Unilever HRM case study

FLEXIBLE WORKING INTRODUCING ANNUALIZED HOURS AND 24-HOURS WORKING HRM - Unilever

# HRM - Unilever

THE COMPANY
Global company
2007 turnover : €40 billion
174 000 people in around 100 countries
Home & personal care
4 major businesses ( Cooking & eating, Healthy living, Beauty & style , Household activities )
HRM - Unilever

A PORTFOLIO OF AROUND 400 BRANDS HRM - Unilever

FLEXIBLE WORKING
What were the challenges that Unilever had to manage ?
Which methods did they use ?
Annualization;
24-hours working ;
The newest organizational set up.
HRM - Unilever

CONSIDERATIONS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WHEN CHANGING WORKING TIMES HRM - Unilever

ANSWERING MAIN CHANGES
Several National Markets
Specialized products and tastes
Each factory producing most of the products
Local markets with no competitors
One single European Market
Standardised products
One product in each plant
Direct competition btw factories in Europe
New HR strategy
HRM - Unilever

KEY HR STRATEGY CONSIDERATIONS HRM - Unilever

METHODS TO MANAGE CHANGES
The « New Horizons » Plan (1991)
Collective bargaining,
Teamwork,
For a consensual approach to a change management
HRM - Unilever

WHY INTRODUCE ANNUAL HOURS
All companies
Reduce weelky planning
Control overtime
Emphasis with seasonal changes
To maximise productivity
Cope with new technology
To harmonise terms and conditions of employment.
Unilever
To adapt to a new political context and thus a global market
HRM - Unilever REASONS FOR :

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
Annual hours can provide :
For employers
greater employee flexibility
reduce overtime
maximize productivity and efficiency.
What does effectively happen :
For employers
No overtime anymore
Greater flexibility
Banked hours :
(+) Harmonization and greater control
(-) Paying for unworked hours
HRM - Unilever

Annual hours can provide :
For employees
improvement of the basic salary and progress within employee status.
But can reduce their freedom to plan their leisure.
What does effectively happen :
For employees
Banked hours :
(-) Employees are obliged to work those hours / Before : volontary (no more freedom of choice)
(-)« Caravan culture »
=) Demotivation
=) Less family friendly
HRM - Unilever

A NEW ORGANIZATION
1992 : 24h Working Plan
HRM - Unilever

WHY INTRODUCING 24 HOURS WORKING ?
All companies
Optimizes production lines
Stretches time contraints
Attracts part time workers
Unilever
Effective answer to the new production processes
HRM - Unilever REASONS FOR :

THE IMPLEMENTATION
Possibilities
Rotating shifts
Fixed shifts for nigths & days
Unilever choices
Rotating work patterns
Why :
Avoid lower quality production
Avoid double corporate culture
HRM - Unilever

FROM ATKISON’S POINT OF VIEW HRM - Unilever CORE PERIPHERY

All companies
For employers
(-) Create 2 cultures
(+) Optimazation of production lines
For employees
Enable more jobs for those interested in other work patterns
What does effectively happen ?
For employers
(-) Physiological (quality product and output)
For employees
(-) Have a compulsary rotating planning : less family friendly
HRM - Unilever

SYNTESIS HRM - Unilever Temporal Flexi-time X Shift work Fixed Rotated X Over-time Numerical Temporary workers Part time and job sharing Functionnal Multiskilled X

HOW TO MASTER A PLANNED WORKING TIME SYSTEM HRM - Unilever

LABOUR MARKET
SOCIAL FACTORS
Unemployment rate
Competitors
Overtime cost
Forecasting demand
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Technological changes
Family patterns (single parents…)
HRM - Unilever

A new HR strategy :«Working Smart»
‘ Work Smart’ strategy simplifies the organisation by :
1st Level : Simplifying work and enabling better time management
2 nd Level : Operating within the business at a team level
3rd level : simplifying work in terms of organisational processes and employee engagement.
Unilever’s HR function is now structured into relevant HR components ( shared services, center of expertise & business partners )
Extracts of « Unilever’s approach to leveraging HR » in http://www.humanresourcesmagazine.com.au
HRM - Unilever

CONCLUSION
Charles Darwin
« It is not the strongest of the species
that survives, nor the most intelligent,
but those most responsive to changes ».
New HR strategies need time to be integrated by employees
There is not one perfect HR strategy
Take into account relevant criteria to implement and achieve a new strategy
HRM - Unilever

HRM - Unilever

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Unilever HRM case study

by Vincent Bogaers on Feb 02, 2009

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