Unilever Reviews

Pros

Work life balance, amazing people, casual, respect, travel, the environment is over all amazing, products and brands, wide range of experience

Cons

The organization has the tendency to be slow in decision making at times, although this is improving. Uncertainity over career progression at times. Lack of expat opportunities

Advice to Senior Management

Were on the right track. I little more clarity to people on their careers might help us even drive harder to double the business

Pros

Doubling the size of our carbon footprint while halving our carbon footprint is a pretty inspiring vision. Sustainability is at the heart of everything Unilever does. Unilever also has changed to a performance culture

Cons

not the greatest base payers in the world, however there is a much more significant focus on variable pay. Perform well - earn more

Pros

Work Life Balance.
Cross functional experience opportunities.
Vast resources at your disposal.
Well respected amongst peers.
Leader in the categories it plays in.

Cons

Too much bureaucracy for efficient decision making.
More of who you know versus what you know.
Pay scale below market standards.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your employees, especially when you specifically ask for feedback. Implement 360 reviews and USE them to improve the company direction.

Pros

Big Company with huge business

Cons

Less respect to professional workers

Pros

Strong portfolio of market leading brands

Cons

Little acknowledgement given to previous employment experience
Pay below industry average - "take it or leave it attitude"
Middle management known to throw employees under the bus
Short-term focused, unstrategic view to business
Poor morale

Pros

The systems, processes and knowledge are excellent in its industry.
It is a great training ground for a professional in CPG.

Cons

- Increasingly frequent acquisitions, though strategic, are causing a continuous restructuring of the company, consequently causing a great sense of job/ future insecurity, forcing executives to take shorter-term business planning decisions and survive day by day, rather than taking a more strategic view of the business. Biggest challenge for Unilever currently is to manage a consistently changing internal environment and yet maintain its competitive edge in the external environment.

Advice to Senior Management

There is no alternative to experience and higher learning. Almost permanently hanging sword of democles causes the more competent people to leave first, as the industry picks them first. With the business now being increasingly inexperienced people, more challenges are being faced by the business.

Pros

Great for work/life balance with agile working areas.

Cons

Getting tougher to move up as they are leveling the corporate structure.

Pros

Benefits and Opportunity for Work Life Balance

Cons

Too much work that one can no longer get any work life balance

Advice to Senior Management

Keep the good people in by managing the rewards and benefits program and keep it at par with the other big companies.

Pros

It's good for your resume

Cons

-too political
-favoritism
-low salary
-no recognition for efforts
-first line managers are protected accross all departments
-don't provide equal opportunities to every employees
-You are just a number

Advice to Senior Management

-Top senior management: you have lost so many good employees over the past 5 years because you have empowered the wrong people. I would suggest that you spend at least a few minutes with each of your employees to understand the true challenges they are going through and collect real honest feedback from them. Employees are afraid to speak up and they end up leaving because of internal corruptions at Unilever. You have invested so much time and money in training and developing people but they all end up leaving because they are treated better outside the company.

Pros

Great place to learn. Very slow procedures. Not flexible. Slow reaction to competition. You cannot express yourself easily. Top down organisation

Cons

Not great place to practice initiative. Very slow procedures. Not flexible. Slow reaction to competition. You cannot express yourself easily. Top down organisation

Advice to Senior Management

Be more open organisation. Do not focus on people that can only follow top management in entry level. Be more aggressive in the market