12/27/2010

RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS IN

UNILEVER BANGLADESH LIMITED

Prepared for
Prof. Dr. Shahid U. Ahmed
EM529: Human Resource Management
Prepared By
Md. Jubair Bin Kibria - 3-09-17-022
December 26, 2010

Dr. Shahid U. Ahmed

Professor, Department of Management Studies,

Faculty of Business Studies,

University of Dhaka

Dear Sir,
Subject: Submission of a report.

With due regards and respect I state that I am very thankful to you as you assigned us this
report on ‘‘Recruitment and Selection Process”. It is a great opportunity for me to acquire
theoretical and practical knowledge about recruitment and selection process of a reputed
multinational organization like Unilever Bangladesh Limited. I have tried my best to gather what
I believe to be the most complete information available.

Your kind acceptance and any type of appreciation would surely inspire me. I would always be
available and ready to explain further any of the context of the whenever asked.

Sincerely yours,

……………………….
Md. Jubair Bin Kibria

ID: 3-09-17-022

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Acknowledgement
In any comprehensive work, like this, credit must go to the large number of people. I have
taken help from different people for preparing my report. Now here is a little effort to show our
deep graduate to those helpful people.

First, we commit ourselves grateful to Allah for his unlimited kindness and maximum helpful
hand in continuing our report preparation.

I express my sincere gratitude to my honorable course supervisor, Dr. Shahid U. Ahmed,

Professor, Department of Management Studies, Faculty of Business Studies, University of Dhaka
for his guidance and valuable remark about the convention of the report. Moreover, I am also
very much obliged to Ferdaus Yousuf, H.R. Manager, Dhaka and Mr. Shoaib Ahmed,
Recruitment Officer, Head-office, Dhaka for their openhearted closeness and helpful co-
operation for collecting our necessary information to prepare our required report.

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Table of contents
1.1. Background of the Study ................................................................................................................... 9
1.2. Objective of the Study ...................................................................................................................... 9
1.2.1 Primary Objective...................................................................................................................... 9
1.2.2 Secondary Objective ................................................................................................................. 9
1.3. Scope of the Study .......................................................................................................................... 10
1.4. Methods .......................................................................................................................................... 10
1.4.1 Primary sources....................................................................................................................... 11
1.4.2 Secondary sources .................................................................................................................. 11
1.5. Report Preview................................................................................................................................ 11
2.1 The corporate objectives of Unilever Limited................................................................................. 12
2.1.1 Top ten facts ........................................................................................................................... 12
2.1.2 Code of business principles ..................................................................................................... 13
2.2 The corporate objectives of Unilever Bangladesh Limited ............................................................. 16
2.3 Beliefs and values of Unilever Bangladesh Limited ........................................................................ 17
2.3.1 Unilever’s beliefs ..................................................................................................................... 17
2.3.2 Unilever’s values ..................................................................................................................... 17
2.4 Major operational Department of Unilever Bangladesh Limited ................................................... 19
2.4.1 Career in Brands & Development ........................................................................................... 19
2.4.2 Careers in Supply Chain management .................................................................................... 21
2.4.3 Career in Human Resources .................................................................................................... 23
2.4.4 Career in Finance .................................................................................................................... 23
2.4.5 Career in Information Technology .......................................................................................... 24
2.4.6 Career in Customer Management .......................................................................................... 25
2.5 Unilever Bangladesh Limited at a glance ........................................................................................ 26
2.5.1 Type of business ...................................................................................................................... 26
2.5.2 Operations............................................................................................................................... 26
2.5.3 Constitution............................................................................................................................. 27
2.5.4 Product categories .................................................................................................................. 27
2.5.5 Unilever brands ....................................................................................................................... 27

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 2.5.6 Manufacturing facilities .......................................................................................................... 28
2.5.7 Employees ............................................................................................................................... 28
3.1 Definition of recruitment ................................................................................................................ 29
3.2 Factors Influencing Recruiting Effort .............................................................................................. 29
3.3 Possible Constraints on Recruiting Process .................................................................................... 30
3.4 Recruiting Sources .......................................................................................................................... 31
3.4.1 Internal sources....................................................................................................................... 31
3.4.2 External sources ...................................................................................................................... 32
3.5 Selection.......................................................................................................................................... 35
3.6 Testing guideline ............................................................................................................................. 35
3.7 Definition of interview .................................................................................................................... 35
3.8 Types of Interview........................................................................................................................... 36
4.1 Recruiters qualification ................................................................................................................... 37
4.1.1 Personnel planning and vacancy announcement ................................................................... 38
4.1.2 Recruiters’ qualification .......................................................................................................... 38
4.2 Methods of recruitment ................................................................................................................. 39
4.2.1 Recruitment channel ............................................................................................................... 39
4.2.1.1 External recruitment channel ............................................................................................. 39
4.2.1.2 Internal recruitment channel .............................................................................................. 41
4.3 Nature of Application form ............................................................................................................. 41
4.4 Recruitment: constraints and challenges ....................................................................................... 42
5.1 Reception of application ................................................................................................................. 44
5.2 Evaluating reference and biographical data ................................................................................... 44
5.3 Employment test ............................................................................................................................. 44
5.4 Assessing candidate through interview .......................................................................................... 45
5.5 Cognitive ability test ....................................................................................................................... 45
5.6 Physical ability test.......................................................................................................................... 45
5.7 Work samples.................................................................................................................................. 46
5.8 Hiring decision................................................................................................................................. 46
5.1 Recommendation............................................................................................................................ 47
5.2 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 47
6.1 The types of recruitment in Unilever Bangladesh Limited ............................................................. 48

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6.2 The types of selection in Unilever Bangladesh Limited .................................................................. 48
6.3 The frequency of recruitment by Unilever Bangladesh Limited ..................................................... 48
6.4 Responses from the students (Institution) regarding MNC ............................................................ 48

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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 toil 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 Bangladesh is 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 look for passionate people who want to do real business and have the potential to be
highly motivated by brands, and are enthusiastic, creative and rigorous. They want people who
are hungry for success and can work confidently in teams.

Unilever creates an environment where people with energy, creativity and commitment work
together to fulfill ambitious goals. In addition, they all work to the highest standards of
professional excellence and integrity.

Most career areas are open to graduates of any discipline, although there are some exceptions.
If you know which area interests you, great – but it’s good to keep an open mind and find out
about all the opportunities they offer.

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

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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 Bangladesh has a certain connection with the consumers. Among others, Closeup
inspires confidence, Lux believes in star power and Surf Excel encourages all to learn through
new discovery and exploration. Unilever believe in all these insights as well. They 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.

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study

Successful human resource department makes it possible for the organization to acquire the
number and types of people necessary to ensure the continued operation of the organization
by the recruitment and selection process. So it acts an important role in HR department. As a
part of BBA program, my Human Resource Management course supervisor Dr. Shahid U.
Ahmed assigned me to prepare a report on recruitment and selection process in a multinational
organization as related topic on Human Resource Management course. I have selected our
report topic as “Recruitment and Selection process in Unilever Bangladesh Ltd.”. I have
collected required information internet, blogs, forums and official website of Unilever
Bangladesh and contact with Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. head office. We have prepared our
report on January 13, 2008 which will be submitted by January 14, 2008.

1.2. Objective of the Study

I have prepared this report based on two purposes. They are -

1.2.1 Primary Objective

The report aims to provide information on the procedures of Recruitment and Selection
techniques followed by the UBL through HR department.

1.2.2 Secondary Objective

a) Unilever is one of the world greatest consumer goods companies. The report is strongly
informed with how this multi-local multi-national company conducts the aptitude and
psychometric for a candidate and how it helps them to get objective, reliable and relevant
information on candidates.

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b) Unilever always try to add variety in life. At Unilever they have created an environment
where people with energy, creativity and commitment work together to fulfill ambitious
goals. This report helps us to know how the selection process of a candidate leads him to
become leader.
c) Selection is the last step for hiring a right employee. In Unilever Bangladesh Limited, the
selection board lasts for an entire day and covers a wide range of activities for fulfilling this
post. By studying the report, we will know what type of activities they arrange for the entire
day to get the final candidate.
d) 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.

1.3. Scope of the Study

There is a certain boundary to cover this report. Our particular report only covers recruitment
and selection process in Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. I mainly focus on entry-level recruitment and
selection process in Unilever Bangladesh. I addition I also cover executive and higher-level
employs’ recruitment and selection process. I have communicated with Unilever Bangladesh
Ltd. HR department in Dhaka and able to collect some valuable information as well as we
gathered information through internet Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. official web-site. Moreover I
got some confidential information which is not possible to disclose publicly, so those data and
information had to be ignored for this report.

1.4. Methods

For making any report most of the data should be taken that reflect actual situation. For our
report we have collected various types of primary and secondary data. In a disciplined way we
can say that the report input were collected from two sources

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1.4.1 Primary sources

Face to face conversation with Ferdaus Yousuf, H.R. Manager, Dhaka and Mr. Shoaib Ahmed,
Recruitment Officer, Head-office, Dhaka for collecting information.

1.4.2 Secondary sources

I. Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. official web-site

II. Annual Reports
III. Prospectus
IV. Brochures

1.5. Report Preview

In the following pages, the report is prepared for the practical knowledge about recruitment
and selection process. First I have drawn an overall picture of Unilever Bangladesh Limited.
Then, I tried to point out recruiters’ qualification, recruitment method and recruitment
constrains and challenges of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. After that I have described selection
process in Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. Finally, I have accumulated the findings, analysis based on
them and draw a conclusion and given some recommendations for future steps.

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CHAPTER 2
ORGANIZATIONAL PART
2.1 The corporate objectives of Unilever Limited

Unilever's mission is to add vitality to life. They meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and
personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good, and get more out of life.

2.1.1 Top ten facts

 Their worldwide turnover in 2003 was €42,942 million.

 Unilever employ 234,000 people in around 100 countries worldwide.
 Every day, 150 million people choose their brands to feed their families and to clean
themselves and their homes.
 Over half of their sales are generated by their Foods brands, which include Knorr,
Flora/Becel, Hellmann's, Lipton, Iglo / BirdsEye / Findus, Rama / BlueBand, Slim·Fast,
Bertolli and the ice cream 'heart' brand.
 In many parts of the world they lead the home care market with brands such as Omo,
Surf, Skip, Cif and Comfort.
 Their leading personal care brands include Dove, Lux, Sunsilk, Pond's, Axe/Lynx and
Rexona.
 In 2003 they spent €1,065 million on research and development - 2.5% of their turnover.
 They spent over €66 million on a wide range of community projects in 2003, equivalent
to 1.5% of pre-tax profits.
 At the end of 2003, they were buying more than half their fish from sustainable sources.
They have 114 manufacturing sites certified to the international environmental
management standard, ISO 14001.

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2.1.2 Code of business principles

Standard of conduct

Unilever conduct its operations with honesty, integrity and openness, and with respect for the
human rights and interests of their employees. They shall similarly respect the legitimate
interests of those with whom they have relationships.

Obeying the law

Unilever companies and their employees are required to comply with the laws and regulations
of the countries in which they operate.

Employees

Unilever is committed to diversity in a working environment where there is mutual trust and
respect and where everyone feels responsible for the performance and reputation of their
company. Unilever will recruit, employ and promote employees on the sole basis of the
qualifications and abilities needed for the work to be performed. They are committed to safe
and healthy working conditions for all employees. They will not use any form of forced,
compulsory or child labour. They are committed to working with employees to develop and
enhance each individual’s skills and capabilities. They respect the dignity of the individual and
the right of employees to freedom of association. They will maintain good communications
with employees through company based information and consultation procedures.

Consumers

Unilever is committed to providing branded products and services which consistently offer
value in terms of price and quality, and which are safe for their intended use. Products and
services will be accurately and properly labeled, advertised and communicated.

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Shareholders

Unilever will conduct its operations in accordance with internationally accepted principles of
good corporate governance. They will provide timely, regular and reliable information on their
activities, structure, financial situation and performance to all shareholders.

Business partners

Unilever is committed to establishing mutually beneficial relations with their suppliers,

customers and business partners. In their business dealings they expect their partners to
adhere to business principles consistent with their own.

Community involvement

Unilever strives to be a trusted corporate citizen and, as an integral part of society, to fulfill
their responsibilities to the societies and communities in which they operate.

Public activities

Unilever companies are encouraged to promote and defend their legitimate business interests.
Unilever will co-operate with governments and other organizations, both directly and through
bodies such as trade associations, in the development of proposed legislation and other
regulations which may affect legitimate business interests. Unilever neither supports political
parties nor contributes to the funds of groups whose activities are calculated to promote party
interests.

The environment

Unilever is committed to making continuous improvements in the management of their

environmental impact and to the longer-term goal of developing a sustainable business.
Unilever will work in partnership with others to promote environmental care, increase
understanding of environmental issues and disseminate good practice.

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Innovation

In its scientific innovation to meet consumer needs they will respect the concerns of their
consumers and of society. They will work on the basis of sound science, applying rigorous
standards of product safety.

Competition

Unilever believes in vigorous yet fair competition and supports the development of appropriate
competition laws. Unilever companies and employees will conduct their operations in
accordance with the principles of fair competition and all applicable regulations.

Business integrity

Unilever does not give or receive, whether directly or indirectly, bribes or other improper
advantages for business or financial gain. No employee may offer, give or receive any gift or
payment which is, or may be construed as being, a bribe. Any demand for, or offer of, a bribe
must be rejected immediately and reported to management. Unilever accounting records and
supporting documents must accurately describe and reflect the nature of the underlying
transactions. No undisclosed or unrecorded account, fund or asset will be established or
maintained.

Conflicts of interests

All Unilever employees are expected to avoid personal activities and financial interests which
could conflict with their responsibilities to the company. Unilever employees must not seek
gain for themselves or others through misuse of their positions.

Compliance - monitoring - reporting

Compliance with these principles is an essential element in their business success. The Unilever
Board is responsible for ensuring these principles are communicated to, and understood and
observed by, all employees. Day-to-day responsibility is delegated to all senior management of
the categories, regions, functions and operating companies. They are responsible for

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implementing these principles, if necessary through more detailed guidance tailored to local
needs. Assurance of compliance is given and monitored each year. Compliance with the Code is
subject to review by the Board supported by the Audit Committee of the Board and the
Unilever Executive Committee.

2.2 The corporate objectives of Unilever Bangladesh Limited

At the heart of the corporate purpose, which guides Unilever Bangladesh in its approach to
doing business, is the drive to serve consumers in a unique and effective way. This purpose has
been communicated to all employees worldwide.

Unilever Bangladesh deep roots in local cultures and markets around the world give them its
strong relationship with consumers and are the foundation for their future growth. It will bring
its wealth of knowledge and international expertise to the service of local consumers – a truly
multi-local multinational.

Unilever Bangladesh long-term success requires a total commitment to exceptional standards

of performance and productivity, to working together effectively, and to a willingness to
embrace new ideas and learn continuously.

To succeed also requires, they believe, the highest standards of corporate behavior towards
everyone they work with, the communities they touch, and the environment on which they
have an impact.

This is their road to sustainable, profitable growth, creating long-term value for their
shareholders, their people, and their business partners.

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2.3 Beliefs and values of Unilever Bangladesh Limited

2.3.1 Unilever’s beliefs

Unilever believe "Dirt is Good." Not surprisingly they are looking for people who aren't afraid to
get their hands dirty.

All their brands at Unilever Bangladesh have a certain connection with the consumers. Among
others, Closeup inspires confidence, Lux believes in star power and Surf Excel encourages all to
learn through new discovery and exploration. They believe in all these insights as well. They
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.

2.3.2 Unilever’s values

Their diversity as a business helps them understand their richly diverse consumers. But as a
team, they have common values and a shared set of management capabilities. Here’s what
they are:

Passion to win

Because you have the energy and drive to improve business results, you overcome obstacles
and are prepared to take risks. You look for new opportunities and are never satisfied with the
status quo.

Business focus

You never lose sight of the needs of consumers and customers. You understand how they are
affected by trends and use this knowledge to create value.

Intellectual skills

You see the 'big picture' and can make an objective analysis of what needs to be done before
taking action to get there. You're creative; you explore new approaches and are alert to new
trends and patterns.

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People skills

Your leadership style inspires others to raise their standards and achieve ambitious goals.
You're adept at influencing and gaining support from colleagues. You're keen to understand
others and are an effective team player, with a commitment to team objectives rather than
your own interests.

Integrity

You have integrity. You're prepared to stand up for your own convictions and values, and take
difficult decisions that challenge the norm. You're able to learn from your mistakes and
successes.

Working with Unilever

At Unilever people with energy, creativity and commitment work together to fulfill ambitious
goals. The passion of their people is their greatest strength. At Unilever, they work together to
the highest standards of professional excellence and integrity to make a difference to people's
everyday lives.

People first

As a business, they consistently rank among the world's most admired employers and have a
reputation for putting people first. That’s because they provide opportunities for all their
people to pursue their careers goals, develop professionally and maintain a healthy balance
between their professional and personal lives. They’re committed to their people because they
recognize that their strength comes from their energy and passion. And they believe that
diversity makes us stronger, through individuals working together to deliver outstanding
results.

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Multi-local multinational

Their business activities reach right around the world, with their local companies focusing on
their local markets and communities. Their commitment to developing strong local businesses
makes Unilever unique – and it’s why they call themselves the ‘multi-local multinational’.

2.4 Major operational Department of Unilever Bangladesh Limited

There are many operational departments where many people can make their careers within
and in this section you can find out more about them.

1. Career in Brands & Development

2. Careers in Supply Chain management
3. Career in Human Resources
4. Career in Finance
5. Career in Information Technology
6. Careers in Customer Management

2.4.1 Career in Brands & Development

Create, develop and present the brand so memorably that it stands out against fierce
competition in the marketplace.

Career in Brands

Brand Building careers are for marketing professionals who would like to take innovative leads
and gain their share of the consumers’ wallet in the local marketplace.

Building the Brand

Brand Management is an exciting profession where one is responsible for the growth and
profitability of the brand. The job lies in building and presenting a brand so memorably that it
stands out against fierce competition in the marketplace. Gathering deep consumer insight,
Brand Managers identify and define brand personality. On the one hand they look after the

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brands on a daily basis: planning and organizing activities that boost their image and increase
their exposure. The job becomes all the more challenging in maintaining leadership positions in
a competitive market, as at Unilever Bangladesh most of their brands are market leaders.

Understand consumer trends

Unilever identifies consumer trends regionally and Brand Managers have to work with those
insights and build the brand for the local markets

An exciting interaction with consumers

Presenting the exciting Unilever Brands to the local market, the Brand managers work with
regional development teams to bring more exciting brands to the market, covering a range of
innovation activities across the entire portfolio.

Unilever Development team explores new ideas by gaining consumer insight, leading research
and idea generation and working on product design (processing and packaging). They are
responsible for developing cost effective formulations and packaging for the products and
developing and improving the processes involved in their manufacture. Brand Managers
through activation, communication and promotional activities help to fulfill consumer needs
through the brands.

For Brands and Development functions, one needs to have:

 A real interest in consumers as well as intuitive understanding of their behavior, and

what works (and doesn't!) in specific markets.
 Very strong interpersonal skills and the ability to lead cross functional team.
 Strong analytical ability.
 For those interested in Development, technical skills in areas of work (packaging
development and process development).
 Creativity inspired by a passion for growth.

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2.4.2 Careers in Supply Chain management

As one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, their supply chain management is
one of the most advanced, efficient and challenging systems; from finding the raw materials to
delivering their end product.

The key strategic driver

Supply chain is a key strategic driver in a company like theirs which produces over one hundred
Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) to meet the everyday needs of people everywhere. Proper planning,
improvising Procurement Processes, First Time Right Manufacturing and timely Distribution are
crucial strategies that significantly affect the profitability of the company

Supply Chain is responsible for all the stages from sourcing raw materials to delivering the end
product to the end consumer - a process often referred to as Planning, Procurement,
Manufacturing and Distribution.

Efficiency and outstanding service

In supply chain, using advanced technology and systems, you'll be responsible for ensuring that
factories run efficiently and customers receive outstanding service. In other words, you would
contribute significantly in optimizing the supply chain, expediting innovation and meeting
efficiently customer needs. You will be at the heart of the process of bringing new products to
the market, dealing with buying, manufacturing, development and marketing/customer
management organizations.

New technologies

Astute sourcing of raw materials, packaging and non-production items greatly reduces their
business costs. In this vital and challenging role you will be responsible for every interface
between suppliers and the business. With your colleagues in supply chain and development,
you will play a major role in the innovation of new technologies, often in partnership with a
supplier. You will also need to focus energy to develop intimate knowledge of supply markets
on a global scale and drive through new ways of working between suppliers and the business.

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Cost effective quality products

Their factory is considered to be the best in the country, earning us the recognition of
producing international quality brands at affordable prices. Your challenge is twofold; making
quality products from raw materials and packaging materials efficiently and cost-effectively,
and helping in increasing the factory's flexibility so that they become more responsive to the
ever-changing market scenario. On a day-to-day level you will be responsible for teams of
people running production lines, and for quality, output and costs. In engineering functions you
will be responsible for maintaining their productionmfacilities in the best possible condition.

Constantly challenging & exciting

Distribution plays an essential role in delivering sales and promotions activities planned for
their customers. In an effort to outpace the competitors at the market place, evolving
relationships with retailers make Distribution constantly challenging and exciting.

For Supply Chain you need the following skills:

 A high level of numeric proficiency and strong analytical ability

 Strong Negotiation skills
 Relationship and alliance management skills
 An entrepreneurial approach to the innovation and cost saving opportunities in supply
markets
 The ability to work with other business cultures, and to organize effective links between
them and their business

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2.4.3 Career in Human Resources

Unilever’s people are their most important asset. In Human Resources (HR), you’ll support and
develop those people, enabling them to deliver outstanding business performance.

Strategic business partners

People involved in human resources are strategic business partners to all functions facilitating,
guiding, and helping in implementing the people's process for growth. They play both a tactical
and a strategic role within every aspect of business partners, talent management, recruiting,
management development, training, remuneration, communications, employee relations, and
welfare. They also act as architects, of the organizations and facilitate and expedite the
development of individual potential.

Fostering leadership & growth

In Human Resources, one is the anchor for building organizational capability, values and beliefs.
You will be responsible for fostering leadership and growth in the organization.

To do this you need:

 A real interest in how people drive the business.

 Strong interpersonal and leadership skills.
 The strength and integrity to take tough decisions when necessary
 Strong understanding of the overall business.
 An interest in coaching and developing people.

2.4.4 Career in Finance

Finance in Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. is about being "Partners in Value Creation": it's about
seizing opportunities to create value and working with their business teams to set and deliver
aggressive targets.

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Improving overall company performance

Over time you will acquire tremendous breadth and depth in finance skills and business
experience. You'll gain a thorough grounding in their company, becoming familiar with its
processes, operations and risks and helping improve overall performance. From there the
opportunities are diverse, ranging from positions in Controlling and Internal Audit to Treasury
and Management or Financial Accounting.

Overview of business processes

A finance manager in Unilever Bangladesh is uniquely positioned to take a broad overview of

business processes, knitting together activities across brands and professions. With a deep
understanding of all the strategic drivers of growth and profitability, you'll work on how they
can change and develop their business to become world class in all that they do.

For Financial management you need:

 Sound business awareness; the drive to ensure they get value for money, hit their
financial targets and increase their profitability; a talent for seeing both detail and the
bigger picture.
 A pro-active approach to improving the business and the communication skills to win
support for your ideas.
 The personal commitment to obtain a professional accounting qualification, if required,
alongside your initial development program.

2.4.5 Career in Information Technology

A career in IT gives at UBL you the opportunity to improve the way they do business.

Innovative technology

As well as looking at innovative ways of using and managing information, you'll explore new
ways of taking us to market, improve business processes and use technology to find new ways
of working.

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If you're interested in working on a huge range of projects, a career in IT at UBL could be for
you. You could be part of a team developing new ways for us to work with other organisations,
exploring new marketplaces, enhancing their connectivity with their distributors across the
country and creating electronic exchanges. You could be on a project team in partnership with a
major retailer, developing a web-enabled tool for promotions planning. You could even be part
of the teams managing their own technology infrastructure.

Whatever your role is, they will ask more from you than just technical know-how. You'll need
the communication skills to help your colleagues make the most of your team's innovations.
And, of course, they'll continue to train and develop your technical and business, and
competency skill sets.

For information technology you need

 The tenacity to use technology to create business change.

 Excellent communication, interpersonal and influencing skills.
 A highly logical approach to problem solving.
 The ability to understand technology and discuss IT with non-technical colleagues.

2.4.6 Career in Customer Management

The Customer Management team is responsible for the overall sales and distribution of their
brands across the country. They are the bridge between the Brand Management team and the
Consumers.

Brands that meet people's needs

The Customer Management team makes sure that they, as a company, meet the everyday
needs of people everywhere through ensuring that their brands are always within the reach of
their customers and consumers. To do so, pioneering new channels of distribution, ensuring
visibility of their brands through attractive merchandising, and developing their distributors to
enhance their penetration and coverage are crucial responsibilities entrusted upon their
Customer Management team.

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Relationship marketing

Increasing competition and the advent of modern trade has compelled customer management
to shift from "Traditional Sales" to "Trade Marketing". With more trade sophistication, the role
of Customer Management is evolving into Relationship Marketing where Channel
Development, Merchandising, and Distributor Development play a crucial part in keeping the
company ahead of competition and in outpacing market change.

For customer management one needs:

 Great passion to achieve targets.

 Very strong people management skills, good analytical ability.
 Strong customer orientation and the ability to develop action plans that can meet both
the needs of their customers and the business.
 Real enthusiasm and the pace for competitiveness at retail.
 Practical creativity that focuses on results.
 Real drive to lead a team.
 Willingness to work anywhere in Bangladesh.

2.5 Unilever Bangladesh Limited at a glance

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.

2.5.1 Type of business

Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company with local manufacturing facilities, reporting to
regional business groups for innovation and business results.

2.5.2 Operations

Home and Personal Care, Foods

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2.5.3 Constitution

Share

39

Unilever
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Government of Bangladesh

2.5.4 Product categories

 Household Care
 Fabric Cleaning
 Skin Cleansing
 Skin Care
 Oral Care
 Hair Care
 Personal Grooming
 Tea based Beverages

2.5.5 Unilever brands

Wheel, Lux, Lifebuoy, Fair & Lovely, Pond's, Close Up, Sunsilk, Lipton Taaza, Pepsodent, Clear,
Vim, Surf Excel, Rexona, Dove, Vaseline, Lakme etc.

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2.5.6 Manufacturing facilities

The company has a Soap Manufacturing factory and a Personal Products Factory located in
Chittagong. Besides these, there is a tea packaging operation in Chittagong and three
manufacturing units in Dhaka, which are owned and run by third parties exclusively dedicated
to Unilever Bangladesh.

2.5.7 Employees

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 we 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.

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CHAPTER 3
LITERATURE REVIEW
3.1 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.

3.2 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.

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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.

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.

3.3 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.

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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 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.

3.4 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:

3.4.1 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:

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

3.4.2 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.

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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.
(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.

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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, masters, 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.

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.

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3.5 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.

3.6 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

3.7 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 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.

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3.8 Types of Interview

Interviews can be classified according to structured interview and unstructured 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.

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CHAPTER 4
RECRUITMENT IN UNILEVER
BANGLADESH LIMITED
4.1 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

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

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 3. Recruiters qualification
4. channels of recruitment
5. Recruitment- Constraints and challenges

4.1.1 Personnel 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

 The internet
 Online based job portals
 English and Bangla news paper
 On campus recruitment
 From Intern inventory.

4.1.2 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.

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4.2 Methods of recruitment

4.2.1 Recruitment channel

Normally we know about two types of recruitment channel those are

1. External recruitment channel

2. Internal recruitment channel

4.2.1.1 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. That are-

a. Walks- ins and write- ins

b. Employee referrals
c. Advertising
d. Private placement agencies & Professional search firms
e. Educational institutions & Professional associates
f. International recruitment

a. 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 are 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

b. 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

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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.

c. 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.

d. Private placement agencies & Professional search firms

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

I. The Consumer that works in the Dhaka [www.consumerk.com]

II. The intellectual property right organization Bangladesh [www.iprob.org]
III. Jobscncl.com Dhaka [www.jobs.com]

e. 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 ands especial IT and
engineering graduates passed from reputed engineering universities of the country.

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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.

f. 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.

4.2.1.2 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 take 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.

4.3 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.

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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.

4.4 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 talented guys who have
already appointed with other multinational company and Unilever need to compete with other
multinational organization to hire skilled manpower.

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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.

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CHAPTER 5
SELECTION PROCESS IN UNILEVER
BANGLADESH LIMITED
Selection is the process of select the best candidates for the job by using various tools and
techniques.

In our country, recruitment and selection process work simultaneously. Those are joined term
as employment function of the organization and this employment function is stated here for
Unilever’s practices.

5.1 Reception of application

After accomplishing the recruitment process, Unilever go to the selection process where they
start the process with the reception of application form filled up through internet online form.
After scrutinizing the data, they select applications for written test.

5.2 Evaluating reference and biographical data

At the second stage of evaluating the data, they verify the validity authenticity of the
information presented on the form as well as reference of the employee through references.

5.3 Employment test

This written test measures the candidates

1. Analytical ability
2. Computation ability
3. Verbal skill
4. Written skill
5. General knowledge

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More above 65% marks ensures applicants pass.

5.4 Assessing candidate through interview

Mainly three steps are followed in the selection procedure. In the first stage the candidates are
invited for a viva with sales and training manager, Dhaka in his Gulsan office. A human resource
manager also exists there. In this viva the candidates’ situation handle ability is measured.

Second phase:

It is the viva with the general sales and operation manager (GOSM), and trade marketing
manager .in this stage individual skill is measured. The question tries to measure out the fitness
of the candidate for the post.

Third phase:

In this stage the applicant face the HRD customer development team (CDT) this phase measure
the applicability of the applicants’ potential for the jobs. In these stage why the applicant
prefers the Unilever and why it would like to join the expected team. The questions try to
measure the passion and the thrill in the employees or Unilever.

5.5 Cognitive ability test

There is no recognized cognitive ability test for Unilever selection process. However, the
written test through its analytical questions the dose the cognitive test on applicant’s mentality.

5.6 Physical ability test

The physical test is administered by Apollo Hospital Dhaka to measure the HIV, Hepatitis B, C or
such many diseases in its applicant’s health and fitness for job effort.

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5.7 Work samples

For some technical jobs Unilever follows the work sample test on particular employee like the
one of Finance and IT.

5.8 Hiring decision

Finally the every step success ensures an applicant join in the Unilever family.

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CHAPTER 6
RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
6.1 Recommendation

After going through the report I draw some recommendations which are:

I. I have to suggest Unilever Bangladesh to arrange “on campus” recruitment. Based on

my experience I get a common scenario that “on campus” recruitment process
motivates the student to enthusiastic, creative and rigorous. Students try to show extra
ordinary performance and perform their innovative ideas. Innovative. They come with
new idea and work heart and soul to accomplish their task. “On campus” recruitment
assures students to get a better job after completing graduate. As a result, it reduces
their waste of time to search a better job and company get genius and meritorious
people who are hungry for success and perform their innovative activities with full of
enthusiasm.
II. Unilever entry-form is so complicated and some information which is asked for apply is
not available all time. Our recommendation to minimize the entry-form and make it
easy presentation for all potential applicants.

6.2 Conclusion

The report has attempted to point out recruitment and selection process in Unilever
Bangladesh. For gathering information I have to communicate with Unilever Bangladesh head-
office in Dhaka. After few refusals, at last I was able to collect information from Unilever
Bangladesh HR department but it curtails our my time duration to prepare a rich full report. I
have also taken support by some secondary reports as well as internet and Unilever report
publication. We have to ignore some confidential data.

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CHAPTER 6
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
7.1 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

7.2 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

7.3 The frequency of recruitment by Unilever Bangladesh Limited

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

7.4 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

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graduates hold the mentality to join prominent multinationals and Unilever is one of the best
choices.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Reference Books
 Dessler Gary, Human resource management, 10th edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey,
2005
 Davis Keith & Werther William, Human resource Management, 5th edition, McGraw
Hall, North America, 1996

Report
Annual report 2003-2004, Unilever Bangladesh Limited.

Internet
 www.consumer.com
 www.jobscnel.com
 www.innovationzen.com
 www.unilever.com.bd

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