Analyzing Unilever's HR: Trends, External Factors, and Development

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of strategic human resource management (HRM) within Unilever, a global consumer goods company. It identifies key current trends and developments influencing Unilever's HR strategy, including technological advancements, negative market growth, rising labor costs, and international conflicts. The report examines internal factors through a SWOT analysis, highlighting Unilever's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. External factors such as political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental (PESTLE) elements are also assessed for their impact on HR strategies. Furthermore, the report discusses change management models, HR outcome monitoring, and the role of effective HRM in supporting sustainable performance and growth to meet organizational objectives. The analysis critically evaluates the influences of external and contextual developments, applying relevant theories, models, and concepts to Unilever's specific organizational context.

Strategic human
resource management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Determine key current trends and developments that influence an organisation’s HR
strategy........................................................................................................................................3
P2 Internal and external factors affecting the human resource strategies of Unilever ...............4
P3 Apply relevant theories and concepts relating to the growth and development of strategic
HRM to specific organisational examples..................................................................................8
Part-2..............................................................................................................................................10
P4 Evaluate how appropriate change management models support HR strategy in application
to relevant organisational examples..........................................................................................10
P5 Discuss how HR outcomes can be monitored and measured and apply this to a specific
organisational situation.............................................................................................................12
P6 Evaluate how effective HR management and development can support sustainable
performance and growth to meet organisational objectives......................................................13
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is related to those management of the company which deals with
the function of recruitment and selection of workforce in the organisation. The human resource
management is one of most important management of the organisation because they not only
select the employees for the organisation but also provide them training about the working of the
organisation (McClean and Collins, 2019) . The human resource management has developed
various type of employability skills in the personality of the individual and makes them more
competitive in the organisation. It is very important for the achievement of organisational goals
and objectives that all the employees of the organisation are motivates towards them and the
managers of human resource has provided motivation to these employees. The organisation
which is chosen here to demonstrate this report is Unilever plc which is well known and global
organisation of the world. It deals in consumer goods industry of the United Kingdom and their
headquarter are situated in London, United Kingdom. This report provide brief discussion
related to key trends and development that influences the organisational human resource
strategy. The internal and external factors which influences the human resource strategies are
stated in this report.
TASK
P1 Determine key current trends and developments that influence an organisation’s HR strategy.
The face of the market are continuously changing due to the development of new and
modern measures in the market. This advancements in the market are also influence the number
of human resource strategies in different manner (McCann and Allen, 2021) . It is the duty of
the managers of the organisation that that they effectively evaluates the changes happened in
then market so that they can develop effective and strategies to make these changes beneficial for
the management of the organisation. The brief discussion related to key trends and development
are given below:
Technological advancement
It is seen in the market that new and advanced technology came in the market regularly which
can reduces the efforts of the employees as well as help t,he company to develop effectiveness
and accuracy in the business. The new and advanced technology impacts positively on human
resource technology if they are used in positive manner and t he organisation has considerable

funds to apply them in the market. Social media platforms are one of the most important and
valuable technology which can be used by the management of Unilever to find the talented
employees for their organisation.
Negative market growth
As the present market are suffers with the negative impacts of covid pandemic which enables
the economy of the world to move downward. This negative growth of the economies has
negative impact on the management and human resource strategies of the organisation. It is very
important for the management of organisation that they make changes in their human resource
strategies so that it becomes easy for them to deal with the negative impacts of negative growth
of the economy. There are large number of measures are present in the market which helps the
organisation to make considerable changes in their human resource strategies.
Increases the wages of labour
The government of United kingdom has terminated all their trade agreements from the European
Union. The result of this scenario is that the wages of labour has increased by large number
which negatively impacts the business of organisation. The human resource management of
Tesco has to faced many problems to operate their business in European nation because of
increase in the cost of labour. The human resource management of the company has to face
many difficulties to find the skilled employees in the organisation.
Conflicts between US and UK
There are different types of conflicts are made between the US and UK, both the countries has
provided negative support to the companies of other country and applied different types of
barriers and restrictions to these companies. Most of the companies has shifted their business
units in another countries (Li, and et.al., 2021). The management of Unilever also faced many
problems to operate their business in America which negatively impacts their profit margins of
the company it is very important for the management of Unilever that they find effective
outcomes in their business so that the company are able to deal with these issues in the market.
P2 Internal and external factors affecting the human resource strategies of Unilever
There are different type of internal and external factors are present in the organisation which has
both negative and positive impact on the human resource strategies of the business. It depends
upon the management of Unilever that how they analyse these factors so that it can beneficial for

the management of organisation. There are different types of internal factors are present in the
management of Unilever and the brief discussion related to same are given below:
SWOT analyses of Unilever
It is one of the important and valuable analyses which enables the company to evaluate different
internal factors affecting the management of the organisation. These factors are strength,
weakness, opportunity and threats. It is very important for the management of the organisation
that they develop effective strategies in their organisation to deal with these problem so that the
human resource strategies of the business remains the same (Kundu, Mor and Gahlawat, 2020) .
The management of Unilever has conducted their business in different countries of the world
which has developed efficient strategies in their business so that it becomes easy for the
organisation to deal with these issues.
Strength
The main strength of the Unilever is that the company is one of the biggest leader of FMCG
companies of the world. It has operates more than 350 brands in their management and
conducted their business in more than 150 countries of the world. The management of Unilever
has spend huge amount of money in their research and development department which helps the
company to operate 167000 human resource in their organisation. The management of the
company has developed team of skilled and experience employees which search and recruit the
talented employees in the world.
Weaknesses
The segmentation and brand extension is one of the most biggest biggest weakness of the
company. The management of Unilever has developed multiple range of products in the market
which is very difficult to be managed by the employees. The overload of the work has developed
anxiety in the minds of employees and negatively impacts the business of the organisation. It is
very important for the management of organisation that they develop effective counter strategies
in their business so that it becomes easy for the human resource management of organisations to
maintain their strategies.
Opportunities
The management of Unilever has huge spending on their marketing and advertising frameworks
which helps the company to becomes more competitive in the market. Marketing is the only
solution remains with the organisation to deal with the competition in the market. It is very

important for them to make their marketing on the basis of current trends so that it becomes easy
for the organisation to deals with changes in the market. The huge spending marketing by the
management of Unilever plays a important role in the human resource management, it enables
the managers to use different types of technology and strategy in the market.
Threat
The management Unilever has many competitors in the market which has provided extensive
competition to the management. It becomes very negative for the management of Unilever to
develop effective human resource strategies (Kim, and Torneo, 2021) .
Political factors:
 Unilever Plc have huge no. products sector in the market and basically the company's
have FMCG product like Beauty and Personal care, Refreshment and food etc. so that
they have to prepare the policy according to the political factor that the government
provides to the company to established the business.
 The company has to follow all the legal procedure that is abide by the government to
manufactured the product.
Economic Factors:
 If the state have huge number unemployment then company's give employment
opportunities to these people because unemployment is also effect the economic of the
state.
 If the state have good employment percentage then the state also have good economic
percentage.
Social factors:
 Unilever Plc has to focus that when they are launching new product then they do
advertisement according to it state language because the Unilever covers the huge market
in different countries.
 Unilever has to do research and development so that they analyse the needs and wants of
the customer and full-fill the demand of the customer.

Technological Factors:
 They use latest technology for production so that it increase the efficiency and reduce the
cost of the product.
 If they used latest technology then they save more time and produce different product at
same time.
Legal Factors:
 The Unilever having so many different products in the market more than 400 brands. So
they take care of many laws and regulations for there manufacturing.
 The company used manufacturing policies which is abide by the government only. If the
company manufactured the product in illegal way then company have to bear all the
illegal charges expenses and may be the company's license will cancelled permanently or
temporarily.
 The company's has to take care of all his patent and keep an eye that no one is misuse
your patent to sell the product. This make your brand value down in the market.
 If someone is using the Unilever patent then company have rights to action against the
person who using the patent and also make awareness to the customer about this fraud
product. So that the trust between the customer and company will remain strong.
Environment Factors:
 The Unilever has to main focus that manufacturing the eco-friendly product only. They
are working towards UN sustainability goals which increase the image of the business in
the market.
 They used that plastic which can be easily recycle or decomposed, so that it will help the
environment clean.

 They used latest technology for manufacturing the product, so that it will reduce the use
of plastic and help to make the environment clean.
M1 Critically analyse the influences of the external and contextual developments and discuss
how this impacts on the HR strategy of an organisation.
There are different types of external influence are present in the market which impacts the
human resource strategies of the company. It is essential for the management of Unilever plc that
they develop effective framework in their organisation which analyses the impact of these factors
on the strategies of companies and develop counter strategies to deal with these issues.
There are different types of influences are described above such as technological advancement,
negative growth of economy, increase in the wages of employees. All these influences has
critical impact on the management of Unilever such as positive and negative. It depends upon the
the management of organisation that how they take these factors and what strategies they have
made to make these impacts beneficial for the management of organisation. The management of
Unilever is one of the dynamic management which has potential to deal with different issues of
the market.
D1 Critically evaluate the influences of key external and contextual developments applying
relevant theories, models and concepts.
There are different types of theories and models are present in the market which helps the
organisation to make their human resource policies more competitive in the market. It is essential
for the management of organisation that they develop effective models and theories in their
management which helps to increase the talent of the employees (Jiang, Shi and Wen, 2022) .
The SWOT analyses helps the company to evaluate their strength and weakness of the
organisation and makes them able to mitigates various threats present in the market. There are
many opportunities are present in the market which can grab by the management.
P3 Apply relevant theories and concepts relating to the growth and development of strategic
HRM to specific organisational examples.
There are different types of theories and models are present in the market which can be used by
the management so that it becomes easy for the organisation to becomes more competitive. The
brief discussion related to the same are given below:

Matching model :- It is one of the important model of strategic human resource management
which deals with matching the organisational strategies and structure with the management with
the human resource policies and management. According to this model the human resource
policies should be linked to the management and other aspect of the organisation.
Control model :- It refers those human resource strategies under which the controls strategies
and employee management are motivated towards the achievement of organisational goals and
profitability of the organisation.
Resource based model :- It is related to those model under which the main focus of the
management are lies on the resource of the business. This model states that the management can
achieve efficiency while focusing on the resources of the organisation.
Approaches
Universalistic and best practise approach :- This approach of the human resource states that
there are different theories and models are present in the market which can be used by the
management to develop effective management of the organisation.
Contingency or best fit approach :- It is related to those approach of the management under
which the organisation has developed various human resource strategies to deal with the
contingency arises in the organisation. It is very important for them to develop effective
contingent strategies in the organisation.
Configurational approach :- It is relate to integration of both the above approaches which deals
with different approaches and contingency.
M2 Examine how human resources theory relates to practice in a specific organisational
example, identifying areas where this will differ in other organisational situations
The theories which are discussed such as Universalistic, contingency and configurational
approach are helpful for the management of Unilever to develop effective strategies (Emeagwal
and Ogbonmwan, 2018) . The contingency approach helps the managers of Unilever to deal with
the different contingency can be arises in future. The universalistic approach helps the company
to develop effective human resource strategies in their organisation. The matching principle of
the organisation helps the managers to match the policies with employee management.

Part-2
P4 Evaluate how appropriate change management models support HR strategy in application to
relevant organisational examples
Change management can be defined as the approach of supporting and helping
individuals, teams and organizations through which they can plan and drive change in the
company that can bring various advantages to the organization and support them in maintaining a
competitive position within the industry (Dong, 2021) . In case of Unilever, the company follows
various change management models through which they can perform their HR strategies more
effectively and maximize the efficiency of organization in dynamic industry. There are various
change management models which can support companies in meeting targets with the help of
effective planning and executing the whole plan. The change management models ensures that
all change objectives are met by effective planning and execution and by understanding the
demands amid the change management strategies.
Lewin change management model
This is a three stage model which is developed by Kurt Lewin that defines the change
which is required that can strengthen the performance and competitiveness of the organization.
The three stages that are followed by this change management model are- unfreeze, change and
refreeze. Talking about Unilever, the Lewin change management model of the company is
discussed beneath:
Unfreeze- This is the first stage of change management model and is one of the critical
stage of the process. In this stage, Unilever will be focusing on improving the willingness of
people to change through which they can foster and bring required change in the company that
will be helpful in delivering better results (Das, 2018) . Unilever will be focusing on maintaining
effective communication through which they can plan and execute the planned strategy which
will be helpful for the company in meeting targets. In this stage of transition, this helps Unilever
in motivating their employees by communicating the benefits and advantages to the employees
through which thy can promote organizational change.
Change- This is the second stage of transition which is the stage of actual
implementation of plan and an effective execution of change management strategy is done in this
stage. The execution of action plan in Unilever is managed by the help of effective planning,
cooperation and team work that can be the outcome of strong and effective change management

strategies which will be bringing various advantages to the organization. The tactics and
strategies adopted by Unilever will assist the brand in encouraging employees to bring required
change through which they can improve the performance standards of their employees, maintain
positive organisational culture and develop a sense of better understanding of the work that needs
to be done.
Refreeze- This is the last stage of change management model and in this stage Unilever
will be focusing on maintaining change in the organisation. In this stage, Unilever will create a
workforce which will accept and internalize new approaches of working that will also assist them
in establishing new relations through which the organizational productivity can be enhanced and
this will also help the company in leading to effective employee engagement and will decrease
employee turnover from the organization. In this stage, Unilever will be focusing on appraising
and rewarding employees for participating in bringing and maintaining the planned change ion
company that will support them in reinforcing the approaches of employees and will boost their
motivation level that will lead to effective employee performance through which corporate goals
can b accomplished.
M3 valid justification for the application of Lewis change management model
The need of change in the organisation are increasing day by day and makes able the
organisation to make changes in their management so that it becomes easy for the management
to deal with the competition (Crichton, Walker and Patel, 2018) . There are many reason for the
selection of Lewis model of change because it provided better understanding to the management
about the change management in comparison to another models. There are different stages are
stated in the selected model which helps the management to execute the changes systematically
in the organisation.
D3 Critically evaluate the drawbacks and benefits of changes
There are many benefits are present for the application of change management in the
organisation and the brief discussion related to the same are given below:
 It helps the employees to experience new and innovative measures in their organisation.
 It helps the management to becomes updated in the market.
 It helps the organisation to deal with the competition in the market.

There are also some drawbacks are present in the change management which can be faced by the
management if it is not executed properly in the organisation.
 The chances of conflicts can be increased in the organisation.
 The management of the organisation can have to face criticism from the employees.
 The risk of strategy failure are also the part of the same.
P5 Discuss how HR outcomes can be monitored and measured and apply this to a specific
organisational situation
It is very important for the management of the organisation that they monitored and
measured the outcomes of human resource management. It helps the company to develop
effective report and evaluate the performance of all the employees of the organisation. There are
different types of tools are present which can be used by the management of Unilever to
measure the performance of human resource management and the brief discussion related to the
same are given below:
Employee morale :- The morale of the employee are one of the important tools which is used by
many organisations to evaluate the performance of the human resource (Cooke, Xiao and Chen,
2021) . If the employee are satisfied with the organisation than they effectively work for the
organisation and outcome of the human resource are measures to be high. If the employee morale
becomes down and not happy with the organisation then the management assumes that there are
some deviations are present in the human resource department.
Labour productivity report :- It is related to those report of the organisation under which the
whole production of the organisation are differentiated between all the employees of the
organisation. This report provides information related to the productivity of each employees of
the organisation. It is very effective tool for the management of Unilever to analyse and measure
the performance of human resource management of the organisation.
Cost per hire :- It is related to those tool of measuring performance under which the
management of the organisations has developed effective studies under which the cost
determination are made between all the hiring of human resource department. If the cost are high
it shows negative outcome and if the cost are high then the outcomes becomes positive in the
organisation.