Unilever NV Reviews

Pros

- professional
- Very good trainee programe

Cons

- too many people
- Complicated system
- good but not competitive salary for top performer

Advice to Senior Management

- DELAYER - so that you can pay better

Pros

great ability to influence decisions

Cons

cramped work space-open ofifce setting

Advice to Senior Management

bring in some outside talent/thinking

Pros

Good benefits and training. Nice caring co-workers. Challenging projects. Nice employee perks like company store credit union and bonus pay.

Cons

Lack of opportunity for promotions. Too many changes in retirement benefits for long term employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to communicate well

Pros

Unilever's greatest strengths are the people. For the most part, it is not as cutthroat as other companies, people are willing to help if you ask for it. The Benefits are great - including on premise cleaners, company store with GREAT prices, and a reimbursement for the gym. Also not too far in NJ so it is possible to live in NYC. They even have a shuttle service from the campus to the East and West sides.

Cons

HR. Totally incompetent. Makes it difficult not only to get paychecks should there be an issue, but you totally can't depend on them to offer ANY assistance in the job process. Half the time, promotions are based on who you know and not your skills. They don't even bother to get back to you and let you know you didn't get the job...

Very much an "good old boy" network particularly in Sales. Not as diverse as you would expect, particularly with respect to people of color in high-level positions.

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of HR and take the money and give your employees raises.

Pros

The best reason to work is probably the above than pay amongst other professionals in the FMCG industry. Training & development is also highly encouraged.

Cons

Very hierarchical and seniority almost always trumps any good idea or initiative. Restructuring caused many people their jobs, some after serving for 10+ years.

Advice to Senior Management

Try rewarding loyal employees instead of sacking them each time upper management decides to stir the water by attemping to achieve better "effectiveness"

Pros

flexible working hours including summer hours, provide employees with many charitable and local community activities, company store,

Cons

promotion has a favor color, plus the re-org has been going for years and that impacts the career path and growth significantly. Actually there is a job-cut each year due to the changes

Advice to Senior Management

nice to work there

Pros

The best reason to work for Unilever is to get a solid multinational company on your resume. You will also have access to a CPG machine and can understand how the supply chain interacts with brand. If you are in a corporate function you will be working in very nice areas (Connecticut, Chicago, Northern Jersey). If you are in a manufacturing function you will have access to a job board that can take you all over the country, gaining experience in manufacturing foods and personal care products. You will have access to union environments as well as nonunion. It is also neat to be able to reveal some of what is behind the curtain on some of their favorite products.

Cons

Work many hours. In some cases, advancement is given to people with seniority and not skill. There are a lot of people there that continue to be employed because there isn't enough time for managers to work up a dossier on how bad their people are.

Advice to Senior Management

Figure out how to get to market first, instead of following P&G all day. But you know this. Maybe you can hire better people and pay them more to stay!

Pros

Unilever is very competitive and they make good products. Their aim is to be number one in every product category they compete in. This means they are at the cutting edge and are continuingly advancing the "State of the Art". There are many Unilever locations throughout the US and abroad. I work with a very diverse group of individual and have spent a lot of time over seas on both business trips and on secondaments. However, there are fewer locations now than a couple years ago and the numbers of opportunities for secomdements is going down. Along with the closings, there have been quite a few lay-offs.

Cons

It is very big and it is easy to get lost

Advice to Senior Management

Pay more attention to how change is affecting your staff in terms of trust and career advancement