Human Resource Management for Service Industries: Unilever Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices within Unilever, a multinational consumer goods company. It begins by examining the core roles and purpose of HRM, emphasizing its strategic importance in managing employees, fostering commitment, and building organizational capacity. The report then delves into the process of HRM planning, analyzing supply and demand, and forecasting future HR requirements. It also explores the current state of employment relations at Unilever, including conflict management, employee participation, and grievance procedures. Furthermore, the report outlines relevant employment laws affecting HR management, such as the Employment Relations Act and the Employment Rights Act, highlighting their impact on employee rights and opportunities. The report also includes job descriptions and person specifications for HR positions. Finally, it compares selection processes across different service industries and assesses the contribution of training and development activities to effective operations within Unilever. The report concludes with a synthesis of key findings and recommendations for enhancing HRM practices.

Human Resource
Management for
Service Industries

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Analysing roles and purpose of HRM...................................................................................3
P2 Justification of HRM plan based on analysing supply and demand......................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3 The current state of employment relations.............................................................................6
P4 Employment law affecting the management of HR...............................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P5 Job description and person specification...............................................................................8
P6 Comparison in selection process of different service industries............................................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
P7 The contribution of training and development activities to effective
operations.................................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management (HRM) is a formal system devised for managing people
within an organization where responsibilities of HR manager are staffing, employee
compensation and benefits as well as defining or designing of work (Hoque, 2013). In this report,
role of HRM will be analysed thoroughly in context to Unilever which is a British-Dutch
multinational consumer goods company co-headquartered in London, UK and in Netherlands.
Apart from this, project will also analyse the situations and laws regarding management of HR.
In addition to this, it carries job description and specification of a HR personal in Unilever.
However the report will also compare different selection processes in different service industries
and effectiveness of training process in various business operations at Unilever.
TASK 1
P1 Analysing roles and purpose of HRM
Human resource management refers to increasing employee performance to their highest
level corresponding to their role in an organization. HRM plays an very important role in service
industries such as Unilever which have a huge number of employees and workers to manage and
get appropriate work done from them.
Role and Purpose of Human Resource Management: The human resources
management people at Unilever suggests management team ways to manage people strategically
as business resources. This includes managing recruitments and hiring employees, coordinating
employee benefits and suggesting for employee training and development strategies.
Working Together: At all levels of Unilever, managers and HR professionals work
together to develop employee's skills, such as HR professionals advise managers and supervisors
ways to assign employees with different roles in the company, which results in helping
employees to adapt successfully in workplace environment. Unilever is a flexible organization,
where employees are shifted around to different business functions or department based on
business priorities and employee preferences (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).
Commitment Building: HR professionals at Unilever suggest strategies for increasing
employee commitment to the organization which begins with using recruiting process or
matching employees with right positions according to their qualifications. After hiring

employees must be committed to their jobs and feel challenged throughout the year by their
manager.
Building Capacity: HRM team at Unilever helps their business to develop a competitive
advantage, which is concerned to building the capacity of organisation so that it can offer a
unique set of goods or services to its customers. To build an effective human resources Unilever
compete with other competitors in a "war for talent", which is not just about hiring talent, it is
about keeping people as well as supporting them grow and stay committed for long term.
Addressing Issues: Human resource management at Unilever requires strategic planning
to address the changing needs of an employer as well as constantly shifting competitive job
market. Employee benefit packages are assessed continually for costs to employer, which helps
in reviewing the packages and also provides an opportunity to increase employee retention
through addition of vacation days, flexible working arrangements or retirement plan
enhancements (Carter and Liane Easton, 2011).
Training And Development: They are indispensable functions of human resource
management and an attempt to improve current or future performance of employees by
increasing their ability in Unilever through educating and increasing individual skills or
knowledge in particular job or task. These sessions are arranged and managed HR managers.
They conduct training sessions, arrange qualified trainers, schedule and plan training duration as
well as take feedback and reviews for it.
P2 Justification of HRM plan based on analysing supply and demand
Human resource planning is a process that links HR needs in an organisation to its
strategic plan to ensure the sufficiency as well as efficiency of their staffing and competent to
achieve organisation's objectives. In Unilever, HR planning is a vital element for maintaining a
competitive advantage and reducing employee turnover. In Unilever, HRP is a process of
forecasting future human resource requirements of organisations and determining ways to utilize
the existing HR capacity of organisation to fulfil those requirements. Therefore it focuses on
basic economic concept of demand and supply concerned with HR capacity in the company
(Boxall and Purcell, 2011).
HRP process help the management of an organisation in meeting future demand of HR in
organisation with supply of appropriate people in right numbers at correct time and place, which
is only possible after proper analysis of HR requirements. With an element of strategies and long

term objectives of Unilever being widely associated with Human Resource Planning these days
and became Strategic HR Planning.
The process and establishment of HRP activities to manage the numbers in terms of HR
requirements of organisation involve the HR manager to face many obstacles due to effect of
current workforce in organisation, pressure to meet business objectives. HRP process at Unilever
simply involves the following steps:
Current HR Supply: By analysing current human resource availability in Unilever
company is the foremost step in HR Planning, which includes a comprehensive study of human
resource strength of the firm in terms of number, skills, talents, competencies, qualifications,
age, tenures, performance ratings, designations, grades, compensations, etc. Here the consultants
may conduct extensive interviews with managers to understand critical HR issues in Unilever
and workforce capabilities they consider as basic or crucial for many business operations
(Montoro-Sánchez and Ribeiro Soriano, 2011.).
Future HR Demand: Here company analyses the future workforce requirements of
business where all HR variables like attrition, lay-offs, foreseeable vacancies, retirements,
promotions, pre-set transfers, etc. are taken into consideration while determining future HR
demand. Furthermore, certain unknown workforce variables like competitive factors,
resignations, abrupt transfers or dismissals are also included in scope of this analysis.
Demand Forecast: In this step Unilever company match their current supply with future
demand of HR and create a demand forecast. Here it is essential to understand the business
strategy or objectives for long term purpose. It is done to align workforce demand forecast with
organizational goals (McWilliams and Siegel, 2011).
HR Sourcing Strategy and Implementation: After identifying gaps in HR supply and
demand at Unilever, HR manager develops plans to meet these gaps as per the demand forecast
created by them. This step includes conducting communication programs with employees, talent
acquisition, recruitment and outsourcing, talent management, training and coaching, as well as
revision of policies. HRP process is then implemented taking managers into confidence to make
this process of execution smooth and efficient. It is important to note that all the regulatory and
legal compliances are being followed by HR department to prevent any unwanted situation
coming from employees of Unilever.

TASK 2
P3 The current state of employment relations
Another key part of HR department of is the Employee relationship administration that
focuses upon managing the employees and maintain the interest of employees with in
organisation. It remain centralised around keeping up a sound connection between the employees
of business at workplace. It supports the representatives, encourage them, and improves the
profitability and resolve issues of the Employees. The employee relationship at Unilever Plc
decides the goals to the issues that are looked by the representatives due to influencing factors to
the working environment and circumstances. Effective communication system is the main
element that helps HR professionals to communicates organisational goals and objectives. On
the off chance that such circumstances emerge then the correspondence between them would
assist them with solving the issue. The Employee relationship administration in Unilever is
formed in various form such as;
Conflict management: There is a professional code of conduct is made in terms of
managing the departmental sections and operations ion effective and efficient manner. Providing
healthy and friendly work environment for better outcomes is the main objective of business.
Employees works around their internal trust and observations with no discrimination and equal
rights policy (Marchington and et. al., 2016).
Employee participation: There are type of activities are organised in organisation
regarding compliance and corporate social responsibilities. There is a full participation of
employees found in terms of associating the industry groups and formal and informal aspects for
business operations. Issues related to non-compete obligations and employment relations are the
main aspects considered in organisational context. This is also one of the essential aspect
considered essential for managing the flow of uncertain conditions of among employees for
better staff selections and procedures.
Grievance procedures: Employees are grated and applauds for their valuable
contribution to the organisation, it is reckoned that if employees are appreciated for their
deliverable than they perform with more enthusiasm and positive spirit. It is one of the important
element considered at priority in Unilever plc. It helps to consolidate the business requirements
and management skills in

Disciplinary procedure: There are some strict rules and regulations made in order to
maintain ethical employment and operational practice. Organisations are adapting the essential
rules and regulations for deploying strategies and plans for better understanding and managing
skills. Each employees is enforceable to adhere code of conduct and ethical policies for better
management and human resource management. It mainly associated with considering the
changes and pick up the transactional support for determining the challenges in more strategic
and planned manner (Lusch, 2011).
P4 Employment law affecting the management of HR
With a continuous process of updating laws by means of notifications, regulations,
amendments and precedents legal certainty arises. The Employment laws in Britain received a
sound fairness in areas of employee status, contractual terms of employment and unfair dismissal
and equality by virtue of various updates of laws and decision of courts. There are many law that
work for employee's benefit and rights. Some of the laws affecting HR management at Unilever
are:
Employment Relations Act, 2000: This is the main legislation governing employment
relationships and provides a structure for employers and union to negotiate and enter into
collective agreements as well as for employers or employees to negotiate and enter into
individual agreements. This act at Unilever provides processes for resolving employment
problems and a free mediation is also there if the two parties have already tried to mitigate their
issues by themselves although if mediation doesn’t work, an employee can take a case to
Employment Relations Authority or the Employment Court (Jiang and et. al., 2012).
Employment Rights Act, 2008: The Act was enacted on 13th November 2008, reflects
through introducing its focus upon ‘the procedure for resolution of employment disputes’. In
Unilever this act covers compensation for underpayment and enforcement of minimum wages.
The employment agencies and trade unions have also been covered by this act. The subjects
covered under this, display a clear intention to bring fair and equal employment laws and
maintain a legal certainty.
Equal opportunities: Equal job opportunities rights to all despite of their gender, and hire
almost same number of male as well as females, fair remuneration and benefits has become a
right of the employees. This approach of giving equal opportunities to employees also include
unbiased leave policies and compensation for the employees. In Unilever, female employees get

maternity leave as well as males also get paternal leaves and parental leaves as they believe it is
their right to enjoy their parenthood (Nickson, 2013).
TASK 3
P5 Job description and person specification
Recruitment is a process of identifying, searching and hiring best-qualified candidates for
the job openings at Unilever from within or outside of an organisation in a timely and cost-
friendly manner. The process includes analysing requirements of job, attracting employees who
are capable to perform that job, screening and selecting applicants, hiring and integrating new
employees in the company. There are a few factors which affects labour market such as personal
qualities of labourers, working conditions, conditions of the country, organisational and
managerial ability and other factors. Where personal qualities of labourers includes racial
qualities, moral and hereditary qualities, individual qualities etc. Working conditions have
workplace environment, working hours, rate of wages etc. Country conditions depends upon
political, economical, natural and social conditions of a nations. Managerial ability refers to
effective management and good relationship between employees and employers. Whereas other
factors carries trade unions, labour policies, etc. (Wright and McMahan, 2011).
Organisational need analysis identifies the gap between actual and standard performances
to analyse the need of training and coaching, strategic planning and other developmental change
in Unilever Plc. Here are three types of training or learning need in Unilever company such as:
Organisational: Here training and development needs are those related to competence of
individuals in their jobs and their current and standard performances to ensure the achievement
of objectives of Unilever.
Occupational: These training needs are those which relate to skills, knowledge and
attitudes that an individual must have to carry out a job in Unilever Plc like and operator in call
centre must know how to operate software and knowledge of relevant products and services
(Jiang and et. al., 2012).
Individual: These needs are concerned needs needs of individual employees at Unilever
like a manager may wish to learn keyboard skills in order to be more effective in job
performance even if it is not required for job. This also include interpersonal skills development.

Job Analysis and description: Human resource managers at Unilever are responsible for
ensuring that overall administration, coordination, and evaluation of HRP as well as programs
are accomplished. Therefore, their essential job responsibilities include developing and
administering human resources plans and procedures that relate to company personnel as well as
planning, organizing, and controlling the activities and actions of the HR department. In addition
to this, they also contribute to development of HR department goals, objectives, and systems at
Unilever Plc (Jackson, Schuler and Jiang, 2014).
Job specifications of HR personal: An effective HR manager or key person must have
expertise in managing staff and resolve their issue related to business situation as well as planing
and designing compensation plans. Some other essential job specifications required by an HR
professional are:
 Strong effective communicator in writing, business presentations and in interpersonal
communication with high degree of confidence.
 Highly developed, demonstrated teamwork skills and directing the team.
 Strong decision-making skills and ability to think critically.
 Strong in motivation as well as self-motivated to bring necessary changes in employees
performance to meet organisation's objectives and goals.
P6 Comparison in selection process of different service industries
Selection process is concerned with picking or choosing right candidate, who is most
suitable for a vacant job position in Unilever Plc. It can be said that it is a process of interviewing
candidates and evaluating their qualities, which are required for a specific job and then choosing
suitable candidates for the position.
Barriers to effective selection: The main objective of selection in Unilever plc. is to hire
people having competence and commitment towards their job. Some roadblocks of effective
selection are:
Perception: It is inability to understand others accurately is most fundamental barrier to
selecting right candidate at Unilever Plc. Selection demands an individual or a group to assess
and compare respective competencies of others, with an aim of choosing the right persons for
the jobs. But views of individuals are highly personalized and all perceive world differently
(Collings, Wood and Szamosi, 2018).

Fairness: In selection fairness is required so that no individual should be discriminated
against on basis of religion, region, race or gender. To implement this fairness Unilever company
must have open-minded recruiter and HR manager to have fair selection process.
Validity: It is kind of test that assures the validity or the credibility of selection process in
Unilever Plc. to implement competitive and updated processes of selection (Chang, Gong and
Shum, 2011).
Reliability: A reliable method of selection at Unilever is one which will produce
consistent results when repeated in similar situations.
Pressure: Pressure is brought on selectors by politicians, relatives, friends and peers to
select particular candidate. Candidates selected because of compulsions at Unilever Plc. are
obviously not the right ones.
Selection Process: It is a systematic framework of activities that are involved in selection
of candidates at Unilever Plc. This process carries following steps:
Preliminary Interviews: It is used to eliminate those candidates who do not meet the
minimum eligibility criteria laid down by Unilever Plc because skills, academic and family
background, competencies as well as interests of the candidate are examined during preliminary
interview. Preliminary interviews are less official and planned than the final interviews. In this
session company brief is also given to the candidate (Bratton and Gold 2017).
Application blanks: The candidates passed the preliminary interview at Unilever are
required to fill application blank. It contains data record of the candidates such as details about
age, qualifications, reason for leaving previous job, experience, etc.
Written Tests: Various written tests conducted during selection procedure at Unilever
Plc. are aptitude test, reasoning test, personality test, etc. These tests are used to objectively
assess the potential candidate. These tests are not biased.
Employment Interviews: In Unilever Plc. This is a step where face to face interaction
between interviewer and the potential candidate take place. It is used to find whether candidate is
best suited for required job.
Medical examination: Medical tests are conducted to ensure physical fitness of the
potential employee at Unilever. It will decrease chances of employee absenteeism. Many

companies ignore this step in selection process as this is generally used while selecting a sales
person.
Appointment Letter: A reference check is made about the candidate selected at Unilever
Plc. and then final confirmation that the person is appointed by giving a formal appointment
letter.
TASK 4
P7 The contribution of training and development activities to effective
operations
Role and need for training: Training introduces a prime possibility to expand the
knowledge base of all employees. This is why training and development provides both the
company and as a whole the individual employees wit the benefits that made the cost and time a
worth while investment (Boella and Goss-Turner, 2013). The needs for training are:
 Addressing weakness
 Improved employee performance
 consistency Employ satisfaction