Report on Developing Relationships and Workplace Dynamics at Unilever

This report examines the significance of workplace relationships and individual development within Unilever. It explores the benefits of fostering positive connections, including increased productivity, employee engagement, and reduced turnover, for both the organization and its employees. The report delves into the potential benefits of personal development, such as improved mental health, self-esteem, and job satisfaction. It also analyzes various development plan vehicles available within Unilever, and concludes with a proposed development plan designed to meet the specific needs and expectations of individuals. The report highlights the importance of trust, communication, and mutual respect in building effective workplace relationships, ultimately contributing to a more engaged and productive workforce.

DEVELOPING
RELATIONSHIP AND
WORKPLACE
RELATIONSHIP

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
1. Potential benefits to the organisation and individual by developing individual in the
workplace.....................................................................................................................................3
2. Evaluation of development plan vehicle available in Unilever...............................................8
3. Development of plan of Unilever to meet the identified development needs and expectations
of individuals.............................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................19

INTRODUCTION
Workplace relationship can be build by trust, open communication, teamwork and mutual
respect. Developing positive relationship with other individuals make their job more enjoyable
and productive and improve employee morale. Building and developing effective working
relation will not only make individual more engaged and committed to the organisation but it can
be beneficial for organisation as whole as well as also for consumers. Unilever is world's largest
consumer good company which provide food and beverages, personal care products and cleaning
agents. The company was founded by Margarine Unie and Lever Brothers on 2nd September
1929 and its headquarter is in London and Rotterdam.
This report will discuss about how Unilever build and maintain
workplace relationship. It will include benefit of individual development to the organisation as
well as to the individuals who are working in the company. Report will also analyse appropriate
framework for assessing personal development of individuals and it will give an idea by
developing personal plan how to meet the development needs and how skills and personality can
be developed. Report will also evaluate different vehicles of development plan to identify key
areas of development and a development plan will be address at last.
MAIN BODY
1. Potential benefits to the organisation and individual by developing individual in the workplace
An individual is a person which exist as a distinct entity in the organisation normally
referred as employee and development refers to the acquisition of skills, behaviour and
knowledge that improve employee's ability to meet customer demand and achieve organisational
goal (Baron and Parent, 2015).
All the organisations uses the personal development theories and strategies rapidly in
order to improve the efficiency, knowledge and skills of its individuals and improve the
productivity of the whole organisation. Personal development of individual is a lifelong process
in an organisation by which people can asses their skills and qualities. It relates to activities that
develops talent and potential, improve identity and awareness, facilitate employability and build
human capital. Personal development programs helps the company in identifying strengths and
weaknesses of the individuals along with identification of opportunities to develop them.
Personal development process refers to the growth of employee in all respect and
concerned with shaping their attitudes (Cunningham, 2017). Development build competency for

future performance and has long term perspective. The nature of personal development is career
centred. There are 6 main areas of individual development: Analytical and research skills,
communication skills, ability to make effective decisions and solve problems on their own (Dong
and et.al., 2017), interpersonal abilities, leadership/management skills, adaptability/flexibility,
ability to plan, organise and prioritise work potentially. In the field of practice, personal
development include- learning programs, personal development tools, assessment tools, system
and techniques. In the field of research include- education research, human development tools,
etc.
Following are the potential benefits to the organisation of developing individuals: Increase productivity and organisational performance- In the competitive market
Unilever have to be productive in order to grow and survive in the market. Continuous
developing individual skills is an important requirement of an organisation in order to
maintaining high standard of productivity (Kobayashi, 2018). Giving training regarding
new technologies and skills which are in trend and are required to employees for
achieving organisational objectives. Attaining knowledge of new technologies and skills
improve the way of working and to gain confidence with their task because their skills
and knowledge are developed, improved skills means that employee's productivity
improve organisational performance and quality of work and increase in overall
productivity. Employee engagement- Employees are more engaged when focus is been laid on
developing individuals. A good developing programme mould individual's attitude and
behaviour towards activities of organisation and develop greater loyalty and generate
effective cooperation. Thus, personal development help in building cooperative work
force. Increase in high morale increase work performance of organisation and help
Unilever to gain competitive advantage (LaMontagne and et.al., 2014). Reduce employee turnover- Individuals feel more valued and important if they are
invested in development training it is likely to change employers. Development seems as
an additional benefit to the company and it reduces cost of staff recruitment due to
employee retention. Training and development make employees feel more valued and
important, it enhances their loyalty and commitment towards the organisation. Loyal and

happy workforce result in better staff retention, which lower down the recruitment cost
and ultimately reduce employee turnover (Lussier and Hendon, 2017). Enhance company image and market growth- All the operational activities and
marketing activities done for growth of company and build its image and reputation in the
market. Employee personal development program is essential for every organisation to
stay competitive and solvent in the market. Although for organisation it is expensive to
spend money on their employees but this is positive and effective investment for
company to hold the position in the market. It develops and maintain learning
environment for individuals that expand the knowledge of industry and help to gain
competitive advantage. Well developed individuals will give organisation a competitive
advantage over rivalry competitors and highly trained and developed staff maintain the
company's image. For example, it can include mentoring scheme, On-the-job learning,
etc. A high skilled workforce will enable Unilever to be more competitive in the
marketplace and increase competitiveness (Manuti and et. al., 2015). Unilever build a
solid reputation as a trusted and responsible company with strong training and
development programme. Risk management- Trained employees handle their job better and do their work safely
and effectively. They achieve high accuracy in doing their job responsibility. It reduces
risk in the organisation and results in accurately implementing high quality standards in
products and services that help Unilever to manage risk, also maintaining quality and
ensures better satisfaction of consumers. It also help in reducing wastage, cost of
supervision and industrial accidents. Most of the accidents occur due to lack of precise
skills and desired knowledge of individuals to do a specific job. Continuous development
reduces the chances of losses and conflicts due to sudden risk. Address employee weakness- Most of the individuals in organisation have certain
weaknesses which become barrier for them in giving their best. Development programs
help in strengthening employees skills and dissolving inner barriers by eliminating these
weaknesses. It results in enhancing reliablility of whole workforce and organisation does
not need to rely on particular employee (Park, 2017). Unilever can put mechanism in
place to compensate weaknesses of individuals in their strengths. This help in to reduce
any weak links within Unilever who depend upon others to complete basic work task.

 Optimum utilization of resources- Personal development provide an opportunity and
give broad structure for development of human resource which result in optimum
utilization of available resources. It also helps employees in attaining individual growth
which positively affect their performance. If employee work efficiently it results in
increasing in productivity and profitability of organisation (Romiszowski, 2016).
 Make future succession planning easier- Development program is great tool for train
future managers and leaders at Unilever. Promoting from within rather than hiring
outside the business is great way to show the employees that they have a long career with
the industry. It also help to reduce the knowledge gaps that are fatal with outside hires
and turnover(Sony and Mekoth, 2016).
Following are the benefits to the individual from personal development: Mental health and self esteem- Personal development is essential for improving work
life of employees as well as it also can create positive personal life such as; it improves
relationship, maintain a work life balance. Personal development help to track positive
and negative behaviour of individuals that will help to manage them better. It promotes
creativity and innovation and develop learning environment. By being developed time to
time it helps in to maintain the mental health of individuals as they learn every necessary
skills and knowledge and enhance their self-esteem (Rousseau, 2015). Personal
development help employees of Unilever to become more self aware and give a sense of
direction to them, it also help individuals to become more motivated and give them a
clear vision that what they want to achieve. Help to identify own ability and strength- By carrying out personal development,
individuals are able to understand their own ability and aspiration. It helps in figuring out
their own values and beliefs, clear purpose at both personal and professional level. It is
essential for every person to know about their own strength and weaknesses, it not just
help in personal life but it will also help in work life to use strength effectively to achieve
goals (Tornow and London, 2015). Productivity and Motivation- PDP can increase employee's productivity. Development is
the source of motivation for the individuals and it is beneficial for individuals to
becoming aware with their own strength and weaknesses. it encourage employees to
produce higher quality work (Sanford, 2017). They feel motivated and confident by

seeing improvement by development. It will boost confidence among employees to
achieve more. Self- awareness guide employees to convert their weaknesses into strength.
Personal development not just only offer new skill set but it allows opportunity to the
employees to learn from others as well and can pickup new ideas and perspectives from
shared experience from others. Better work-life balance- By allowing individuals personal development, they improve
their work- life through carrying out development and learning process. It not just help in
to improve the morale, knowledge and confidence, employees can also be improving
their career prospectives such as promotion, career change or new job. Work-life balance
means the balance that an employee need of time allocation in between other aspects of
life and work. Spending maximum hours at work is due to different sifts according work,
inflexibility, overtime, etc. It causes stress in individuals. Personal development give
skills of time management and stress management that make better balance of work-life
(Tornow and London, 2015). Improve skills and job satisfaction- By improving the areas of development will improve
knowledge, skills and attitude of individuals. Development improve communication,
planning skills and problem solving skills of individuals. Training and personal
development makes employees feel more satisfied with their job role in the organisation.
This is driven by extra ability they gain to execute their duties. Personal development
make feel to the employees that they belong to the organisation. It increases job
satisfaction of employees that result in better performance. These skills not only help
individual in their personal life but it also greatly improve their professional life by
opening new opportunities in work or improve their current work. These skills include;
time management, stress management, skills to improve work-life balance,
etc.Developing workplace performance- Personal development affect individual
behaviour and their working skill which increase employee working performance
(Vishnevskiy, Karasev and Meissner, 2015). Development programs is for increasing
skills and knowledge of employees it results in effective performance and by
understanding work role and responsibility. Personal development improve knowledge,
skill and behaviour of individual which enhance their personal growth. It will help to
manage performance and utilize knowledge, skill and technology and motivational

factors such as confidence, desire and commitment of individuals to achieving
organisational goal. Increase capacity of adopt new methods and technologies- Technology increasing very
rapidly and it changing the way in which organisational operations are done. New
machines and innovation in marketing techniques being used for automation of existing
process. In order to keep up with the changes, to make use of technological advancement,
individuals must learn new techniques and methods (Woodcock, 2017). It can enable
employee's adoption ability and capacity of new methods and technologies that will not
just improve their work in organisation it will also improve their personality in personal
and help them out of the Unilever as well. It is beneficial for every individual to learn
new technologies and methods and implement it in their working style and it also
improves their day to day routine.
Cognitivism theory : Unilever uses cognitivism theory in its workplace in order to make its
individuals learn and gain innovative knowledge. Through this theory, company focuses on
improving mental ability of the personal instead of their physical development. By using this
theory, instructor motivates the individuals to improve their strategic thinking practices, he gives
them challenges improving their memories(Verkuil, Atasayi. and Molendijk, 2015). In this way,
this theory helps the Unilever in improving the mental ability of its employees and improve the
productivity of the whole workplace.
2. Evaluation of development plan vehicle available in Unilever
Development plan vehicle refers to variety of ways or programs through which company
cam develop the skills and knowledge of the individuals of the company in order to enhance their
capacity and efficiency. Individual development programs are needed to be performed by any
company so that they can retain the talents of every individual of the company along with giving
the individuals an opportunity to enhance their talent and skills for their own betterment.
Developing al the individuals of an organisation also provide help to the company in enhancing
the efficiency and capacity of the company as a whole(Baron. and Parent, 2015).
There are some vehicles available for the companies in order to develop all the
individuals of an organisation like:
 Training and development program : Unilever can organise training and development
programs for the employees of the company. It helps the company in developing the

skills and knowledge of its employees. At the time of innovation in the company, it is
necessary for the company to organise training and development programs in the business
organisation in order to give its employees knowledge about the innovation and develop
their skills accordingly.
Training and development program is beneficial for both employees and the company as
well. This program enables the employees to develop their skills, talent and also make
themselves updated towards the new innovated techniques which helps them to never be
underrated for their skills and knowledge. Also, organising training and development program
helps the company in developing the efficiency in its working of whole organisation(Zmud,
Balke. and Lukuc, 2017). Which results in enhancing its capacity and the profitability of the
organisation.
 Conferences : It refers to a meeting for consulting and discussion between the employees
and advisors. Conferences helps Unilever in making discussion among the employees and
the company's senior persons in order to discuss certain topics and finding better solution.
It leads to enhance the interest of individuals as it makes them feel that they are important
part of the company and their views are also important for the company.
When the employees of the company starts taking interest in the organisation, it enhances
the capacity of thinking of the individual and also discussion provides a lot of information to an
individual which leads to enhance their knowledge about certain topics. And also conference
helps Unilever in taking better decision for every problem as through conference, it gets a lot of
ideas from each individual attending the conference(Tornow. and London, 2015).
 Peer to peer communication : peer to peer communication leads to make two
individuals of same position help each other on a specific task with a desire of being
helpful for each other. Unilever provides peer to peer conversation to the employees
which helps the Unilever to enhance understanding among the employees, make the
employees to help each other and have healthy communication with each other. Peer to
peer communication helps the employees to enhance their own productivity as they
communicate their own problems with their colleagues and find its solution together. It
builds a healthy relationship among its employees and develop a helpful nature in them.
It creates a healthy culture and values within the organisation of Unilever which leads to
enhance the efficiency of an individual. Also, a helpful nature plays a major role in

development of an individual's personality. Therefore, it can be concluded that the peer to
peer communication is important vehicle of individual development.
 Self evaluation : It is the vehicle which involves self evaluation of individuals own
performance. Unilever encourages its employees to self evaluate themselves frequently.
Through this vehicle, employees identifies their own mistakes and areas where they can
bring improvement through their own efforts or any training (Zmud, Balke and Lukuc,
2017). This vehicle leads to identify opportunity of develop themselves which leads in
enhancing their own capacity and efficiency of work. Also, self evaluation helps the
employees to know their own exact position. Unilever asks their employees after a certain
period of time about the areas in which they want training and development program and
organises the program accordingly. In this way, this vehicle enables the company in
doing individual development of the employees(Ahmadi, Nami and Barvarz, 2014).
 Lectures : Unilever holds lectures by the professionals for its employees in order to
increase their knowledge about certain topics. Unilever asks some professionals to come
into their organisation and provide its employees knowledge about certain topics. It helps
the individual in gaining or enhancing their knowledge about some topics. It is beneficial
for the individual employees to update themselves regarding the latest knowledge and
skills in the market and increase their own capacity and efficiency(Dong, 2017).
 Innovative learning : Unilever organises innovative learning programs for its
employees. It makes the employees more excited about their learning new things as
through it, employees get an opportunity to enhance their knowledge in more entertaining
and innovative manner. It enhances the engagement of individuals in the learning
program which leads to increase their interest in gaining knowledge and make them to
learn more from the training program. Which is important for an individual development
(Lussier and Hendon, 2017).
 Setting goals for each individuals : Setting goals helps to enhance their capacity by
setting their target to be achieved within a set period of time. This can help as a self
motivator driver as, the employee is being self motivated to achieve their target within a
set time. It leads to increase their efficiency in work. It enables the company in
encouraging their strategies and improving them as well. Enhancement of efficiency is
always helpful in developing the individual. Therefore, this driver used by the company

also leads to enhance the individual's capacity and develop their skills and
talents(Weinberg and Locander, 2014).
 Professional development : professional development refers to providing training and
development program to the individual as per their profession or interest (Park, 2017). It
leads the company to set employee's professional goals as per their interest and field and
provide them training accordingly. When an individual gets training as per his interest, it
will lead to increase their interest for the training program. Which maximises the
probability of learning of the individuals. It is beneficial for both employees and
company. Because when the individual gets training of his own interest, it enhances its
interest for training and also getting training regarding one's own profession also helps in
developing their bright future. Also, when employee attend the training program with
interest in helps the company in performing training program successfully and increasing
the capacity of the company as a whole(Chapman, 2018).
 Group discussion : Unilever held group discussion of employees whenever it sticks into
a critical situation. It helps the company in getting different views for the same situation
and also different ideas in order to solve it (Employees Personal Development Vehicle,
2015). Discussing different ideas and views in the group discussion also provides pros
and cons of every solution and ideas which results in bringing the best result for the
critical situations.
Also, when the company discusses its critical situations with the employees and asks
them for the solution, it helps the individual to use his mind for more critical situations which
helps them in developing their mind for thinking in different directions at single time. This type
of mindset is important for an individual for its better future growth.
 Coaching : Unilever also hold coaching for its employees for the sake of their individual
development. A wide range of coaching positively impacts the individual development. It
gives the individual an opportunity of defining their career goals efficiently. It also
makes the individual engaged in the company which leads to make them contribute
towards the company's work more effectively. Coaching also provides individual an
opportunity to improve their skills and also learn things more deeply. It is beneficial for
the individual development(Romiszowski, 2016).

Through using the above development vehicles like providing coaching, setting
individual goals, conducting group discussion, conferences, etc. company can develop its
individuals for its better future growth.
For example; Unilever conduct coaching and training programs that help individual development
if they lack the knowledge of performing job or task. Organisation organise group discussion
regarding particular topic or key issues within the organisation.
3. Development of plan of Unilever to meet the identified development needs and expectations
of individuals
A plan to meet individual needs and expectations of individuals is as under:
Target Resources Strategies Timeline
Improving Healthy
work culture
Relationship
management
Unilever can adopt a
strategy like peer to peer
conversation, which
enables the company in
developing a positive and
helpful relationship among
the employees which will
definitely leads in
development of a healthy
culture within the business
organisation(Cunningham,
2017).
This strategy can be
successfully applied
within a period of 2
months.
Improving Individual
growth
Training and
development
program
Unilever can apply
professional development
strategy within the
organisation for the
purpose of individual
growth as this strategy
makes the company to
provide training to its
This strategy can be
successfully applied
within 3 months.