Unilever: Evaluating Organizational Design and Change Management

This report examines Unilever's approach to organizational design and change management in a dynamic environment. It analyzes the impact of political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors on the company. The report highlights the importance of customer focus and talent management by the HR department. It also discusses the application of Kurt Lewin's three-phase model for change management, including unfreezing, changing, and refreezing stages. The role of HR in managing change is emphasized, including problem-solving, training, setting goals, and effective communication. The report also provides recommendations on how HR practices can drive change forward, focusing on staffing, employee motivation, continuous monitoring, and predicting potential roadblocks. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of effective HR policies in building a foundation for success and overcoming employee resistance to change. The report is supported by relevant references.

VALUE AND
CONTRIBUTION TO
ORGANIZATIONAL
SUCCESS
(POSTER)

SCENARIO 2
Background of change management including theories and models of change
management
Change management is a logical approach to deal with continuous transformation of organization's goals, technology and process. It
deals with preparation of different strategies, so that they can be implemented at the time when change is important. In this dynamic
world it has become compulsory for every company to timely implement the changes or else it will not survive.
Kurt Lewin's three Phase model-
Kurt Lewin, a German-American psychologist, developed the three phase change management that begins with unfreezing then changing
and finally refreezing.
Unfreezing- The process begins with human resource managers and leaders informing the workforce about change management. It is
concerned with employees understanding the change.
Unilever operates in a dynamic environment and at one point or the other, every product of the company requires change. The change
can be either learning new technology, process or some strategy. Effective communication is extremely important because
communication not only provides guidance but also acts as a source of motivation for the employees.
Changing- This is the most important stage as the entire change management process depends on it. It is concerned with employees
accepting the new ways of changing. For this purpose necessary training is done by the employees. Strategic planning and effective
communication are requisite for this stage. The employees at Unilever adopted promotional changes like switching to online advertising
from traditional advertising and it proved worthwhile for the company.
Refreezing- Once the employees have successfully adapted and implemented changes, it is time to refreeze which means that the
company has achieved the state of equilibrium and now it needs to adopt these strategies until next time when the change is required.
Unilever company rewards its employees for successfully adopting the changes, the rewards can be monetary or non-monetary. This acts
as a psychological technique and makes employees feel recognized.
HR plays one of the most crucial role in managing and leading
change.
Human Resource department plays a crucial role when it comes to managing change. The techniques
adopted by them are-
Problem solving- The human resource department of Unilever solves the problems and doubts of
employees and provide them with suitable solution. The problem solving attitude has an additional
benefit that it incubates an environment of trust within the company.
Training- Training is a pre requisite when it comes to adopting changes. Without proper and efficient
training, changes cannot be implemented. Unilever's human resource department provides necessary
training and workshop classes to its employees.
Setting goals and objectives- The HR department of Unilever company sets goals and objectives with
the help of top level management and this further helps the employees to look forward to something. A
clear agenda gives them motivation to learn changes and implement them effectively and efficiently.
Effective communication- Last but not the least, effective communication is the key to successful
implementation of changes. Interaction between human resource and employees is very important as
this will help in clearing all doubts and problems. Unilever company has always believed in effective
interaction between all the employees at all the hierarchy levels, so that problem solving can be done
immediately.
Organizational design
Talent Management- Human resource department employs skilled and talented workforce into the
organization and this solves various problems of the company. Unilever's HR department adopts
talented pool of people that not only deals with day to day operations but also adopts changes faster than
ever.
Development management- HR department of Unilever aims at overall development of employees
which is at the end useful to the company itself. Development can either be overall or specialised
depending on the role of employee.
Evaluation of organization design which can respond and adapt to changes proposed
in Unilever
Not just Unilever, but any company that operates in the dynamic environment is bound to be affected by political, economic, social,
technological, environmental and legal factors. Every company needs to think like customers and this will help them to focus on the
core areas which will lead to maximizing customer experience. The HR department of these companies also identify the talented
people and use their skills efficiently. Their skills are no longer restricted to work place or some geographical boundary. This can help
the company to adapt changes rapidly and accurately. The organizational design of Unilever has always given major importance to
changing technologies and they have been successful enough to adopt them, this not only helped the company in change management
but also in achieving competitive advantage.
Transformational change can have a huge impact on the organizational structure of a business becuase it
involves changing of business strategies, technology and design in order to reposition themselves in the
market. Hence, transformational change is time consuming and can lead to change in overall structure of the
Unilelver company.
Psychology change involves changing the attitude and mentality of the employees by motivating
and guiding them. It is important of Unilever if they want to improve their performance
Recommendation on how HR practices will take changes
forward and implement them
Staffing- It is the fundamental duty of human resource department to recruit tight people at right job at
right time at right place. Correct form of staffing while benefit the company in long run. Unilever's
selection procedure involves interview tests, group discussion and personal interview to evaluate
candidate's credibility and finally selecting them.
Motivating employees- Human resource department engages employees and motivates them to adopt
changes effectively. This further increases their focus and they work even harder to adopt and
implement these changes.
Continuous monitoring- Human resource department plays the role of a watchdog and continuously
monitors the performance of employees. It also makes sure that the employees have adopted these
changes correctly. It also provides guidance and supervision to them because while implementing
changes, employees are bound to make mistake.
Predicting the potential roadblocks- It is quite obvious that changes can create the feeling of
unwillingness and hesitation towards the employees but the importance of changes cannot be ignored.
Hence, the HR department should banish all such fears that can affect the motivation of employees.
This can act as a big roadblock in the way of change.
Foundation for success- An effective HR policy can build a foundation for success. Unilever's effective
HR policies has helped the company in reaching great heights and success. The HR policies of
Unilever have also successfully minimized the disruption in the organization.
Overcoming resistance- Employee resistance and feeling of fear and anxiety are quiet common because
adopting and implementing changes is not an easy task to do. It involves employees to forget
everything that they have learned and relearn everything again. Hence, the human resource department
plays a psychological role in overcoming employee hesitation.
REFERENCES
Kaliannan, M. and Adjovu, S.N., 2015. Effective employee engagement and organizational success: a case study. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences.
172.pp.161-168.
Appiah-Adu, K., Okpattah, B. and Amoako, G.K., 2018. Building capability for organizational success: An emerging market perspective. Journal of African
Business.19(1).pp.86-104.
Appelbaum, S.H. and et.al., 2018. Impact of business model change on organizational success. Industrial and Commercial Training.50(2).pp.41-54.

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