Hindustan Lever HRM Case Study: Selection Process Analysis MGT 211

This case study examines Hindustan Lever's (HUL) human resource management (HRM) practices, with a particular focus on its employee selection process. The company's approach to selection is viewed as an integral part of a broader talent acquisition and development strategy. The selection process at HUL is broken down into three key stages: screening of application forms, a preliminary interview, and the final selection. The document discusses each stage in detail, including the use of technology for efficient screening, the importance of preliminary interviews for assessing candidates' personalities and fit, and the role of group discussions and final interviews in evaluating analytical skills, leadership qualities, and overall suitability. The case study also emphasizes the involvement of various departments and their respective heads in the selection process, ensuring a comprehensive and effective approach to hiring the right talent. The analysis concludes that HUL has a robust and multi-layered selection process that contributes to its reputation as a favored employer.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note:

1HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Introduction
Hindustan Lever Limited or Hindustan Unilever is a reputed company and takes utmost
care in selection process of its employees (Hul.co.in 2018). There are several stages involved in
the selection process that includes evaluation of the candidates from academic, cognitive and
logical analytical perspectives. The company has several divisions like “Food, Homecare brands,
personal care brands and water purifier brand”, and the employment is done keeping in mind the
several requirements of these departments (Hul.co.in 2018).
Answer 1
The company selects its employees through several rounds of severe screening and
evaluating. There are primarily three steps in which the selection process is completed, these are
“Screening of application forms, preliminary interview, and final selection.” These are the basic
and very common three stages of HR selection process (Harrison 2012). The candidates are
asked to submit their Curriculum Vitae which are screened and shortlisted candidates are called
for interview after which the final selection is done.
The company should adopt the policy of selection through structured interviews in which
specific knowledge based questions about the field in which the candidate is selected. These
questions are predetermined and the candidates are marked according to their knowledge of
work. This kind of selection process is very effective in understanding what can be the possible
performance of the employees. The applicants will also come prepared for the interview by
researching about the company from beforehand.
Question 2
The candidates and the applicants send the application forms and CV according to the job

2HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
requirement. The company follows a strict process where it is carefully observed whether the
CVs’ are actually compatible to the job or not. Technology is primarily responsible for reducing
the time and energy for the selection process. There are tools and software which can be used to
shortlist the eligible candidates (Scarborough 2012). The software does this by matching the
criteria and the applicant’s profile. If the required qualifications are found, then the candidate is
shortlisted. This is called the “candidate management and applicant tracking systems”.
The reduction of time in the screening of the application forms leave more room for
dedicating to the candidate’s personal interviews in which in-depth analysis of the candidate’s
abilities can be done personally by the HR manager.
Question 3
The preliminary interview is just the next stage after the evaluation and screening of the
application forms and CV. The curriculum vitae or the application forms are not the original
reflection of the candidate’s ability and attitude towards work (Lipovsky 2014). Only knowing
about the degrees of the candidate does not give a clear indication of behavioral traits like
whether the candidate is flexible enough, team worker, and spontaneous or not. Therefore, after
the first stage of selection of the forms, in the next stage preliminary interview is conducted with
as many candidates as possible. The main motive or the basic objective of this preliminary
interview is to understand the candidate’s personally and to comprehend whether the candidates
are fit for the particular job or not.
The preliminary interviews are not as in-depth as the final interview processes; however,
it is deep enough to understand the potentials of a candidate to work in a particular company.

3HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Question 4
After the preliminary interview is conducted the next stage of the company for the
selection process is to conduct group discussion session with the candidates and then to go for
the final interview process. The group discussion process can be completed including small
teams of 4 or 5 people. If the group is too big then the problems of speaking over each other and
inability to differentiate between the points made by individual members may arise (Arthur
2012). Therefore, the group discussion teams need to be small so that every member may get the
chance to speak, debate and explain their perspectives.
The final interview, however should be one to one, and each individual must be assessed
separately in order to understand the full potential of the individual in detail and accurate
manner. The final interview is the stage where the final decision regarding whether the employee
will be taken by the company or not is made, hence it is very crucial.
Question 5
The group discussion process in the company is composed of two steps, one is to conduct
group discussion on any political, social or economic issues of recent times (Boateng 2012).
However, there is a second round of interview in which the candidates are supplied with a case
study which is to be analyzed by the candidates and the discussion happens based on the case
study. The candidates are given some time to analyze the case studies and comprehend.
The reason behind giving the candidates the required case studies in advance is to let
them use their analytical skills to understand the scenario properly and then participate in the
group discussion with informed knowledge. The process not only helps in understanding the

4HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
analytical skills of the applicants but also lets the manager understand the ability of explanation
by the candidates.
Answer 6
Before the final interview is conducted the candidates have already gone through several
stages of the selection process. These are, the screening of the CV and the applications, the
preliminary interview, and the two phases of group discussion. Therefore, already before the
final interview considerable amount of information is already available with the management on
the basis of which an opinion can be formed.
The information that are already available are the general knowledge of the candidates
and their knowledge about the work, their clarity in understanding, qualities of leadership,
convincing power, tolerance level and ability to express. These are the heads under which each
candidate is marked and taking into consideration the mark sheet the final interview is
conducted. The team which selects the employees consist of the HR manager, and the manager
of the department in which the recruitment is made.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the company has an elaborate and effective process of Human
resource selection in which each of the candidates have to go through rigorous multi-layered
selection process after which they are absorbed into the company. Various departments play
crucial role in the selection process and the respective heads of the department for which
recruitment is done plays important role in the selection.

5HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
References:
Arthur, D., 2012. Recruiting, interviewing, selecting & orienting new employees. AMACOM Div
American Mgmt Assn.
Boateng, W., 2012. Evaluating the efficacy of focus group discussion (FGD) in qualitative social
research. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(7).
Harrison, R., 2012. Employee development. Universities Press.
Hul.co.in., 2018. Apply now – the start of an important journey. [online] Hindustan Unilever
Limited website. Available at: https://www.hul.co.in/careers/student-opportunities/apply-now/
[Accessed 23 Feb. 2018].
Hul.co.in., 2018. Brands. [online] Hindustan Unilever Limited website. Available at:
https://www.hul.co.in/brands/ [Accessed 23 Feb. 2018].
Lipovsky, C., 2014. The CV as a multimodal text. Visual Communication, 13(4), pp.429-458.
Scarborough, D.J., Chambless, B., Becker, R.W., Check, T.F., Clainos, D.M., Eng, M.W., Levy,
J.R., Mertz, A.N., Paajanen, G.E., Smith, D.R. and Smith, J.R., 2012. Electronic employee
selection systems and methods. U.S. Patent 8,265,977.