How has Unilever Rebuilt its Talent Acquisition Strategy?

With thousands of employees, over 400 brands and operations in more than 190 countries, hiring at Unilever is a mammoth task. 

Before redeveloping its talent strategy, the company reportedly had an average time-to-hire of 92 days, with recruitment costs of over US$21,000 per hire. 

By reworking its talent strategy through the implementation of AI and the prioritisation of skills, Unilever has reduced its time to hire to just four weeks. 

Discussing the company's wider strategy on LinkedIn, Mairéad Nayager, Chief People Officer at Unilever, says: “I feel fortunate to be part of a company with inspiring brands, a strong sense of purpose and most importantly, talented people. 

“As I look at the journey ahead for us at what is a truly global and iconic company, I am energised by both the challenges and opportunities of working to make Unilever the very best it can be.”

Streamlining hiring with AI

AI is beginning to play an increasingly important role in talent acquisition. According to research from IBM, 62% of CHROs are prioritising automation in recruitment across the next two years. 

This research suggests that the global workforce will increase by 2.5% though the use of AI, as roles adapt and talent pipelines shorten. 

These findings are reflected in Unilever’s strategic focus on AI in its hiring process. 

The company has introduced machine learning to assess early stage candidates, comparing them to successful employee profiles across a variety of traits, such as risk-taking or attention retention. 

Only the top 10-20% of candidates are reviewed by people which, in a business that reportedly receives over 250,000 applications every year, saves time significantly. 

It has also added a data-driven layer to early stage recruitment – reducing bias and increasing the number of diverse hires by 16%. 

By using AI to automate and optimise the initial stages of recruitment, HR leaders within Unilever have the ability to focus on high-value interactions and take a more considered approach with the top performing candidates. 

Skills-first hiring at Unilever

Many companies hiring for specialised roles are finding it more challenging to attract talent, with the World Economic Forum reporting that 63% of employers say they are facing skilled talent shortages. 

To better manage this, Unilever has shifted its hiring strategy to be centred around skills, rather than experience or credentials. 

The company has developed a framework of more than 600 internally endorsed skills across the wider organisation that it believes will help employees future-proof their work. 

By having this framework in place, Unilever has been able to focus more exclusively on specific competencies when hiring, which it champions through its ‘inventories of skills’ approach. 

This approach, which breaks roles into granular skill sets, means Unilever looks at prospective employees on the basis of what tasks they can complete instead of focusing on past experience. 

According to Unilever, this has increased effective talent placement by 107% and increased the retention rate of high performers by 98%.

Taking a skills first approach goes beyond faster hiring times, with Deloitte finding that organisations that prioritise skills development and acquisition are 63% more likely to achieve key business outcomes and improve financial performance, suggesting the company's talent strategy is having large-scale benefits across the business.