Strategic Context of HRM: Performance Analysis at Unilever PLC

This report delves into the strategic context of Human Resource Management (HRM) at Unilever PLC, a British multinational consumer goods organization. It explores the concept of HRM, highlighting best practices such as hiring the right candidates, creating favorable working conditions, providing fair compensation, and offering training and development opportunities. The report emphasizes the alignment of Unilever's business strategies with its HRM strategies, examining the impact of these strategies on the company's performance and productivity. Key findings indicate that effective HRM practices, including employee engagement, talent retention, and skill development, significantly contribute to enhanced organizational performance, productivity, and competitive advantage. The report concludes that HRM is crucial for achieving organizational goals and sustaining long-term success at Unilever PLC. Desklib offers a variety of resources including solved assignments and past papers to aid students in their studies.

The Strategic Context
of Human Resource
Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
Concept of Human resource management...................................................................................3
Best practices in HRM.................................................................................................................4
Alignment of company's business strategies and HR strategies..................................................5
Impact of both the strategies over the performance and productivity of business......................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is define as the practices that are related to recruiting,
hiring, managing as well as deploying employees of organisation. It is an strategic approach that
enables business to manage people in effective and efficient manner that enables organisation to
gain competitive advantages. There are various strategies are used in HRM practices that help
business to maximise their performance and facilitates business to attain determined goals and
objectives on time with efficiency. In this report the chose organisation is Unilever PLC which is
British multinational consumer goods organisation headquarter situated in London, England,
UK. It is established in 1929 and serve its products and services at worldwide. Respective
organisation involve in providing food products, well-being vitamins, tea, coffee and various
other products. 1,55,000 employees are engaged within organisation according to the data of
2021. This report covers concept of HRM, best practices of human resource management.
Furthermore, alignment of business strategies with HRM strategies as well as impact of these
strategies on organisational performance and productivity are mentioned in this report.
TASK
Concept of Human resource management
The concept of human resource management is considered as the process of that includes
various activities such as recruiting, selecting, provide training and development, deciding
employees compensation, maintaining effective relation with employees and appraising their
performance. It is related to managing people within organisation in well-defined structured
manner through adopting various adopting various approaches like performance management,
change management as well as taking care of organisational existing employees to retain them
with organisation for longer period of time (Ansell, and Gash, 2018). The primary objective of
Unilever PLC to implement HRM practices is to ensure the availability of right people on right
job position so goals and objectives can be achieved in efficient manner. It helps respective
organisation to motivate employees and ensure optimum utilisation of available human resource
to attain determined objectives on time with great efficiency. Unilever organisation maintains

ethical policies and effective relationship with employees that helps business to accomplish
defined goals and objectives.
Best practices in HRM
Best practices are defined as the human resource management process and actions that
are adopted the organisations to run business operations in efficient manner. Best practices are
the set of universal HR process that lead business towards attaining higher performance as well
as support organisation to gain competitive advantages than other competitors. Some best
practices of HRM that are adopted by Unilever PLC and other organisations are mentioned
below:
Hire right candidates: This is the most important or best HRM practice that enables
organisation to hire most suitable employees who add value in business operations. Unilever
organisation hire employees who are fit for defined job role. To appoint suitable employee
organisation develop a structure and fair selection process through accessing different legal
requirements, business internal diversity goals and requirements of job role (Durand, Grant and
Madsen, 2017). It is very important for organisation to understand the behaviour of consumers
and their different needs. Bringing right people within organisation provides various competitive
advantages
Create favourable working conditions: It is the most important HRM practice is related
to working on organisational atmosphere which is designed to satisfy needs of employees as well
as encourage them to enhances their performance and productivity. Unilever PLC provides all
necessary commodities to employees which are required to enhance their performance
organisation ensures safety and security of employees within organisation that help them to
perform determined task with effectiveness.
Fair and performance based compensation: It is human resource management practice
that is related to provides effective and performance based compensation to employees that
motivates them to retain with organisation for longer period of time (Gelfand, Harrington and
Jackson, 2017). Organisation also provides some additional benefits and rewards to employees
for their additional performance inspire that enhances their contribution towards attaining
organisational goals and objectives on time with efficiency. Marks & Spencer is the organisation

that adopts this HRM practice to provide fair and performance-based compensation to employees
that boost their morale and motivate to retain with organisation for longer period of time.
Provide training and development opportunities: It the best HRM practice that stated
that organisation should invest in training and development programmes and prepare budget for
it. After selection of people in organisation, it is the responsibility of human resource manager to
provides them training in related field and technologies that improves their skills, competencies
and enhance working performance. In current competitive business environment, organisations
invent in skills-specific forms of training that enhances employees potentiality and enable to
contribute in attaining organisational goals (Hong and Varghese,2019). Tesco provides training
to employees regarding working process, technologies and offer development opportunities that
enhances their working performance and morale to retain with organisation.
Alignment of company's business strategies and HR strategies
Business strategy is defined as the combination of various decisions and actions that are
performed by the organisation to attain determined goals and objectives on efficient manner and
to attain strong competitive positioning in market. Business strategies are defined as the
backbone of business that provide roadmap to business to leas its activities on right path.
Strategic planning is considered as the process of determining organisational long-term
goals and objectives as well as describes necessary actions that are required to achieve these
goals in efficient manner. Organisational human resource policies and business are greatly linked
with each other. As in organisation pool of human resources are working towards attaining
business objectives. Unilever organisation linked HRM strategies and strategic business plan to
gain competitive advantages in existing market place. Respective organisation take various
strategic decisions that are related to both internal as well as external business environment like
deciding organisational structure, preparing mission statement. These decisions impacts human
resource selection, development and appraisal process (Idowu, 2017). Strong teamwork as well
as collaboration among various stakeholders are important for organisation to execute business
strategies in efficient manner and gain desired outcome. Leaders demonstrate business strategies
and HR managers share them within teams to attain on time for the purpose of gaining
competitive advantages. Unilever maintains effective relationship with employees because

dedicates employees are important for attaining organisational goals. Management department of
organisation takes various decisions and actions to gain positive attitude and behaviour towards
business through provides them benefits, fair compensation and development opportunities. The
main component of linking business strategy to HRM is the culture of clear communication as
well as trust within organisation. Thus, business strategies and HRM are linked with each other
and help business to attain determined goals and objectives on time.
Impact of both the strategies over the performance and productivity of business
In business various strategies are formulated that related to the human resource and
organisational objectives. These strategies lead business operations and employees efforts in
right direction (Kang, and Sung, 2017). Unilever PLC develop various policies and strategies
regarding human resource management that motivated them to perform defined task in most
efficient manner. There are various impacts of HRM strategies and business strategies on
business performance are mentioned below:
 Unilever provides fair complementation and engage employees in decision-making
process that enhances employees engagement and commitment with organisation.
Satisfied employees are more productive for organisation and contribute in attaining
business goals in efficient manner.
 Through implementing HRM and business strategies, business can hire suitable and
retain them with organisation for longer period of time that enhance overall business
performance and productivity. If business recruit skilled and capable employees and
success to retain them with organisation than it reduces the requirement to conduct
recruitment and selections process many time that enhances efficiency and effectiveness
of business.
 Unilever PLC organisation provides development opportunities and training to its
employees that improves various skills, competencies and capabilities of employees.
Through utilising these skills and capabilities, employees can perform their defined
operations on time that enhances their working performance and productivity as well
(Kassotaki, 2019). Motivated employees are work hard to meet organisational goals that
directly influences the productivity of organisation and maximise profitability ratio.
 Proper communication of strategies facilitates employees to adopt changes that enable
business to work in difficult conditions and provides competitive advantages. Strong

employees base helps business to sustain in market. Implementation of business strategy
and HRM strategies help business to develop strong corporate image and resolve
conflicts among employees and organisation that enhances business performance and
productivity.
CONCLUSION
As per the above report, it can be concluded that, human resource management is the
approach that related to the formulating policies and strategies regarding development of
employees, providing them fair compensation and training that motivates employees to retain
with organisation for longer period of time. There are various HRM practices are adopted by the
organisation that have connection business strategies because these practices help business to
attain determined goals and objectives on time. HRM practices help business to enhances overall
performance and productivity of organisation.
PART-2 (Covered in PPT)

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ansell, C. and Gash, A., 2018. Collaborative platforms as a governance strategy. Journal of
Public Administration Research and Theory, 28(1), pp.16-32.
Durand, R., Grant, R.M. and Madsen, T.L., 2017. The expanding domain of strategic
management research and the quest for integration. Strategic Management
Journal, 38(1), pp.4-16.
Gelfand, M.J., Harrington, J.R. and Jackson, J.C., 2017. The strength of social norms across
human groups. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(5), pp.800-809.
Hong, C.H. and Varghese, B., 2019. Resource management in fog/edge computing: a survey on
architectures, infrastructure, and algorithms. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), 52(5),
pp.1-37.
Idowu, A., 2017. Effectiveness of performance appraisal system and its effect on employee
motivation. Nile Journal of Business and Economics, 3(5), pp.15-39.
Kang, M. and Sung, M., 2017. How symmetrical employee communication leads to employee
engagement and positive employee communication behaviors: The mediation of
employee-organization relationships. Journal of Communication Management.
Kassotaki, O., 2019. Explaining ambidextrous leadership in the aerospace and defense
organizations. European Management Journal, 37(5), pp.552-563.