Strategic HRM and Workforce Planning: A Detailed Analysis of Unilever

This report provides a detailed overview of workforce planning within Human Resource Management, focusing on its application at Unilever. It covers the core concepts of workforce planning, including analyzing, forecasting, and planning the supply of workforce through HR-related activities like recruitment and training. The report delves into the application of HRM theories, such as the Strategic Contingency Theory, which aids HR managers in making informed decisions based on situational variables. It also addresses common problems faced during workforce planning, such as recruitment challenges and preparing the workforce for evolving skill requirements, proposing solutions like mentorship programs and adapting to technological advancements. Furthermore, the report highlights the advantages of workforce planning at Unilever, including improved employee retention and reduced conflicts. The analysis concludes with recommendations for Unilever to enhance its HRM practices for a more resourceful and effective workforce. Desklib offers a wide range of similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

Introduction to
Human Resource
Management

Table of Contents
 INTRODUCTION
 Concept of Workforce Planning
 Application of HRM theories to enable workforce planning
 Problems faced during workforce planning
 Solutions of workforce planning issues
 Advantages of workforce planning in Unilever
 Recommendation
 CONCLUSION
 REFERENCES

INTRODUCTION
 Human resource management is the strategical approach
to the effective and efficient management of individuals
to achieve better performance.
 This file covers main concepts of workforce planning in
human resource, its application of theories with its
advantages. Workforce planning is all about analysing,
forecasting and planning the supply of workforce which
includes all HR related recruitments, training etc.

Concept of Workforce planning
 Workforce planning is the function executed in an
organisations which assists and analyse its
workforce and identify the steps which is used to
make for the future staffing needs (Gerhardt, 2019).
 It is the process which connects every person with
the organisations and helps both an individual and
organisation to accomplish the objectives of each
other.

Application of HRM theories to enable
workforce planning
 Human resource management theory is defined as
strategies, tactics and objectives used by the owners of
business and managers to manage policies and process
related to the workers.
 HRM theories include:
Strategic Contingency Theory
organisational life cycle theory

Strategic Contingency Theory
 This theory concentrates on the work that need to be
done in the forms of problems to be solved which
results in highlighting the personality.
 This theory is applicable to workforce planning as it
helps HR managers take decisions on the basis of
variables related to the circumstance. This ensures that
managers take effective decisions to manage workforce
spply and demand and ensure that every position in the
company is occupied by talented individuals.

Problems faced during workforce planning
 Recruitment and selection: Finding high quality applicants for
the job from various number of candidates is a workforce
planning issue as staffing is the main role of workforce
palnning.
 Preparing workforce for current and future skill
requirements: This is a common workforce planning challenge
in which businesses face difficulties in preparing workforce to
fulfil current and future skill requirements. (Savanevičienė and
Stankevičiūtė, 2017).

Solutions of workforce planning issues
 Use mentorship to train all the employees: Even though
employees are selected by human resource management after
watching all the skill sets and talent but it is a duty of company to
provide mentorship of working in their company.
 Adapt to the growing technology: Technology is playing a vital
role in current years of covid -19. Advanced technology increases
technological skill and knowledge for employees which is
demanded future skill.

Advantages of workforce planning in
Unilever
 Improve employee retention: There are the times when the
organisations start facing turnover of the employees and this is
very bad for the business of the Unilever (Lee, 2019). Workforce
planning activities practices like rewards and appraisals help the
workforce planning of the Unilever in retaining the employees.
 Fewer conflict and issues: With the help of the workforce
planning, the Unilever is able to maintain the healthy relationship
between the diversified employees which results in fewer
compliance issue and conflicts.

Recommendation
 From the above analysis on the strategic human
resource management of the Unilever and its key
issues in workforce planning there are some
recommendations that company must consider or
utilize in future in order to have healthy and
resourceful HRM within organisations.

CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that for any organisation their
workforce planning is highly valuable as it helps an organisation in
gaining competitive advantage. Different HRJM theories and practices
can be applied to facilitate workforce planning such as strategic
contingency theory and organisational life cycle theory.

REFERENCES
 Cartwright, S., 2021. The Blackwell encyclopedia of management. Human resource
management. Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
 Gerhardt, T., 2019. An analysis of the impact of a leadership intervention on an
undergraduate work-based learning project for human resource management
students. Journal of Work-Applied Management.
 Zeller, D., 2019. Strategic human resource management in the hybrid (virtual
offsite/traditional ‘brick and mortar’) organization. From doi.
org/10.5281/zenodo, 2671809.
 Schneider, A. M., Oppel, E. M. and Winter, V., 2021. Explaining variations in
hospitals’ use of strategic human resource management: How environmental and
organizational factors matter. Health care management review, 46(1), pp.2-11.