Task 1: Unveiling Unilever’s Talent Management Strategy

Unilever is a consumer goods company located in London, United Kingdom and Rotterdam, Netherlands and was founded in 1930[CITATION Mir11 p 20 l 1033 ]. It produces products like food, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. In Europe, it’s the seventh most valuable company, and the world’s largest producer of food spreads like margarine. The products of the company are available in about 190 countries hence one of the oldest multinational companies in the world. The company has three primary goals; improving health and well-being of the people, reducing impacts on the environment and enhancing livelihoods. This task is going to describe the Unilever talent management[ CITATION Uni12 l 1033 ].

Task 1

According to the compass strategy and sustainable living plan of Unilever company, there is a three-fold challenge which the company uses to identify the best talent, to be the best place to work and to ensure people perform to their best[CITATION Cha13 p 66 l 1033 ]. This is the people, place and performance according to the Human Resource vision of the company.

People

This represents how the company secures its talent. Examinations have been done on the kind of people the company has, quality, quantity, gaps and how to close the gaps. The company is focused on its future and how to double its revenue to 80 billion euros by identifying the skills, talent and culture[CITATION Ada14 p 50 l 1033 ]. The Human Resource management plays a very important role in ensuring the skills, talent and culture gaps are always covered. They do this to ensure the future of the company is not harmed.

Place

This is aimed at making the company the best place to work. The Human Resource vision of the Unilever company in this element is to ensure that there is a development in the company’s employee value proposition. The company being a marketing focused business, it’s expected to develop employee brand to ensure it is the best place to work. A new leadership programme that will ensure that the talent under development is connected to the future strategy and the business model of the company is in place. Since the company is operating in about 190 countries globally, it requires a broad marketing strategy and talent[CITATION Gra16 p 12 l 1033 ]. The company uses analytics to check the information in the different marketplaces it operates as well as maintaining the value proposition in its brand.

Performance

This is aimed at ensuring that people perform to their productive best. There is a lot of data collected by the company which is used in evaluating the talent of the employees. They start by examining the current skills and the expected skills in future, the skills of the Anthony with the services he provides and what the company need to cover as a function. Both individually and the entire function contains individual skill assessments and collective skill assessment covering the individual and collective gaps. This helps the company to know their current and future stand in three years’ time[CITATION Wil13 p 33 l 1033 ]. The valuing of the talent framework is viewed in three ways; the outcome of the business in terms of its profit and cash, the establishment of the role of talent inputs in the performance of the business and improvements in talent.

Task 2: Focusing on Mid and Long-term Market Forecasts and Human Resource Needs

Part 1

The Human resource management in the Unilever company do a focus on mid and long-term market forecasts and human resource needs. The managers carry out the forecasts so as remain and compete with their rivals in the market and this makes the company achieve its goals and objectives[CITATION Far10 p 80 l 1033 ]. They are also able to invest in talent and leadership for the company to achieve its objectives. The Human resource managers ensure that human rights are followed to the latter and that compliance with the rights is done through its assurance process. Hence it focuses on the human resource needs because the happiness of the employees leads to the success and growth of the company. The focus is also done to understand the concerns of employees in the whole world and introduce them to social activities.

Part 2

The Unilever company has developed a culture where employees are encouraged to work like business owners and entrepreneurs. The company has employed about 161000 people and equipped them with skills and leadership qualities. This has helped the company have the best talent creating long-term value to the company. There is a foreseeable gap in the human capital analysis because the growth of artificial capacity is affecting the work and there is more anxiety at work with the changing composition of the employees[CITATION Gen12 p 400 l 1033 ]. The capital analysis is that the managers of the company should be more fluid with the data and analytics they use so as to be successful in the next ten years. By using the wealth data about the people in the organization correctly, the company will be able to improve the productivity of the Human resource operations. The big data volume helps the Unilever Company to improve their plan of performance.

Part 3

By identifying the best talent in any company is important because it reduces the chances of dropouts and, resources used and expenses incurred. The best approach I would prefer in identifying new talent is a criteria-based approach[CITATION Rea11 p 320 l 1033 ]. The approach is discussed below;
Planning for the future

First I would understand the goals and objectives of the company and what it will require in future. I would also identify the leadership roles and positions of the top senior leadership in the company and its strategic needs. After identifying, purpose, priorities, needs and requirements are evaluated for each role identified. Timeframes and talent tools of leaders either recruited from outside or from within the company.

Task 3: The Role of Leadership and Adapting to Different National Cultures

I would then define high-potential criteria by looking at the necessary research, defining terms like potential, performance, readiness and fit so as to enhance an understanding at the organizational level. I would also specify the high-potential criteria for the company as a whole and roles in particular.
Making the high-potential criteria measurable

I would make the high-potential criteria I defined before measurable by using different assessment procedures to identify high-potential employees. One is buddy approach where the managers and senior leaders select high-potential employees. Another is manager appraisal approach where only the managers decide the high-potential employees. Lastly, I would also use a criteria-based approach where a criterion is developed which shows what the company is looking for in high-potential employees.

Identifying high-potential employees

This is the last procedure I will carry out which after defining and measuring, the high-potential employees are determined and selected[CITATION Rog12 p 200 l 1033 ]. I would then nominate, screen and assess the selected candidates based on the criteria and their performances.

The tools I would use to recruit the identified and selected candidates include; testing and assessment, al & automation, applicant tracking systems, recruitment CRM, video interviewing and human capital management software.

Part 1

Leadership is the act of leading people in any organization, institution or group to achieve goals and objectives. A leader sets a vision for the firm, guide and motivate the employees and builds their morale[ CITATION Per13 l 1033 ]. Leadership is vital for any firm, group, institution or government because it shapes how we live, play and work. It’s important because it makes the firm successful because it transforms potential into reality. Leadership brings about authority which enhances the high performance of the subordinates. The skill of leadership helps in attaining the goals and objectives of the organization[CITATION DuS13 p 1 l 1033 ].

In the case of Unilever Company, leadership is crucial because it helps the company achieve its goals as well as keeping the employees and the business work well. The leadership in Unilever is strategic and effective hence a choice for many people[CITATION Tid p 6 l 1033 ]. The strategic leadership help the company to enjoy the status of the best customer brand in the world. Because of the effective leadership, employees in this company feel that they are essential hence the success of the business. The hierarchical structure of administration in the Unilever company help in the flow of information and open communication thus attracting more talented employees globally[CITATION Sad12 p 78 l 1033 ].

Part 2

The company maintains the same storyline but adapt it to its different national markets by using analytics. They do this so as to make the story to be relevant to where the company has operations and also brings the power and scale of the company. The core of the brand is the same but activated to different markets. By doing this, they are able to collect data from the preferences of their employees and map these to the activities of high-potential recruits on the website of the company’s rivals[CITATION Uni12 p 8 l 1033 ]. The company has also developed a talent-branding machine that helps it to strategically position the employee value proposition in the many users registered on LinkedIn. By branding, the company has become the fast-moving consumer goods oriented business.

Part 3

Egypt is a very popular country and being the 4th largest economy in the MENA region, it has 84 million populations. Around 13% of the inhabitants of Egypt are unemployed lacking both career training and guidance[CITATION Dar10 p 110 l 1033 ]. This has made the vocational education and skills development in Egypt to have the highest priority. Where people can acquire employment in Egypt is the trade, insurance, tourism and finance sectors. To recruit talents for the country, the following guidelines are essential.
Narrowing of the talent sourcing

Many people in Egypt are unemployed, and hence they have to look for jobs where different candidates with different aspects like age, location and field of interest are sorted.

Task 4: Applying the Unilever Approach to Smaller Organizations and Designing Talent Management Strategy for Competitors

This is done by developing attractive job description which shows the duties and responsibilities of the job.

Building employer brand

This is done by developing a proof which will set the company as the pace to work while giving information on how it operates and how it’s the best to work in. This creates interest to the passive job seekers.

Setting up networking events

Most of the job seekers in Egypt put blames on the less access to networking opportunities in the country. By setting networking events, professionals will be brought together from different places.

Ensuring healthy salary and contract terms

By providing a healthy pay and contract terms, the country is able to improve the job quality hence retaining top talents that shape the business.

Focusing on real skills rather than the previous company

This is important because the job seeker focuses on the achievements and recognition of other people[CITATION Gon11 p 40 l 1033 ].

Considering fresh graduates

The challenge faced by job seekers in Egypt is how to enter the market with the little training. Hiring fresh graduates is essential because they are used to them , and they will be able to adapt to the new environment. The country is also ready to welcome fresh air and new perspectives.

This recruitment process does not work for the non-Arab nations because these nations are divided, and they hire temporary with low payments unlike in Egypt where the employment is permanent[CITATION Sad10 p 62 l 1033 ]. They don’t attract the talents the world offers to them. Their fear is that after employing outsiders, they will destroy their culture.

The Unilever is approach is essential for the smaller and less global organisations because the supply and distribution network of the company involve such organisations. The company is aimed at improving the livelihoods of the small organisations, their incomes and participation in the company’s value chain.

Talent management is the managing of employee lifecycle which starts with identifying the needs of the business then the talents from selected candidates and the identification and selection of candidates[CITATION Kha10 p 150 l 1033 ]. The talent management approach for a small Unilever competitor is discussed below.

A website where information from the workers who need help in a job search is collected.

Networking events for workers in job areas which are at risk[CITATION Thu13 p 5 l 1033 ].

Different webinars that make the employees familiar with other local organisations.

‘Office hours’ where the professionals offer advice on how to start a business.

Conclusion

This assignment has discussed the Unilever company which produces products like food, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. The task has explained how the vision of people, place and performance of the company works. We have reviewed the importance of leadership in the organization and how new talents are recruited and the tools involved in recruitment. Lastly, we have discussed the talent management approach for a small competitor of Unilever company.

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