Unilever
Developing an approach
that is consistently applied across a large business
The company
Unilever, which has 30 sites across the country, is the UK arm of
Unilever plc, one of the world’s leading consumer goods companies.
Unilever’s range of household name brands includes UK market
leaders Persil, Flora, Magnum and Lynx.
Annual UK sales £2.3bn
Workforce
No. of UK employees 12,500
The problems
- Work-life balance initiatives have developed over
many years in response to employee requests and a desire to innovate
to increase employee satisfaction
- It was recognised that Unilever’s approach
needed to be promoted more widely to employees
Response
Unilever developed a harmonised policy for flexible working and communicated
this widely across the business. Flexible working options are available
to all employees.
Policies:
Flexible working options include:
- Part-time working
- Home working
- Job shares
- Flexible hours
Leave options include:
- Maternity, paternity and adoptive leave policies
in excess of statutory requirements
- Career break scheme
Employer support policies:
- Childcare support
- On-site gyms
- Occupational health and dental services
Business benefits
- Retention of skilled staff:
- In 1988, only 6% of female managers had
childcare responsibilities
- Over 90% of employees now return from maternity
leave: Unilever’s enhanced maternity benefits have proved
very successful in retaining female employees
- Research among managers working part-time suggests
that 60% would have left had they not been able to work flexibly
- Greater employee satisfaction:
- Scores for satisfaction with work-life balance
in the company’s regular employee surveys have improved
- There is a new ‘can do’ attitude
across the business: colleagues and managers are very supportive
of team members who want to work flexibly
- Enhanced customer satisfaction:
- Unilever believes there are direct links between employee
satisfaction, customer satisfaction and business results
- Improved productivity:
- Managers of those working part-time rate the
performance of part-time staff very highly
- Increased work-life balance satisfaction among
employees who work flexibly means that they are very committed
and deliver results
- Reduced absenteeism:
- Absenteeism rates have fallen at sites where
employees feel most in control of their working hours
- This is particularly evident at manufacturing
sites, where employees can job share on shifts or swap shifts
to meet emergency needs
Challenges
The greatest take-up of flexible working options is still among working
mothers, but the company is increasingly seeing demand from other
groups.
The future
Unilever is committed to helping employees achieve balance in their
lives because this brings real benefits to individual employees and
to the business. The company is continuously looking for innovative
ways to do this.
June 2003
Top
