Unilever organisation - Essay Example

Strategic Staffing Strategic staffing is the practice that organizations use to identify and tackle implications of their business strategies. It involves defining the number and competences of various employees needed in the future to implement a company’s plans efficiently. It also involves identifying the available staffing resources and foretelling the availability of certain talents at a certain point in the future for which requirements have been stated. This often puts into account the effects of the staffing on a company’s turnover, retirements, and premeditated transfer of personnel in and out of the organization.

Strategic staffing also aims at eliminating specialty gap and excesses. It focuses on the future and central in attaining an organization’s objectives. This paper explores the importance of strategic staffing in Unilever organization and how this helps and affects its performance and long term goals (Bechet 2007, p.6). Strategic staffing is also referred to as labor force planning. This is the process of forecasting an organization’s future employment requirements and the accessibility of existing staff and external hires.

It entails a hiring manager and could be short term or long term. Strategic staffing in Unilever is therefore is crucial in that it helps in determining the right people for different jobs within the organization, their expertise and their motivation in their different areas of specialization. Staffing also affects future training, performance management, and reward programs as well as the organization’s capacity to realize its business targets. The process of staffing within Unilever organization may involve finding experienced individuals and deciding the number and types of the persons applying for the jobs.

The selected employees are then assigned to their tasks with regard to their specialty. They are then oriented to accustom them with their new work place. Effective staffing helps retain the right workforce improving a company’s income and creating career advancement. This helps to be in line with the stakeholders’ needs. Efficient staffing in Unilever gives the organization a competitive edge over its rivals. This is achieved through attracting customers and defending itself against contenders.

However, to have this competitive leverage the company has to employ strategies that show the customers value for their money. This way the customers will have faith in the organizations effectiveness and hence sustain the competitive advantage. The organization’s resources and competencies can create a sustained competitive lead by creating value for clients. This is achieved through reducing prices and providing resources with exceptional worth. The company must also be able to exploit these resources, ensure they are unique, not easily duplicated or substituted with other resources.

This assists it to outdo and thrive over its opponents. Strategic staffing requires considering whether the company requires a permanent or flexible labor force, whether the company prefers hiring within or outside, wants to employ or train required skills, what levels of skills are needed, is the staffing to be done proactively or reactively, what job should be focused on first and is staffing viewed as an investment or a cost. Strategic staffing in Unilever can also bring about innovation in the production of new items and services and methods of carrying out general activities.

It also improves cost, quality, service and branding hence the continued competitive advantage. Furthermore, innovation enhances efficiency and faster distribution of products to the market. Conclusion Strategic planning is central in any organization and is, therefore, vital in Unilever’s long term planning. It can affect Unilever’s turnover and consequently is a very important component of the organization’s business targets. Strategic staffing is also pivotal at any business planning process.

It should be considered whenever changes are made to the business plans whether short-term or longer-term. References Bechet ,T. Strategic Staffing: A Practical Toolkit for Workforce Planning. Amacom. 2007. Phillips, J. Gully, S. Strategic Staffing. Pearson/Prentice Hall. 2008.