Report on Unilever's HRM: Trends, Challenges, Ethics, and Solutions

This report provides an overview of human resource management (HRM) within Unilever plc, a British multinational organization. It identifies current trends and challenges faced by Unilever's HRM department, including remote working, upskilling, compensation issues, legal complexities due to Brexit, training and development costs, and performance management. The report discusses Tuckman's theory of team development as a framework for building effective teams and outlines ethical practices in Unilever's recruitment process. Finally, it offers recommendations for addressing HRM problems, such as implementing effective pay structures, performance management frameworks, legal expertise, and modern technology. The report concludes that a robust HRM department is crucial for organizational success and highlights the need for Unilever to adapt to changing industry trends and address its HRM challenges effectively.

Human resource
management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................3
Current human resource trend and problems faced by the Unilever...........................................3
Tuckman's theory of team development ....................................................................................5
Ethical practises which Unilever uses in their recruitment selection process ...........................6
Recommendation for management of Unilever to deal with Human resource problems ..........7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is related to those management of the organisation which
focus on the selection recruitment and management of the workforce of the organisation. It is one
of the important department of any organisation because all the activities related to the workforce
of the organisation are performed by these department. The main aim of the human resource
department is to recruit the talented workforce in the organisation and manage their activities.
The activities related to organise interviews and training of the recruited employees are also
performed by human resource department of the organisation. The organisation which is chosen
here to demonstrate this report is Unilever plc (Al-Romeedy, 2019). This report contains the
discussion related to the current human resource problem faces by the management of the
Unilever and the impact of these problems on the company. The theories and practises which
helps the company to deal with these issues are also discuss in this report. It contains different
ethical practises which HRM used in their recruitment process. It also includes different
recommendations to improve the management of the organisation.
About the company
Unilever plc is a British multinational organisation which deals in the retail
industry of united kingdom. The major decision related to business of the company are taken
from the headquarter which is located in London, England. Company deals in multiple range of
product such as home care, health care and personal care product.
TASK
Current human resource trend and problems faced by the Unilever
The current trend in human resource are fluctuating and changes according to the
situation and environment. The brief discussion related to these trends are given below.
 Remote working in the human resource trend 2021 :- There is a gradual changes inm
the trend of the human resource activities in 2021 due to happening of some natural
disasters which impact the global economy negatively. It become difficult for the human
resource department of the Unilever to find the talented employees and manage theme
to working in the organisation (Armstrong and Taylor, 2020). Most of the employees
prefer to work from home which is quite difficult to manage the work. It is important for

the organisation to develop those measures which helps the company to maintain the
workforce which completed their work from their home.
 Remote learning :- This concept of learning is similar to the e- learning concept and it
is the most important method which is used by the companies to provide training to their
employees (Delery and Roumpi, 2017) . In the present time all the peoples prefer to
done their office activities from their home for the safety of them and their office staff.
It is the duty of the management of Unilever to consider this need of their employees.
The employees which want to work from home require guidance, training and support at
their home. It id not possible for the management to provide training each employee
individually so there is an opportunity to develop online training framework to provide
support to their employees so that the work can be done accurately.
 Up skilling :- There is a survey company which conduct the market research related to
the demand of skill workers in the market and the result of this research that the demand
of the skilled workers are increased by 38% . it is the sole duty of the management of
Unilever to provide systematic training to their employees so that their skills can be
uplifted. The most important measure in this scenario that the company can hire an
expert from the market to provide the training top their employees. This initiative by the
company enables employees to complete all the business activities effectively.
 Virtual team building activities :- It is very important for the completion of any task in
the organisation that there are effective teams and leaders are present which enables the
management of the organisation to achieve the goals and objectives.
Human resource faces by Unilever
There are different types of problems which the human resource department of Unilever
has to face in their business activities and the brief discussion related to these problems are given
below
 Compensation and benefits :- It is one of the most important problem which the human
resource department of the Unilever faces due to some natural disasters and legal issues
such as covid pandemic and Brexit. The main problem is that the wages of workers are
increases in European nations which minimise the profit margins of the company.
 Legal issues :- There are many legal issues which are faced by the management of
Unilever due to the Brexit. Under this scenario, united kingdom withdraw their trade

agreements with the European union and the companies of United kingdom faces many
legal issues while performing their business in those nations.
 Training and development :- Only the recruitment of the employees is not sufficient to
achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation. The management has to provide
proper training to their employees for their development (Hee and Jing, 2018) . The main
problem which Unilever face in this section is huge investment and time consuming
process.
 Performance management :- The most important problem which all the companies
faces in their human resource is to measure and manage the performance of their
employees. These required proper framework and proper motivation of employees which
improves their performance.
Tuckman's theory of team development
This theory of team development was developed by Bruce Tuckman with an aim to
provide systematic knowledge related to the development of team in organisation. The human
resource department of Unilever can apply this theory to develop effective team which deal with
different human resource problem.
 Forming Stage: It is the first stage of team development in which team in introduced and
all members are polite as well as pleasant. In this stage the managers of the Unilever
develops a team of some employees to achieve the goals and objectives of the
organisation effectively and efficiently.
 Storming stage: It is another stage in which reality as well as weight of completion of a
task is understand by everyone. In this stage, members of team are excited and again
needs to be polite. Under this stage of team development the leaders of the team convey
the main objective for the development of particular team. The managers of the unilever
tells about the goals to be achieved by the team to the members.
 Norming stage: Norming is another stage in which people are start noticing as well as
appreciating strength of team members. In this stage of team development the managers
of the organisation analyses the strength and weaknesses of the team members and
motivates them for their progress.

 Performing stage: It is another stage in which members are confident, motivated as well
as familiar enough with project as well as team members in order to operation without
supervision. The main work related to the completion of task are performed in this
section of the team development. The managers of the Unilever ensures the effectiveness
and productivity of the team (Oluwatayo and Adetoro, 2020). This stage of team
development involves proper checking framework which monitors the activities of the
employees.
 Adjourning stage: It is the last stage of team development in which after completion of
work team is separated and stated to work for another project. In this stage of team
development
Ethical practises which Unilever uses in their recruitment selection process
There are many ethical practises which the management of the Unilever uses in their selection
process and the brief discussion related to these practises are given below.
 One of the most important ethical practise which the human resource management of
Unilever uses in their selection process is it never place misleading job advertisement
which consumes the time of the candidate.
 The managers of the Unilever always conduct the interview in proper manner they never
insult or disrespect of any candidate while taking the interview of the candidates.
 The human resource department of the Unilever treated all the candidates which are
coming for the interview equally. All candidates equal chances of selection and provides
equal time. The judgement criteria of the to select the employees are same for all the
candidates.
 It is the quality of the management of Unilever that their managers only taking those
information from their candidates which is relevant for the business and always ignore
the irrelevant questions about the personal life of the candidates.
 The information which is taken from the candidates at the time of interview are places
confidential and only access by the company for prescribes reasons. Any third party
cannot these information for their illegal purpose.
 It is the sole quality of the human resource management of Unilever that they inform the
candidates about the selection decision in systematic decision with the help of secure

medium. If the candidate does not clear the interview, a general and polite statement for
the reason of failure of candidate.
Recommendation for management of Unilever to deal with Human resource problems
There are many recommendations are there which helps the management of the Unilever
to solve various human resource problems faces by the company. These recommendations also
helps the company to deal with other problems arises in organisation and the brief discussion
related to these recommendations are given below:
 Effective pay structure :- One of the most important solution of employee retention and
attraction of talented workforce towards the organisation is the effective pay structure of
the company. The management of Unilever has to make their pay structure effective in
comparison to another organisation operates in the industry which helps the HR to recruit
the best talent in the organisation
 performance management framework :- It is essential for the solution of weak
employee performance that the organisation develops effective performance appraisal
programmes in their organisation (Shah, 2019) . The management of Unilever should
organises various programmes such as incentives, rewards and recognitions for the
performance appraisal of their employees. Employee motivates by these rewards and start
improve their skills and performance.
 Effective legal framework :- It is the major problem faces by the management of
Unilever due to the Brexit. To overcome this problem it is recommended to the
management of the organisation that it develops team of legal experts which helps the
company to deal with these legal issues on the legal ground.
 Modern technology :- The major solution of many problems arises in the organisation is
the use of modern and advance technologies in operations of business and it helps the
organisation to achieve their goals effectively. The management of Unilever should
employee advanced technology in their human resource department to solve the problems
faces by the department.
CONCLUSION
It is conclude from this report that the human resource department of the organisation is
one of the most important department which are essential for each departmental of the company

because all other department need workforce and this need only fulfils by the human resource
department. There are many problems which the human resource department of Unilever faces in
their work are concluded in this report. These problems impact negatively on the overall
management of the company and enables miss functions in the organisation. The changing trend
of the industry due to natural calamity in the year 2021 are also concluded in this report. Some of
the ethical practises which the human resource management of the organisation follows in their
business activities are concluded in this report and there are number of recommendation which
help the organisation to solve many problems arises in human resource.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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constraints of implementation and requirements for success. Journal of Human
Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 18(4), pp.529-548.
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2020. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice.
Delery, J.E. and Roumpi, D., 2017. Strategic human resource management, human capital and
competitive advantage: is the field going in circles?. Human Resource Management
Journal, 27(1), pp.1-21.
Hee, O.C. and Jing, K.R., 2018. The Influence of human resource management practices on
employee performance in the manufacturing sector in Malaysia. International Journal of
Human Resource Studies, 8(2), p.129.
Oluwatayo, A.A. and Adetoro, O., 2020. Influence of employee attributes, work context and
human resource management practices on employee job engagement. Global Journal of
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Shah, M., 2019. Green human resource management: Development of a valid measurement
scale. Business Strategy and the Environment, 28(5), pp.771-785.
Turulja, L. and Bajgoric, N., 2018. Information technology, knowledge management and human
resource management: Investigating mutual interactions towards better organizational
performance. VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems.
Zhao, Y., 2018. Managing Chinese millennial employees and their impact on human resource
management transformation: an empirical study. Asia Pacific Business Review, 24(4),
pp.472-489.