Workplace Sustainability Policy Development, Implementation And Review Report

Scope of the sustainability policy

One of the major objectives of the management of Unilever’s management is to satisfy the requirements of the consumers in a sustainable way that is environmentally sound through incessant improvement regarding the environmental performance through all the organizational activities. Thus the scopes of making sustainability policies are:

• To make sure that the organization’s products and the style of operation is safe for the environment.
• Reducing the environmental footprint from various brands of the business organization.
• Exercising the same regard for environment in the operational areas of the business organization.

• The management should make sure that business organization complies with the legislation regarding the environmental sustainability.
• The management should evaluate all the environmental impacts of their mode of operations in every step that can range from raw material sourcing to the steps where the goods are delivered to the consumers.
• A designated team of the business organization should audit the compliance with standards of Unilever and the legislation; and then inspect the environmental safety incidents to avoid the recurrence.
• The management of Unilever should use the standards related to impact assessment that are scientifically sound and robust when at the same time the management can work collaborating with others to improve the mode of operations.
• The management of the business organization should operate an independent process of approval to ensure the environmental safety for the products of the organization and the operations of Unilever.
• The managing body of Unilever should prepare a management system for environmental issues and the mode of operation to improve the environmental performance of the company.
• The management can set standards or targets regarding the incessant development via various environmental sustainability programs for the general workforce of the organization.
• The management can arrange meetings with the suppliers of the organization with an objective to improve the mode of operations of them for the best interests of the environment.
• The management of the organization should encourage the farmers not to use any harmful chemicals in the field to maximize the production and rather they should be encouraged to grow crops in an organic manner.
• The management of the organization should lower the usage of plastics in the packaging of their products to promote the sustainability program.
• The management of the organization should arrange yearly meetings with all the external and internal stakeholders of the business organization so that they can promote the actions regarding environmental sustainability from the grass root level.
• The management should also control the usage of salt in the products for maintaining the health of the consumers.
• The management should also reduce the use of sweet in the products such as soft drinks and ready to drink coffee and tea.

It is a matter of fact that Unilever has an objective of making the world a sustainable living place for all and the management of the business organization believes that promoting global sustainability is the appropriate way to make a long-term value for all the internal and external stakeholders of the organization (Epstein and Buhovac 2014).

It has been observed that the purpose of the organization actually encourages the vision of the managerial body of the company. The aim of the organization is to decrease the environmental footprint and to enhance the positive social impact of the company. The management of Unilever certainly wants the organization to grow and develop further but not at the cost of sustainability of the environment. Thus, it can be said that the motto of the management of Unilever is to enhance the growth and development of the organization in a manner that suits the sustainability of the environment (Carroll and Buchholtz 2014). The annual report of Unilever depicts that the management of the organization has continued to develop in a steady, competitive, responsible and environmentally sustainable manner that has helped the organization to inspire the innovation and purpose of the brand and also to manage various risk factors.

During the financial year of 2016-17, the employees of Unilever have been at the focus of a significant organizational change that can be referred to as Connected 4 growths (C4G), which is one of the biggest and major initiatives regarding changes undertaken by the management of Unilever. Through the programs of  C4G the management of the business organization wants the stakeholders of the organization to behave and think properly that would make them more empowered (Schermerhorn et al. 2014). The main objective in this regard is to establish a business organization that is more competitive in the global and local market that is more agile and can grow faster.

By the year of 2020, the vision of the business organization is to see 60% of the workforce to be Millennials and the management will be requiring new employment strategies that that would reflect in their changing attitude to work and the rapidly changing global market in which the management expects their employees to work at and perform well.  The management’s motive is to put sustainable living at the center of the brands to encourage the customers to become loyal towards the organization and that can effectively enhance the sales charts (Blok et al. 2015). The managerial body of Unilever wants to integrate the sustainability into the method the management wants to engage, train and develop along with rewarding the employees.

Policies

It has been observed that top 40 brands qualified as Sustainable Living Brands which rose from 12 to 18. These included top 6 brands of Unilever which are Knorr, Dirt is Good, Dove, Lipton, Hellmann’s and Rexona. In the year of 2016, Unilever’s sustainable living brands developed almost 50% faster than the rest of the brands of the company (Bowles et al. 2016). The management of the business organization believes that if they want to effect change at scale the management will be able to attain that by making successful, large and category-defining brands that make to environmental and social issues and also the disparities those brands themselves can via their preferences of shopping (Epstein and Buhovac 2014). This theory has been fueled by the rapid development of the social media and the opportunities it gives to the customers to experience a closer bond with the specified brands of Unilever. This operation, in return develops an increasing requirements of the brands to generate content that resonates with the values of the consumers. Brands that support the sustainable living conditions help them to do that.

Documentation of the outcomes

It is seen that the management of Unilever has successfully implemented the majority of the policies developed by the board of directors. Thus it can be said that the organization is trying to promote the global sustainability and to sustain the living conditions of the individuals the organization is putting in immense effort. It is seen that the business organization has already successfully lowered the usage of plastic to sustain the environmental sustainability. It is seen that the management is also providing adequate training to the suppliers so that they do not use the harmful chemicals and goods while processing the materials for the organization. The organization has also modified the infrastructure according to the requirements of the environmental sustainability programs.

Identifying recent trends and monitoring the trends

The management of the business organization has successfully implemented the policies they have set for the environmental sustainability and that includes lesser consumption of water, reducing waste products and initiatives to recycle the waste products. Apart from that, the management of the business organization has taken initiatives in sustainable sourcing and in that segment it has been observed that 35% of the raw materials used by Unilever are sustainably sourced by the suppliers. Apart from these, the management of the organization will get engaged with at least 505,275 small farmers and more than 80,000 small scale distributors in their supply chain network with a motive to empower the poor population. These initiatives and implementations done by the management are commendable and it is observed that Unilever’s contribution in the environmental sustainability is enormous and has been increasing from the last decade.

Report

The recent reports also indicate that the organization has reduced the levels of used salts in their products to a commendable level. The organization can also improve this concern as the recent trends indicate that the consumption of salt in some countries has been higher than it has been recommended by the medical practitioners. This has also showed a huge number of people getting sick or having chronic diseases such as high blood pressure or blood sugar. Therefore, for this sustainability policy, the management has made a very significant policy of reducing the levels of salt in the products. This policy has been chosen keeping this recent trend in mind and this has been a success so far.

Another policy has been made to reduce the harmful chemicals in the products so that it does not affect the environment or the health of consumers. Unilever has always made it a point that it does not use any harmful chemical in the products. However, the organization has also improved this policy in order to improve the composition of fat in the products. This can be done with the help of reduction of a concerned amount of saturated fat and increasing the essential fats in the products. The company has fixed its targets in a way that within next two years it can use less than thirty three percent of fats in their products. They have also monitored the recent trends of customers who are following a healthy life style and preferring products that contain less fat. Therefore they are working on this policy rapidly. It can be seen that the products are improving in a rapid rate yet these are yet to be implemented properly.

Unilever has also made a policy of reducing sugar in their products. They have fixed the policy of reducing the levels of sugar in the ready to drink coffee and teas along with the soft drinks. Reduction of sugar can be very much helpful for the consumers following a healthy life style. This is another policy that has been made following the recent trends. The company has decided to use the Steviol glycosides or Stevia in the products which are a sweetener that provides sufficient sweetness in the products yet it does not contain any calories.

Recommendations of necessary modifications to the policy

In recommendation, it can be said, that it is still a long way to for Unilever for having the entirely sustainable products. However the company is trying its best to make sure that they make no harm to the environment or to the health of its customers. The company can use the Unilever Five Lever Change Model for identifying the necessary places that are to be improved or changed. With the help of this model they can create products that taste great, yet it will not contain much harmful products that can damage the health of consumers. The nutrition measurement should be improved at the same time. It is also recommended to check the proportion of chemicals in the products on a regular basis. Along with that, it is also suggested that the company should have a strict quality checking department that will make sure that no such products will be made that can be any way harmful for the environment. The leading brands should be double checked as well. In addition to that, the company can introduce the cost-effective technology for reducing the harmful chemicals and improving the quality of products as well.

Communication plan

Reference list and Bibliography

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