Case Study

There are 2.5 billion people who use Unilever products on a daily basis. With over 400 brands, Unilever touches lives globally. With a head count around 170,000, this large organization employs a significant amount of people.

To Recruit Millennials, View The World As They Do

The Unilever Future Leaders program is a 3-year graduate program that is designed to develop Unilever’s future leaders by immersing them in the company. Around 2 years ago, the company took an introspective look at the program. At 50 years strong, most of the company’s leadership had come through the program and since 2000, it has been rolled out globally.

However, in more recent years, the recruitment aspect of the program was facing challenges.

The process was lengthy, with a 50% drop-off rate. They were experiencing a huge volume of applicants, seeing around 250,000 applicants for 8 jobs a year.

The landscape of recruiting and the working world was changing, millennials wanted something different. Unilever, as an organization, is a marketing expert, so why weren’t they thinking about their recruitment efforts through a marketing lens? They decided to adjust their consumer lens to a more candidate-focused one.

So what did Unilever’s candidates want?

The team uncovered that they wanted a process that was simple and efficient where they were able to give and receive feedback. Additionally, they clamored for a process that’s unbiased where they would be seen strictly for their potential and fit to a role.

A New Process Was Born

Unilever implemented this simple, efficient and unbiased process in 53 countries which included the following:

1. Submitting an application through LinkedIn

2. pymetrics assessment

3. Video digital interviewing

4. Candidates virtually interacting on a discovery platform. They are given a group goal to assess how they collaborate

5. The Discovery Center. The final stage of the selection process is a full day, face-to-face event. It is an immersive experience and the chance to live a “day in the life of” a Future Leader at Unilever. The day is as much about the candidate deciding whether they want to join Unilever as it is about seeing whether they are right for the program

Huge Improvement From An Organizational Standpoint

• 30,000 increase in applications

• NPS score of 4.5/5

• Process reduced from 4-6

months to 2 weeks

• Recruiter time saved by 75%

• Candidate time saved by

50,000 hours.