BTEC Unit 11: Research Project - Global Talent Management at Unilever

This research project delves into the realm of global talent management, specifically examining the practices employed by Unilever, a prominent multinational corporation. The project's core aim is to identify the best practices in global talent management within Unilever and assess their effects on employee productivity and retention. The research explores the fundamental concepts of talent management, Unilever's specific talent management approaches, and the subsequent impact on employee performance, retention, and overall productivity. Furthermore, the project offers recommendations for multinational corporations to refine and enhance their existing talent management strategies. The methodology employs a qualitative research approach, utilizing interpretivism as its research philosophy. The project includes a detailed literature review, outlining key themes such as the idea of talent management in organizations, talent management practices, the impact of employees' productivity, and recommendations for talent management practices. The research also outlines its methodology, data analysis, and ethical considerations. The conclusion summarizes the findings and provides recommendations and reflections based on the research conducted.

RESEARCH PROJECT
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TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................3
Title..............................................................................................................................................3
Aims and Objectives....................................................................................................................3
Research questions.......................................................................................................................3
Rationale......................................................................................................................................4
Significance..................................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................................4
Theme 1: Idea of talent management in an organization.............................................................4
Theme 2: Practices of talent management...................................................................................5
Theme 3: Impact of employees productivity in context to talent management...........................5
Theme 4: Recommendations for talent management practices...................................................6
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.............................................................................7
Research type...............................................................................................................................7
Research approach.......................................................................................................................7
Research philosophy....................................................................................................................8
Data collection.............................................................................................................................8
Sampling......................................................................................................................................8
Data analysis................................................................................................................................9
Ethical consideration....................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS..................................................................................................9
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION......................................................................................................18
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................18
Recommendation.......................................................................................................................19
Reflection...................................................................................................................................19
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................20
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................22
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Title
“To study, best practices in global talent management within multinationals and effects on
employee productivity and retention: A case study on Unilever plc.”
Aims and Objectives
Aim:
The aim of the chosen project is covered in the points underneath:
 To identify the best practices adopted in the global talent management in multi-national
companies like Unilever. The effect of talent management practices on employee productivity and retention.
Objectives: The objectives for the research project is explained in the points below:
 To describe the concept of talent management and a brief understanding of how they are
adopted in multinational companies
 To determine the best practices and approaches to talent management in Unilever
 To evaluate the impact of global talent management on employee productivity and
retention in Unilever
 To propose recommendations on the improvement in the current practices in MNCs to
improve the approaches to HRM.
Research questions
 What is the fundamental concept of talent management in context to multinational
companies?
 What are the talent management approaches and practices that are implanted in Unilever
plc?
 How does the global talent management approaches affect the employee retention,
performance and productivity in Unilever?
 What are the recommendations that can be used by MNC's to further improve their
present talent management practices?
Rationale
Talent management is a very essential factor which has to be considered in an
organization so that there would be higher operations and functioning which would be present.
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Reason for this topic is that there must be good understanding and analysation of talent
management. End result would be higher for businesses which are present in the market which is
going to be a great factor. Motivation and quality of workforce is going to be well maintained
and performance and operations of organization is also be improved with time as well.
Significance
Importance of this research is that there must be good understanding of factor which is
talent management so that there is would be higher performance and operations which would be
present. Recruitment, development, retains the workforce, etc. are very essential in a business
and this factor is going to make sure that the employees are having a higher satisfaction level
which is going to be good for the trust and loyalty of the employees in the company. Talent
management is a very essential factor making the company be able to work towards goals easily.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
Theme 1: Idea of talent management in an organization
As per the view of author (Eghbal and et.al., 2017), right talent has to be present in the
company so that the business goals can be achieved on time. There are long term objectives and
goals which an organization has for themselves in the market which needs to be achieved on time
so that there must be higher competitive advantage. Training and motivation has to be given to
the workforce so that there is going to be higher outcomes of the organization and the talent also
has to be well maintained. Strategies have to be modified with time so that there is going to be
higher operations which is going to be there.
According to (Amiri and Safariolyaei, 2017), planning has to be done so that talent
management is going to be present in the company which is going to be a great factor for
Unilever. Unilever has not been able to perform well in the market because of the competition
which is present that needs to be improved so that there is going to be higher achievement.
Quality of the products and services has to be well maintained so that there the company can
maintain their loyalty and trust of the customers which is going to be a great factor
(Savanevičienė and Vilčiauskaitė, 2017). In international market there must be effective working
and performance which have been present in workforce so that there is would be higher
productivity and operations.
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Theme 2: Practices of talent management
In according to (Edwards, 2017), gap between the internal environment can be created
very easily which has to be well maintained so that there is going to be higher satisfaction.
Development is very essential so that competitors will be able to have a higher outcomes and the
sales be higher. Benefits have to be given to the workforce so that there be higher outcomes in
the firm. Talent management makes sure that work is being done effectively so that organization
will be able to benefit overall. There are a lot of targets which a business set, and they need to be
achieved so that the organization will be able to have higher reputation and brand image in the
market (Ganaie and Haque, 2017). Problems, issues, conflicts, etc. rise in an organization and
specially in the international market so that there would be higher operations and productivity.
The author suggests (Almohtaseb and et.al., 2020), there is lot of resistant from
employees to changes which is present in an organization which has to be well managed. Talent
management makes sure that there are effective measures which are being taken and that would
be a great factor. There are a lot of policies and measures which are there and that makes sure
that there are high practices which are taking place and make the performance of firm overall be
improved. There are barriers which can make the financial factor get affected which has to be
monitored and controlled by Unilever which is good for the reputation and brand image of the
company.
Theme 3: Impact of employees productivity in context to talent management
In opinion of (Makarius and Srinivasan, 2017), employees must remain motivated which
makes company be able to achieve the targets and objectives which they are having. Workforce
is given their personal preferences which is built so in order to be able to have effective working.
Completion of tasks must be present in Unilever because demands and needs of customers is
increasing which well be maintained and that makes functioning be higher. Recognition for
efforts which are being put in company have to be well analysed so that company will be able to
have higher advantages in market and expenditure is minimum.
In view of (Meyer and Xin, 2018), traditional methods for maintaining talent
management is not be effective in nature which would make performance of company be higher.
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Productivity and operations of company has to be maintained and also make the migration factor
of employees be under control. The styles of management has to change so that there be effective
working and burden on employees is going to reduce. Management has to make decisions
according to the employees so that there be higher satisfaction which is present. Style of leaders
in Unilever is autocratic which has to be improved and made sure that there is effective working
and performance which is to be there and good understanding as well.
Theme 4: Recommendations for talent management practices
As per the view of (Yaseen, Shatnawi and Obeidat, 2018), HRM must have the right
practices which are supposed to be there which is going to make company be able to operate
effectively. International market is having a lot of issues which can make workforce not be able
to focus on working. Skilled employees have to be hired which is going to make performance of
company be higher. Right methods and theories have to be used by HRM so that there would be
higher operations and working that is present so that organization will be able to make a place
for themselves. There is lot of pressure on the employees of Unilever because of the imbalance
which organization is having in market which has to be well managed and improved upon so that
there to be effectual working. Expenditure must be done on workforce so that there is be right
measures and improvement which is present for the development of the entire organization
nationally and internationally.
Author (Kamal and Lukman, 2017), also considered that, culture of Unilever is very
different from one another which has to be well maintained so that company. This will be able to
have a higher performance and working in the market that is going to be a good factor for overall
performance. Observation of HRM department present in Unilever has to be improved so that
there are right employees which be hired and effective workforce be present in organization.
Confidence must be present and higher frame works has to be used so that there is higher
operations. Positive working environment has to be created so that there is higher influence and
working be better so that there are right practices which be involved. Changes have to be adapted
easily so that there be higher information which is present so that right use of working which is
there and policies also have to be improved upon so that the company will be able to have higher
inspiration which is going to be helpful.
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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research type
Rsearches are of two types which being qualitative and quantitative types which can be
considered in a research. The focus of the report would be upon qualitative research is would get
out the best of results and outcomes of this research. Quantitative research is statistic and number
research which is going to get in higher analysis and collection of work which is going to be
present (Johnson, Gibbs Grey and Baker-Bell, 2017). This research is also getting a lot of
detailing which can not be trusted because all the surveys are different from one another.
Qualitative research is hypothetical and understanding of one can be used after analysing the data
which is collected so that there is going to be a different take on things and different and
interesting outcomes can be taken out. Qualitative research is used because of the nature of this
type and there is a detailed understanding of this type which makes the performance of the
company be higher.
Research approach
Inductive and deductive approaches are different types of researches which can be used
in a research project so that there is a better sense of direction which is present. Deductive
approach is to question and test an existing theory or method which is present and inductive
approach is reasoning the aim so that be higher achievement is to be present. The research is to
be focused upon inductive approach so that there is to be higher achievement and outcomes
which can be achieved. Methods and theories have to be used in right approach so that there is to
be higher functioning and improvement which would be there (Abdurrahman and Mulyana,
2020).
Research philosophy
There are three types of philosophies which are present which are interpretivism,
positivism and realism which can be included in the research project so that there is going to be
higher sense of direction which is going to be present. Interpretivism is not going to focus on
casual explanation but the report is going to focus on the overall functioning and that is going to
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be higher understanding (Flick, 2020). Positivism is going to only focus on the positive impact
and working of the topic selected which is not good because there has to be effective
interpretation which is going to be required which is going to be a great factor for the overall
development. Interpretivism type is focused upon in this research so that there are higher
achievements and outcomes with better understanding which is present in audience.
Data collection
To be able to collect the data there are two types of collection which is present that is
primary and secondary research which is required so that there is to be higher functioning which
is to be present. Primary data is collected from source itself and secondary data is taking account
of the third party as well which is being influenced in working so that there is right working
which would be there (Arantes do Amaral, dos Santos and Rodrigues, 2018). The research
project is going to focus on both the aspect so that there is going to be effective understanding
and outcomes of this report which is going to be present.
Sampling
Sampling is also of two types which are probability and non-probability and the research
is going to focus upon probability research. There are 30 respondents which actively participated
in this activity which helped in getting out the right interpretation. The respondents would be
associated with company in some way or another for example the employees. Non probability
type is very bias and that is not to be effective for the results which is going to be present in this
research and make sure that there is random selection of employees which is there making sure
that there is going to be right response which the questionnaire is going to have (Gear, Eppel and
Koziol-Mclain, 2018). There has to be equal chances and selection which has to be done so that
there would be higher operations.
Data analysis
The report is focusing on qualitative approach therefore thematic analysis is going to be
used in the research so that the topic, ideas and pattern of this research is going to be higher
which is a great factor. Thematic style is used instead of statistical analysis because the types of
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research is used is qualitative which is not having a lot of statistics in nature and interpreting
them is not possible. There are a lot of interviews and improvement which is going to be present
as well that is going to get the best to the audience. Large qualitative research can also be
analysed effectively and make the working even better which is going to be a great factor for the
overall working (Park, 2017). Interviews and other proper working has to be present so that the
outcomes are going to be effective and audience would be able to connect with the data which is
being presented to them.
Ethical consideration
There was a lot of respect which was present and that is going to be effective for the
overall functioning as well. Bias or any kind of unethical working was not present but instead
there was a consent form as well which was filled in by the audience so that there is going to be
good involvement which is going to be there (Devi, 2017). There has to be no harm which must
be done while doing the research and there were none which took place. Data was not stolen
from anywhere and that is to make sure that the data presented is authentic in nature and trust
worthy as well.
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS
Data analysis is a framework which is used so that the information can be inspected and
transformed to easier form in order to reach out to a larger audience. It is important to have data
analysis in research projects in order to make sure that the audience understanding and the
outcomes is going to be higher.
Theme 1: Is talent management being focused upon by Unilever management for the
employees?
Is talent management being focused upon by
Unilever management for the employees?
Outcomes
Yes 16
No 9
9

Maybe 5
Total 30
Interpretation: From the above graph it can be analysed that there are 16 employees who feel
that there is effective measures which are being taken in the company for talent management.
Talent management is to get in higher satisfaction level of the customers which is to make the
company have higher productivity and operations overall. 9 out of 30 people thing that there is
no talent management which is present in Unilever which is to make the employees not be able
to operate effectively in the market. And there are 5 out of 30 people think that there is maybe an
implementation of talent management which they are not aware about. Communication is very
important and when 5 people are not aware about it then there has to be a change in making sure
that there is effective working that would be present in the company.
10
16
9
5
Is talent management being focused upon by Unilever management for the employees?
Yes
No
Maybe
Illustration 1: Is talent management being focused upon by Unilever management for the
employees?

Theme 2: What are the benefits accordingly to you of talent management?
What are the benefits accordingly to you of
talent management?
Outcomes
Flexibility 8
Employees development 3
Retain employees 4
Improve manager and employees engagement 9
Hiring process 6
Total 30
Interpretation:
Theme 3: Flexibility is being provided by management to manage the current performance?
11
Flexibility
Retain employees
Hiring process
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 8
3
4
9
6
What are the benefits accordingly to you of talent management?
Column B
Illustration 2: What are the benefits accordingly to you of talent management?

Flexibility is being provided by management
to manage the current performance?
Outcomes
Strongly agree 7
Agree 12
Neutral 4
Disagree 5
Strongly disagree 2
Total 30
Interpretation: There are 12 people out of 30 and 7 people out of 30 who have said agree and
strongly agree respectively which is a great factor for the company to have which is going to
make sure that there is positivity in the organization which is being maintained for the long run.
4 people said that they are neutral with this idea and 5 disagree and 2 strongly disagree which is
12
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
7
12
4
5
2
Flexibility is being provided by management to manage the current performance?
Column B
Illustration 3: Flexibility is being provided by management to manage the current
performance?