as if
they do not follow it will have adverse impact on the organisation. It is seen that the political
condition of UK is stable and this is the reason Unilever is able to operate effectively there. The
company follows all the rules related to its operations as well as employees for their successful

and smooth operations. The company get support of Government and its able to expand its
operations just because they are also operating and following all the legal as well as political
rules that are applicable to their organisation.
Trade union is an organisation that includes members mainly the workers that it forms the
association to protect in advance the interest of all the members that worked in the organisations.
It is seen that the take care of all the agreements that the employers have with the employees and
safeguard that the interest of employees is protected (Bretos, Errasti and Marcuello, 2018). There
is a different act that is formulated for Trade Union and the latest amended act is the Trade
Union Act, 2016. The act is made to make provisions about the trade unions and employers
association’s industrial actions and all the functions of the officers. Important for an organisation
to follow all the rules and regulations related to employees and treat them equally as well as
value them. It is seen that if an organisation do not respect their employees then it may cause
them in problem and they have to deal with the trade union of the nation (Sittisom, 2020). In
relation to Unilever the company always treat the employees in an effective and efficient manner
and follow all the rules and regulations related to employment act that helps the company to
operate effectively and do not get any problem associated with trade unions.
International Labour Organisation is formulated to promote Social Justice as well as
International recognition to all the human as well as labour write. The mission is to bring peace
in the life of labour. The Organisation was formulated in 1919.the objectives of ILO are as
follows:
 Promote all the standards and fundamental principles at work.
 Create good opportunities for both men, women so that they can work effectively.
 Increase the effectiveness of social protection for all the employees.
 Strengthen social dialogue and tripartism
In relation to Unilever It is seen that the company focuses on all the rights of human and
try to improve the working conditions to for the employees that are working. It is seen that it
provides them opportunities for growth (Songkhla and et.al., 2020). They always try to give
healthy environment and safety and security of employees is kept at utmost priority so that they
can work smoothly in the organisation. They always provide training and development to the
Employees related to the skills they need as well as update them about the latest technology that
enhance their knowledge as Well. So it is seen that Unilever is following all the requirements of

International Labour Organisation and this helps them to operate smoothly without any problem
in the market
The performance management techniques that are used by the organisation in one of the host
country and its comparison with the one followed in country of origin
Performance management in an organisation as it helps to know about the performance of
employees in the organisation. It helps to provide proper training and development to the
employees and helps in enhancing performance of the employees. The performance management
techniques that are used in country of origin that is in UK are as follows:
360-Degree Feedback: It is a method that helps to take feedback from all the employees and
peers that are working in the organisation. It provides constructive and positive feedback to the
employees. This method help the employees to grow in an effective manner and know the areas
of improvement that are suggested by others. In Unilever all the team members contribute to the
review and a report is formulated that help the management team to make appraisals and monitor
the performance of the employee. It helps in training and development of the employee as well is
the overall performance of the person is known to the manager.
Utilise Feedback: It is seen that if an employee is underperforming then it is important to
provide them feedback as well as solution full stop there may be positive as well as negative
feedback given to employees (Fahd-Sreih and El-Kassar, 2018). In Unilever the organisation
conducts a meeting on monthly basis and discusses the strengths as well as weakness of the
employees that help to understand the areas of improvement and the continuous feedback help
them to keep motivated and engaged. All the problems that they are facing are also discussed and
the reasons of low performance are also discussed with their solution that helps in development
of the employees.
Key performance indicator: It is one of the best methods to check the performance of the
employees that are working in the organisation. It is seen that KPI help in taking better decisions
as well as monitoring the performance. It is a quantitative way as a set standard is given to the
Employees and they have to work and achieve the standard if they are unable to achieve that then
the gap in their performance is identified. This is standard are called key performance indicators
and having a good study about them helps the organisation to know about the current
performance of the employee and areas of improvement.

Organisation has its operations around the globe so the methods used by Unilever in
managing the performance of employees and techniques that are used by them in US are
discussed below:
Management by Objectives (MBO): A specific objective is set for the employees and each
person has their individual objective that they have to work upon in any specific period of time.
It helps to create a good culture of working as all the employees work towards their common
goals and aware about the achievement that will help them to improve their moral as well as
motivation (Ahmad, Raziq, and ur Rehman, 2019). Unilever takes care that the objective set for
the employee is achievable and as per their skill set this help the company to know about if the
employees are able to work according to the objective and benefit of the company.
Balance Scorecards: It is best known management Framework that is used since last 20 years
by various organisations full stop it is seen that the method helps Unilever in the following areas:
 It helps to clarify the strategy and communicate the objective before words to the
Employees.
 It also helps to monitor the progress made by the employees and also to extend their
priorities and objectives that they can achieve.
 It helps to formulate action plans and integrate them with the business practices and
objectives for the overall benefit of organisation as well as employees.
Performance appraisal: It is one of the commonly used performance management technique. It
is seen that company provide option of Appraisal so the employees work effectively and
motivated as they like to get appraisal. The appraisals help to analyse the fair and honest position
of the employees to their managers and help in their promotion. There are checkbox that are
filled by the employers and then the real position of employees is examined
The issues that organisation may arise in managing staff in host country and recommendations to
Tackle these challenges
The issues that Unilever may face in relation to managing the staff in host country and the ways
to tackle the problem are discussed below:
Problem Impact Recommendation
Communicating effectively
with employees
It is seen that one of the
biggest challenge that is faced
by the organisation while
Everyone communicates in
their own unique way; some
ways of communication may

managing the employees is
related to communication. If
there is lack of communication
then organisation is unable to
work effectively.
be effective for certain
employees but not for others
(Roeleveld, 2017).
Discovering the different
personality types in the team
is the greatest method to
overcome any communication
barriers. Then communicate in
the way that is suitable for the
employees.
Absenteeism It is seen that if the employees
are taking leaves and are not
going to organisation on
regular basis it reduces the
productivity of the employees
and enhances the problem of
management in the
organisation.
It this case it becomes vital to
provide them proper training
and development to the
employees
(Podgorodnichenko, Edgar
and McAndrew, 2020). Along
with that engage the
employees in activities and
motivate them. It helps to
retain the employees in the
organisation.
Managing conflicts There are conflicts that arise
in employees. It is seen that
the problems reduce the
productivity of the employees
as well as hampers the
working environment of the
company.
When a team member has a
conflict, it's critical that
management completely
understand the situation before
taking action (Diaz‐Carrion,
López‐Fernández and
Romero‐Fernandez, 2019). A
good discussion over a work
issue can actually lead to more
imaginative ideas and

solutions.

CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that it is important for every organisation to
follow human resource management practices. In this report there is discussion related to the
rules and regulation and trade unions and their impact on the performance of organisation. There
is discussion related to the performance management techniques that are used by Unilever in UK
as well as in US. It is seen that there are various issues that a company face while managing the
employees so there is description related to the issues as well as the ways to overcome those
challenges

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ahmad, M., Allen, M.M., Raziq, M.M. and ur Rehman, W., 2019. Converging HRM practices?
A comparison of high performance work system practices in MNC subsidiaries and
domestic firms in Pakistan. Employee Relations: The International Journal.
Bretos, I., Errasti, A. and Marcuello, C., 2018. Ownership, governance, and the diffusion of
HRM practices in multinational worker cooperatives: C ase‐study evidence from the M
ondragon group. Human Resource Management Journal, 28(1), pp.76-91.
Diaz‐Carrion, R., López‐Fernández, M. and Romero‐Fernandez, P.M., 2019. Evidence of
different models of socially responsible HRM in Europe. Business Ethics: A European
Review, 28(1), pp.1-18.
Fahd-Sreih, J. and El-Kassar, A.N., 2018. HRM and innovative capabilities of family
businesses. Journal of promotion management, 24(5), pp.637-659.
Obeidat, S.M., 2017, August. An examination of the moderating effect of electronic-HRM on
high-performance work practices and organisational performance link. In Evidence-
based HRM: A Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Podgorodnichenko, N., Edgar, F. and McAndrew, I., 2020. The role of HRM in developing
sustainable organizations: Contemporary challenges and contradictions. Human
Resource Management Review, 30(3), p.100685.
Roeleveld, B., 2017. e-HRM viewed from a management fashion perspective; an exploratory
study based on the case study research (Master's thesis, University of Twente).
Sittisom, W., 2020. Effect of HRM Practices on Constructive Deviance in Pharmaceuticals
Companies: Mediating by Ethical Climate. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy, 11(3),
pp.28-36.
Songkhla, abd et.al., 2020. The Mediation Effects of Organizational Engagement between HRM
Practices and Employee Job Satisfaction in the Pharmaceutical Industry in
Thailand. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy, 11(2), pp.566-575.
Vasa, S.R. and Thatta, S., 2018. Green Work Life Balance & Green HRM: A New Replica for
Organisational Triumph. Available at SSRN 3163083.