Assignment

On
Human Resource Management
Topics: Recruiting system of a multinational company
(Unilever).

Prepared for:
Parul Akter
Course Teacher
Course Code: BBA 322

Prepared by the group:

Nusrat Jahan Epsi ID No. [Link]

Saif Muhammad Sazin ID No. [Link]
Farzana Rahman ID No. [Link]

Date of Submission: 08-01-11

School of Business
Ahsanullah University of Science &
Technology.
 Executive Summary

Unilever Limited is one of largest multinational business firm in the world.

Over the last four decades, Unilever Bangladesh has been constantly bringing
new and world-class products for the Bangladeshi people to remove the daily
drudgery of life. Over 90% of the country’s households use one or more of
our products. It provides sixteen verities brands and try to mitigate all types
of human demand by introducing with new innovative products.

Unilever Operations in Bangladesh provide employment to over 10,000

people directly and through its dedicated suppliers, distributors and service
providers. 99.5% of UBL employees are locals and they have equal number
of Bangladeshis working abroad in other Unilever companies as expatriates.
Unilever wants to attract the best graduates to join in their leadership actions.
This report enlightens what type of recruitment opportunities offered by
Unilever Bangladesh Limited for university students and how the students
can access that opportunity.

Unilever accomplish their recruitment and selection process basically into

three criteria. One is committed in distribution department where employs is
selected on their physical skilled and recruitment and selection process is
committed by competency based interview, case study interview, based on
case study materials, group discussion, again based on case study materials. It
is arranged for entry-level applicants. And in higher level job performer is
hired in “special people” job recruitment process. Special people who are
already perform within the organization or other relative organization and
promoted as a company’s core decision maker.
Unilever believe the people who work with us are confident of their
capabilities, believe in nothing less than star performances and of course are
not afraid to work hard at achieving goals.
 V
Table of contents
Page

Foreword II
Preface III
Executive Summary VI
1: Introduction
1.1: Background of the Study 9
1.2: Rational of the Study 9
1.3: Objective of the Study 9
1.4: Scope of the Study 10
1.5: Limitations of the Study 11
1.6: Methods 11
1.7: Report Preview 12

2: Organizational Part
2.1: The corporate objectives of Unilever Limited 14
 2.2: Corporate objectives of Unilever Bangladesh Limited 18
2.3: Beliefs and values of Unilever Bangladesh Limited 18
2.4: Major operational Department of Unilever Bangladesh Limited 20
2.5: Unilever Bangladesh Limited at a glance 27

3: Literature Review 31

4: Recruitment in Unilever Bangladesh Limited

4.1: Recruiters qualification 39
4.2: Methods of recruitment 40
4.3: Nature of Application form 42
4.4: Recruitment- Constrains and challenges 43

5: Analysis and Findings

5.1: The types of recruitment in Unilever Bangladesh Limited 48

5.2: The types of selection in Unilever Bangladesh Limited 48

5.3: The frequency of recruitment by Unilever Bangladesh Limited 48

5.4: Responses from the students (Institution) regarding MNC 48

6: Recommendation and Conclusion

6.1: Recommendation 46

6.2: Conclusion 46

BIBLIOGRAPHY 47

Appendix 47

Appendix-A: Tables

Appendix-B: Application Form

 01#
LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Definition of recruitment

Recruiting is the process of finding & attracting capable applicants for employment. The
process begins when new recruits are sought & ends when their applications are submitted.
The result is a pool of applicants from which new employees are selected.

According to Robins, “The ideal recruitment effort will attract a large no of qualified
applicants who will take the job if it is offered. A good recruiting program should attract the
qualified & not attract the unqualified. This dual objective will minimize the cost of
processing unqualified candidates”.

So recruiting is a process of discovering potential candidates for the actual or anticipated

organizational vacancies. Or from another perspective, it is a linking activity-bringing
together those with jobs to fill and those seeking jobs.

1.2 Factors Influencing Recruiting Effort

Although every organization engages in recruiting activity some do so to a much larger

extent than others.

a. Size:

Large organization with huge manpower will recruit much more than smaller
organization.

b. Employment condition:

In the community where the organization is located will influence how much recruiting
takes place.

c. The effectiveness of past recruiting effort:

It shows itself in the organization’s historical ability to locate and keep people who
perform well. If it is effective number of recruitment process will be few.

d. Working condition, salary & benefit package:

These influence need for turnover, therefore the future recruiting of the organizations.

31
 e. Growth of the organization:

Organizations that are not growing, or those that are actually decline, may find little
need to recruit. On the other hand, organizations that are growing rapidly will have
more need of recruiting.

1.3 Possible Constraints on Recruiting Process

The pool of qualified applicants may not have included the ‘best’ candidate or the ‘best’
candidate may not want to be employed by the organization. There are five possible
constraints which limit the manager’s freedom to recruit.

a. The image of the organization:

If the image perceived to be low, then the likelihood of attracting a large number of
applicants is reduced. Then the image of the organization, there for, should be
considered a potential constraint.
b. Attractiveness of job:

If the job is unattractive, recruiting a large & qualified pool of applicants will be
difficult for e.g. position for p.s. since these jobs traditionally appealed to females &
woman have a wider selection of job opportunities. It has resulted in a severe shortage
of secretarial jobs.
c. Internal organizational policies:

Internal organizational policies, such as “Promote from within wherever possible” will
give priority to individuals inside the organization. Such a policy will ensure that all
positions except entry level positions will be filled from within the ranks. Although this
is promising once one is hired, it may reduce the number of applicants.
d. Union requirements:

Union requirements also restrict recruiting sources. Union determines who can apply &
who has the priority in selection. It restricts management’s freedom to select the best
employees.
e. Government’s Influence:

The Governments influence in the recruiting process should not be overlooked. An

employer can no longer seek out preferred individuals based on non-job-related factors

32
 such as physical appearance, sex or religion background. Government may impose
restrictions on these matters.
f. Recruiting Cost:

Recruiting by an organization is expensive sometimes containing a search for long

period of time is not possible because of budget restrictions. So recruiting cost can be
one of the important constrain of recruiting efforts.

1.4 Recruiting Sources

Recruiting is more likely to achieve its objectives if recruiting sources reflect the type of the
position to be filled. Certain recruiting sources are more effective than others for filling
certain types of jobs. Mainly the sources can be divided into two ways. They are discussed
below:

1.4.1 Internal sources

Many large organizations will attempt to develop their own employees for positions
beyond the lowest level. Now some internal sources are discussed below:

a. Job posting:

Posting notice of job openings on company bulletins boards is an effective internal

recruiting method. It informs employees about openings & required qualifications &
invites qualified employees to apply. The notices usually posted on company bulletin
boards or electronic bulletin boards or are placed in the company newspaper.
Qualifications & other facts are drawn from the job analysis information. The types of
candidates may apply here in either of two ways-through (I) Self nomination and (II)
Recommendation of a supervisor, employees who are interested in the posted opening
report to the HR Department & apply.

b. Departing employees:

Departing employees are those who leave the organization because they can no longer
work the traditional forty-hour workweek, child care needs, education or others are the
common reasons. If this situation is occur then the employer use Buyback. Buyback

33
means when an employee resigns to take another jobs & the original employer outbids
the new job offer.

1.4.2 External sources

In addition to looking internally for candidates, it is customary for organizations to open

up recruiting efforts to the external community. These efforts are discussed below:

a. Advertisement:
When an organization wishes to communicate to the public that it has a vacancy
advertisement in one of the popular method used. Want ad describes the job, the
benefits and tells those who are interested how to apply. It is the most popular method.
It can be placed in the factory gate or widely dispersed. Normally blue color jobs are ad.
outside the plant gate. The higher the position, the more specified the skills, or the
shorter supply of resources in the labor force, the more widely dispersed the
advertisement is likely to be. The job analysis information is a major source of
information to place in the advertisement.
b. Employee referrals/recommendations:

Recommendation from a current employee. An employee will recommended if he

believe the individual can perform adequately. Employee referrals also may have
acquired more accurate information about their potential jobs. The recommender often
gives the applicant more realistic information about the job than could be conveyed
through employment agencies or newspaper advertisement.

c. Employment agencies:

We will describe three forms of employment agencies: Public or state agencies, Private
employment agencies, & managements consulting firm. The major difference between
these sources is the type of clientele served.

(i) Public agencies: It is designed both to help job seekers to find suitable
employment and to help employers to find suitable worker without any fee. The
individuals who are registered with the public agencies will get the unemployment
benefits. So it tends to attract & list individuals who are unskilled or have had minimum
training.
34
 (ii) Private agencies: Private agencies are believed to offer position & applications
of a higher caliber. The major difference between these two is there image. Private
agencies may also provide a more complete line of services. They may advertise the
position, initial screening, provide a guarantee. The private employment agency’s fee
can be totally absorbed by either the employer or the employee, or it can be split. It
depends on the demand-supply situation in the community involved.

(iii) Head hunters/Management consultant: It is special types of private employment

agencies. They specialize in mid-level, rare & important top level executive placement
of the reputed organizations. Fees are paid by the employer. It is considered as unethical
because they engage ‘stealing’. So it is called head hunters.

d. Temporary helps Service:

These types of different organization can be a source of employees when individuals are
needed on a temporary basis. Temporary employees are particularly valuable in meeting
short-term fluctuations in HRM needs. It does not provide recruits. They are a source of
supplemental workers. The temporary workers actually work for the agency. During
vacation and peak season-these agencies can be a better alternative.

e. Schools colleges & universities:

Whatever the educational level required for the job involves a high-school diploma,
specific vocational training, or a collage background with a bachelor’s, master’s, or
doctoral degree, educational institutions are an excellent source of potential employees.

f. Professional organizations:

It includes labor unions; operate placement services for the benefit of their members.
The Professional organizations include such varied occupations as industrial
engineering, psychology, accounting, legal, & academics. These organizations publish
rosters of job vacancies & distribute these lists to members.

35
 g. Employee leasing:

Whereas temporary come into an organization for a short-term project, leased

employees typically remain with an organization for long periods of time. Under a
leasing agreement, individuals work for the leasing firm. When an organization has a
need for specific employee skills, it contracts with the leasing firm to provide a certain
number of trained employees.

1.5 Selection

Selection is the process of select the best candidates for the job by using various tools and
techniques.

According to R.M. Hodgetts, “Selection is the process in which an enterprise chooses the
applicants who best meet the criteria for the available position.”

So we can conclude that, it is the process in which candidates for employment are divided
into two classes; those who are to be offered employment and those who are not.

1.6 Testing guideline

Some basic testing guidelines are followed in selection process which are:

a) Use tests as supplements

b) Validate the tests for appropriate jobs

c) Analyze all current hiring and promotion standards

d) Beware of certain tests

e) Use a certified psychologist

f) Maintain good test conditions

1.7 Definition of interview

Interviewing candidate is a potential screening tool that gives an opportunity to make

judgment on the candidates’ enthusiasm & intelligence & to access subjective aspects of the
candidates’ facial expression, appearance, nervousness & so forth & to predict future job
36
performance on the basis of the obtained information. Interview gives you a chance to
size up the candidate personally and to pursue questioning in a way that test cannot.

1.8 Types of Interview

Interviews can be classified as:-

a) Structured interview
b) Unstructured interview.
c) Semi structured interview

a) Structured interview:

It is known as directive interview. It is an interview following a set of question &

response are specified in advance.

b) Unstructured interview:

It is known as non-directive interview. It is an unstructured conversational- style

interview. Question is asked as they come to mind. It allows the interviewer to ask
follow-up questions, based on the candidate’s last statement.
c) Semi structured interview:
Semi structured interview involves some planning on the part of the interviewer
but also allows flexibility in precisely what the interviewer asks candidates.
 02#
RECRUITMENT IN UNILEVER BANGLADESH
LIMITED
2.1: Recruiters qualification
Recruiting is the process of finding & attracting capable applicants for employment. The process begins
when new recruits are required & ends when their applications are submitted. The result is a pool of
applicants from which new employees are selected.

Manager becomes involves in this process. However in large organization, like the Unilevers Bangladesh
specialists are often used to find & attract capable analyst they are called recruiters.

First, Unilever is such a big organization that requires huge man power every year for its always boosting
operations in various level and arena. However for common business operations they need

Three type of manpower

1. Fresh graduates as knowledge worker,

2. Specialist experienced people for special purpose
3. People for Skilled and labor based events

So in our discussion we will focus on all the three types.

Fresh graduates as knowledge worker

Commonly we discuss and learn major about this level recruitment and selection. The fresh graduates’
recruitment is in fact the main and major recruitment event for Unilever.

From across the country they get people for their recruitment. The universities in the country provide the
people to be knowledge worker in big organizations like unilever and such. For this they highly suit the
business graduates Passed from reputed business school or institutes both from country and from abroad.
The discussion is now designed as to the following four terms:

1. Personnel planning and vacancy announcement

2. Nature of Application form
3. Recruiters qualification
4. channels of recruitment
5. Recruitment- Constraints and challenges
2.1.1Personnel planning and vacancy announcement

Human Resource department headed by The HRM, receives data about need of personnel, the vacancy
information is then analyzed by HRM in collaboration with the finance department with financial
feasibility of the recruitment. After judging the feasibility the approved number of vacancies is informed
to the job market through strong mass media. As means of media they use

39
 • The internet,
• Online based job portals
• English and bangla news paper
• On campus recruitment
• From Intern inventory.

2.1.2 Recruiters’ qualification

Recruitment qualification for entry-level employees:

• You must be graduated within less than three years, or will graduate within the next
12 months form a reputable university.
• You must be within 28 years of age.

Recruitment qualification for labor based task:

• You must physically fit and skilled in the particular task.

2.2: Methods of recruitment

2.2.1 Recruitment channel

Normally we know about two types of recruitment channel those are

1. External recruitment channel

2. Internal recruitment channel

1. External recruitment channel

When job openings cannot be filled internally, the HR department must look outside the
organization and basically for UBL, recruitment of fresh graduates is done through this means.

There are 8 ways for external recruitment in the UBL, which occurs in direct or indirectly for
various level of recruitment. Those are-

1. Walks- ins and write- ins

2. Employee referrals
3. Advertising
4. Private placement agencies & Professional search firms
5. Educational institutions & Professional associates
6. International recruitment
40
1. Walks- ins and write- ins

Walks in are job seekers who arrive at the HR department in search of a job; write ins are
those who send a written inquiry. Both groups normally are asked to complete an application
blank to determine their interests and abilities. Usable applications arte kept in an active file
until a suitable opening occurs at the UBL. These occurs mainly for skill based labor worker
and for part time project jobs or contract basis program implementing or running job

2. Employee referrals

For lower level workers, Unilever follow the employee referrals procedures. This is the
procedures when existing employees refer one new and the new is considered to be further
judgment. For various daily operations like travelling the product carry and collecting small
market revenue. UBL needs trustworthy root level worker. They, so follow here the reference
of other employee in the organization so that guarantee’ performs securely.

3. Advertising

UBL next to employee referrals in fact for fresh graduates majorly follow the advertisement
procedure for recruiting purposes. They advertise in the reputed English and Bengali National
papers. They also use the internet for online application.

For the online recruitment the applicants get Tracking Number that is a unique number
automatically generated by the Online System at the time of CV submission. The applicant
provides the password at the time of filling the CV Form. Both the Tracking Number and
Password will be needed if one wants to edit/update ones CV Online. To updating the CV is
enough, entering the tracking number and password after clicking at the "Update CV" link at the
Unilever Bangladesh Career Page.

[Online down loadable form address is added at the end of the report the]

4. Private placement agencies & Professional search firms:

Unilever use several privet placement and human resource management assisting firm for
their recruitment those are

1. The Consumer that works in the Dhaka [[Link]]

2. The intellectual property right organization Bangladesh [[Link]]
3. [Link] Dhaka [[Link]]

41
5. Educational institutions & Professional associates

More over the organization takes its manpower from the universities and educational
institutions across the country. The nationwide universities and its important institutes
provide the potential graduates as the employee of the organization. Unilever does the same
job with the business schools of the country, other discipline fresh graduates and especial IT
and engineering graduates passed from reputed engineering universities of the country.

From discussion with HRM it was known that their preferred institutions range from IBA,
BUET, DU, KU, BRAC U, NSU, AIUB, JU, to Chittagong University and such. Again this
university campus is often headed by often a panel of associates. The Professor of these
institutes who work for ULB refers or primarily places the recruitee to central HRM.

6. International recruitment

Sometimes, especially in importance of cases international recruitment occurs in ULB.

However such rare events happen if the candidate stays in abroad or are working in
international company on foreign land. Another within the organization recruitment in most
senior post occurs with international recruitment process. The process is done through E-
recruitment. Such case occurs in inter sub continental recruitment of UNILEVER World.

2.2.2 Internal recruitment channel

Current employees are a major source of recruits for all but entry - level positions of unilever
Bangladesh ltd. Whether for promotions or for lateral job transfers, internal candidates already –
know the already informal organization and have detail information about its formal policies. In
fact for unilever this short of recruitment is occurred only with especial purpose experienced
employee recruitment. It is frequently occurred in the Brand Management department. For senior
posts in Brand Management, employees’ recruitment takes channel through the internal human
resource inventory

Job posting programs happens in the way that the Regional Sales Manager RSM in Khulna is
newly appointed on Dhaka as the sales chief.

2.3: Nature of Application form

After getting information, huge applicants apply for Unilever’s entry level posts. The posts are designed
with different title for different branch of operation like earlier stated 6 departments for operation -

Brands & Development, Supply Chain management, Human Resources, Finance,

Information Technology, Customer Management.

42
The application forms are produced over internet on online as well printed copies to campus of
different institute. For all the levels the form are alike. Interested candidate for different branch
will mention the interested field

In the online there are 2 different forms one for entry levels another for experienced people. A
dummy of application form collected from the internet will be produced at the end of the report.

They take some help from consumer mark ltd. A human resource management and marketing
assisting organization of Bangladesh for their customized needs of recruitment and selection.

2.4 Recruitment : constraints and challenges

Recruiters face such common constraints which are:

a. Biasness:

Most of the time, the organization’s employers try to appointment their relatives, familiar
person.

b. Recruiter habit

A recruiter’s past success can lead to certain habits. Admittedly habits can eliminate
time-consuming decisions that yield the same answers, but habit may also continue past
mistakes or avoid more effective alternatives.

c. Competition of talent

There is a lack of vast talent people in Bangladesh for the special task. The potential job
applicants most of the time can’t meet up Unilever requirement. Few talent guys who has
already appointed with other multinational company. And unilever need to compete with
other multinational organization to hire skilled manpower.

d. Job requirement

People with greater experience usually require a higher level of job. In our country, there
are vast population but they are not so skilled in working with hard labor. They feel
comfort flexible job like government job. So Unilever Bangladesh can’t fulfill their
requirement in all time.
 03#
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
3.1: The types of recruitment in Unilever Bangladesh Limited

Unilever follow three type of recruitment process, which are:

• Fresh graduates as knowledge worker,
• Specialist experienced people for special purpose
• People for Skilled and labor based events

3.2: The types of selection in Unilever Bangladesh Limited

Unilever follow some selection evaluation test to select the best candidate, which are:
• Employment test
• Assessing candidate through interview
• Cognitive ability test
• Physical ability test

3.3: The frequency of recruitment by Unilever Bangladesh Limited

Unilever Bangladesh Limited accomplish their recruitment process depends on created

vacancy. However, we see a common phenomena that Unilever Bangladesh arranges
recruitment activities twice a year when students passes from various institutes based on
their completion of 6 moth semesters.

3.4: Responses from the students (Institution) regarding MNC

In our survey, we point out that most of the business graduate students have a dream
to join a prominent multinational company. It is mean from the selection ratio or
applicant ratio’s fresh graduates hold the mentality to join prominent multinationals
and Unilever is one of the best choices.
 04#
RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reference Books

 Human Resorce Management, Fisher Schoenfeldt Shaw, 6 th edition, Houghton

Miffin Company, 2006.
th
 Dessler Gary, Human resource management, 10 edition, Prentice Hall, New
Jersey, 2005

th
 Davis Keith & werther William, Human resource Management, 5 edition,
McGraw Hall, North America, 1996

Report

Annual report 2008-2009, Unilever Bangladesh Limited.

Internet

[Link]
[Link]
[Link]

Special Thanks:

 Brands & Development Director, Mr Naushad Chowdhury

 Customer Development Director Mr. Mizanur Rashid,
 HR Manager Mr Ferdaus Yousuf
47