5OS06 Assignment Example

The workforce demands transformation alongside hybrid working styles as a future business challenge (Future Trend).

Workplace modernisation brings forward new directions that prioritise adaptable work arrangements and support cultural diversity and inclusiveness. Unilever has adopted hybrid work systems, yet its leadership needs new capabilities to efficiently handle remote teams alongside maintaining employee interest levels (Flexiadap Editorial Team., 2024). Organisational programs for leadership development must now include lessons on inclusive decision-making and cultural intelligence because diversity, equity and inclusion (EDI) serve as critical components for organisational success (Korkmaz et al., 2022). Progressive mentorship platforms for minority candidates alongside diverse team management courses will ensure Unilever maintains its leadership permanently.

Question 2

AC 1.2 Explain the meanings of ‘leadership development’ and ‘management development’ making a clear distinction between these two functions.

Understanding Leadership Development and Management Development 

Leadership development projects and management development activities represent separate organisational functions, even though organisations tend to represent them as interchangeable. Organisational success depends on the unique objectives along with the scope and effects brought by these two professional development approaches.

Leadership Development

Leadership development functions as the method which builds people to direct and shape others toward collectively pursuing shared visions. Strategic thinking combined with emotional intelligence stands as the primary goal of this program, in addition to innovation abilities and change management skills. The essence of leadership exists beyond official positions of authority because leadership focuses on sparking motivation while also promoting teamwork together with blueprint development (CIPD, 2023).

The “Leadership Growth Profile” program at Unilever serves to groom future leaders by teaching their team members to become more resilient as well as demonstrate purpose-based leadership while adopting adaptable behaviour (Desklib,2023). Executive coaching and experiential learning through stretch assignments, along with mentoring, are the main components of this development style. During uncertain periods and transformations, leaders must focus on developing effective leadership so they can generate trust and advance business growth (CIPD, 2023).

Management Development

The focus of management development teaches individuals technical abilities along with operational structures that maintain efficient team oversight and operational control. Business managers plan functions while organising activities, and they control various business operations to achieve their set objectives. Inside organisations, management exhibits a close connection to hierarchical structures and both authority systems and decision-making functions (Towe, 2025).

Operational efficiency, together with performance management and financial acumen, are among the training areas in Unilever’s “Unilever Future Leaders Programme (UFLP)” (Unilever, 2024). Managers receive training along with practical job experience combined with competency-based content to develop superior leadership abilities in managing their teams and operational success.

Distinction Between Leadership and Management Development

Focus

Leadership development purposes include vision, strategic growth, and inspiration, while the management development purpose centres on operational control alongside execution and efficiency (CIPD, 2023; Towe, 2025).

Scope

Elected leaders who oversee organisational cultures also push restructuring initiatives, whereas managers maintain system continuity through process optimisation (CIPD, 2023; Towe, 2025).

Authority vs Influence

Managers execute their team direction relying on official ranking power, yet leaders successfully shape others without organisational status requirements (CIPD, 2023; Towe, 2025).

Question 3

AC 1.3 Drawing on published models of contrasting leadership and management styles, explain the prevalent current approach in your organisation (or an organisation with which you are familiar).

Contrasting Leadership and Management Styles at Unilever

Through its diverse workforce, Unilever implements various leadership approaches which work with its innovative operational culture and sustainability-based corporate commitments. Two contrasting models—transformational leadership and transactional management—are evident within the organisation.

Transformational Leadership at Unilever

The leadership philosophy of transformational leadership was first designed by James MacGregor Burns before Bass & Avolio developed its current form to inspire workers while nurturing innovative practices and leading organisational transformations (Cherry, 2024). Unilever’s leadership motivates workers to support the “Compass Strategy”, which establishes sustainable business operations and ethical customer principles as organisational priorities (Unilever, 2022).

Under the leadership of Paul Polman, when he served as Unilever’s CEO, the company transitioned its priorities from fast profits to enduring sustainability principles. He motivated employees to join Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan and integrate environmental responsibility alongside social responsibility into business activities (Unilever, 2022). The leadership team at Unilever motivates staff through challenging target-setting and creating purposeful workplace cultures along with team-based empowerment for innovation. The company has maintained its leadership position through this specific leadership approach in the competitive worldwide marketplace (Unilever, 2022).

Transactional Management at Unilever

The managerial style presented by Max Weber and developed further by Bass focuses on procedural methods and performance incentive systems together with regular standard operating procedures (IMD, 2022). Unilever displays this management style in its supply chain and operational management teams because efficiency and cost control, as well as productivity, remain essential. PT Unilever Indonesia uses “Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB)” finance procedures that adhere to transactional management principles through financial authority and require departments to substantiate their requested budgetary needs (Unilever, 2016). The production sector completes tasks through performance measurement together with workflow procedures that drive operations to meet goals and maintain quality levels. The company rewards staff members with compensation based on their performance outcomes, which strengthens a results-oriented corporate culture.

Contrasting the Approaches

Unilever adopts transformational leadership to generate innovative solutions and maintain long-term objectives, together with employee engagement and organisational discipline through transactional management practices (Unilever, 2022).

Teams receive guidance from leaders for inspiration and empowerment, but managers enforce operational structure together with performance oversight (Unilever, 2016).

Transformational leadership manifests in sustainability and innovation initiatives, while transactional management focuses on supply chain operations and finance segments (Unilever, 2022).

Question 4

AC 1.4 Compare the knowledge, skills and behaviours of leaders and managers in your organisation (or an organisation with which you are familiar) and identify the areas they most need to improve in. Justify your answer.

Comparison of Leaders’ and Managers’ Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviours at Unilever

Unilever benefits from business success through both leaders and managers who perform their responsibilities in unique manners. Unilever’s leadership group guides strategic planning with their vision of the future, while management executes operational processes to support team results. Leaders and managers need different competencies, although their abilities share common elements.

Leaders at Unilever demonstrate visionary thinking combined with innovation, which leads them to establish long-term goals, as seen in existing company plans like the Sustainable Living Plan. Unilever’s market posture and international market movements receive their direction from their leadership team. 

Knowledge

Managers spend their energy on implementing functional operations together with operational effectiveness while making sure company processes match strategy goals. They perform their duties with defined responsibilities by assigning work while examining workflows and tracking employee performance (GBR Editorial Team, 2022).

The major difference lies in the decision approaches of leaders and managers at Unilever. The leaders at Unilever implement transformative decisions through their distribution of high-impact and potentially risky moves toward introducing sustainable product offerings (GBR Editorial Team, 2022). Managers’ decision-making process relies exclusively on data analysis to deliver efficiency and incremental progress in their respective departments. Leaders implement broader perspectives in their work, but managers dedicate themselves to operational problem-solving tasks.

Skills

Leaders develop emotionally intelligent organisational practices through their inspirational approaches, which in turn motivate employees toward purposeful cultural development. Their effective use of interpersonal abilities allows them to build robust connections with stakeholders who allow them to form market predictions and guide the company through difficult situations (Desklib, 2024). Emotional intelligence plays a vital role for managers since they need it for daily employee interactions to build teamwork, prevent conflicts and sustain work efficiency. Leaders maintain an external focus on organisational pressures, while managers operate inside the organisation to deal with team dynamics (Kan, 2024).

Behaviours

The leadership group, alongside the management team at Unilever, shows strengths, yet they have opportunities to develop further. The ability to make data-driven choices needs improvement among leaders because it can strengthen market projection and organisational strategy development (Nasscom Community, 2025). Emotional intelligence and adaptability skills should be enhanced by managers, particularly those working in hybrid work schemes, which show increased complexity for employee engagement (Future Talent Learning, 2021). Unilever requires better change management strategies from all employees since it faces transformations in digital systems and sustainability development.

Therefore, leaders and managers at Unilever fulfil complementary responsibilities, but the organisation will have better long-term outcomes when its leaders enhance their data analytics, emotional intelligence and change management capabilities.

Question 5

AC 2.1 Drawing on your wider reading, identify two different ways in which the people management team in your organisation (or an organisation with which you are familiar) could support established leadership and management practices and programmes.

Supporting Leadership and Management Practices at Unilever

The Unilever People Management team maintains a vital position by improving leadership and management development processes. Two additional strategies to advance management practices at Unilever are Leader Development through Coaching and mentoring opportunities and Tailored Learning and Development Programs.

Leadership Coaching and Mentorship Programmes

Unilever should develop structured coaching and mentorship programs as an effective approach to enhance its leadership and management development methods. Future Talent Learning (2021) establishes that emotional intelligence, along with self-awareness and self-regulation, together with empathy, represents essential traits for leadership management. Unilever’s direct coaching approach will develop core leadership qualities in their current managers and leaders, which will boost their talent for team inspiration and engagement (Unilever, 2025).

Unilever operates several leadership development programs, including its “Connected 4 Growth” transformation shift that focuses on promoting fast decision-making and team interaction (ICMR, 2020). This framework would benefit from mentoring and coaching inclusion because such additions would give leaders customised assistance to overcome their obstacles effectively. Executive leadership has the potential to serve as mentors for promising managers who will benefit from this approach for knowledge exchange and leadership development planning.

According to social learning theory, people learn most effectively through models with practical experience who serve as role examples for them (Cherry, 2024). The mentorship pairing system at Unilever allows the company to create a developmental learning environment that benefits its leaders (Lurnable Admin, 2025).

Personalised Learning and Development (L&D) Pathways to support employee growth.

Personalised L&D pathways serve as one more method for the People Management team to boost leadership and management practices. Individuals acquire knowledge differently, as per Honey and Mumford’s learning styles theory, by using activist methods for practical experience followed by theoretical understanding through models, while pragmatists focus on applying learned knowledge, and reflectors seek to learn from observation (The Institute of Leadership, 2025). Effectiveness in learning increases through training programs designed based on individual learning preferences.

The Unilever Future Leaders Programme (UFLP) serves as the existing graduate program for Unilever, yet they should create specific development tracks for middle-level and senior management teams (Unilever, 2024). The People Management team should conduct an assessment of evolving skills that will guide training program adaptation according to the specific needs of personnel based on professional development stages.

Through Unilever’s digital platform “My Learning”, employees can use AI-generated content suggestions for classes, leadership sessions and virtual simulations, which enhances both the interest and applicability of L&D (Sarin, 2025).

Question 6

AC 2.2 Drawing on your wider reading evaluate two different approaches to leadership and management development that you would like to see adopted or further developed in your organisation (or an organisation with which you are familiar). Justify your answer.

Training Models Designed for Leadership and Management Growth in Unilever

Unilever should focus on two development methods, including action learning and job rotation, to advance leadership and management development. Working in Unilever’s dynamic consumer-focused scenario requires essential leadership competencies, which action learning together with job rotation develop through experiential experiences.

Action Learning

Action learning facilitates the solution of actual business problems through shared team collaboration (Clifford, 2025). The learning method supports the theoretical framework that combines reflective questioning with resolving actual business matters.

The Unilever Leadership Internship Programme (ULIP) is one of the existing tools Unilever uses to promote collaborative work across different departments. Activating action learning with middle managers along with junior leadership levels would enhance their strategic competency building (Unilever, 2025). The assigned sustainability projects for groups need to present recommended solutions directly to senior executive management.

Action learning stands out because leaders and managers can directly use learned problem-solving and teamwork along with decision-making skills as soon as they apply this methodology. Unilever (2023) found through their research that action learning capability enhances self-awareness and leadership performance, which enables Unilever to develop a versatile workforce.

 Job Rotation

Through job rotation, organisations enable their staff to gain knowledge about various business functions by exchanging roles with other employees. Experiential learning theory finds support in this approach since it focuses on learning from hands-on activities (Institute of Experiential Learning, 2024).

Unilever faces occasional barriers to cross-functional teamwork, which result from functional department segregation. A job rotation program for high-potential managers should be expanded throughout the organisation to provide them with comprehensive insights that help develop leadership abilities across different settings. A marketing manager who takes a temporary position within supply chain management will learn about operational hurdles that affect product advancement (Lotfi et al., 2023).

The Harvard Business Review conducted an investigation in 2018 that demonstrated that firms that maintain formal job rotation programs train flexible executives who show superior qualifications for management positions. The approach improves worker involvement and staff member loyalty because it ensures continuous advancement in their professional paths.

Question 7

AC 2.3 Discuss your organisation’s (or an organisation with which you are familiar) current approaches to leadership and management development in terms of their effectiveness in consistently meeting core equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) objectives. Justify your answer.

Unilever’s Approach to Leadership and Management Development in Meeting EDI Objectives

The leadership and management development programs at Unilever have substantially incorporated equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) training principles. The organisation acknowledges that diverse leadership produces innovations while enhancing decision quality and improving employee participation. Multiple initiatives support Unilever’s EDI objectives, although some areas need improvement in their effectiveness.

Current Approaches to Leadership and Management Development in EDI

Unilever implements EDI principles into leadership and management development using multiple organised initiatives.

Diversity and inclusion training

All managers at Unilever are required to attend unconscious bias training, which helps both detection and mitigation of biases during hiring processes and day-to-day workplace choices (Unilever, 2024). This aligns with the article by Ciavaldini (2024), whose courses work with research that shows how cognitive bias affects workplace decisions.

Leadership targets and representations

The company established 50% gender parity in managerial roles as its global target through its Equity Diversity and Inclusion Board for underrepresented groups (Unilever, 2024).

Reverse mentoring programs and Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

Senior leadership engages in reverse mentoring programs and Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to allow employees to share minority-related challenges with their executives. The LGBTQ+ network group Proud@Unilever and the RACE ERG at Unilever enable employees to share their issues and contribute to organisational policies (Unilever, 2024).

Flexible working and inclusive policies

Unilever implements hybrid and flexible work programs that create benefits for workers with disabilities as well as parents who care for children (Unilever, 2021).

Effectiveness and Areas for Improvement

Unilever demonstrates its EDI commitment through various initiatives, although it needs to focus more attention on specific regions.

The leadership path progresses more slowly for minority ethnic populations, even when gender parity goals exist. According to McKinsey (2020), research shows organisations must maintain sponsorship initiatives which pair senior leaders with diverse talent for active career development.

The existing cultural sensitivity training program at Unilever consists of bias awareness education that needs more comprehensive cultural competency education. Unilever’s diverse operations call for managers to develop cross-cultural leadership skills, which would prove beneficial to the company (Unilever, 2024).

Digital Learning platforms at Unilever need the enhancement of accessibility features such as text size controls, colour contrast options, and subtitle options to accommodate employees with disabilities.

Therefore, the leadership and management development systems at Unilever correspond with EDI standards, but to reach full effectiveness, they need to strengthen mentorship programs, enhance cultural competency training, and optimise digital platform access for all users.

Question 8

AC 3.1 Identify two stakeholders and explain their involvement in leadership and management development initiatives in your organisation (or an organisation with which you are familiar)

The essential stakeholders who guide leadership development efforts at Unilever 

Success in developing leadership and management skills at Unilever requires outreach to several important business stakeholders. Two essential groups involved in these programs include Senior Leadership and People Professionals, who comprise HR and Learning and Development Teams. The leadership development initiatives need their participation to ensure strategic alignment and development of innovation while creating an inclusive environment at Unilever.

Senior Leadership (Executive Management)

Unilever’s CEO, together with the Board of Directors and functional heads, maintain essential responsibility for developing leadership programs within the organisation. The company’s development programs must support strategic business plans while maintaining sustainable performance commitments because of their active participation (Unilever, 2025).

Involvement and Importance

Advocacy and sponsorship

Senior leaders from Unilever work as sponsors for leadership development programs by obtaining funds and supporting initiatives that follow the company’s values-based leadership structure (Unilever, 2025).

Setting expectations

Leadership programs at Unilever receive their essential performance measurement parameters from senior executives who establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to produce trackable outcomes in talent retention alongside diversity improvements (Unilver, 2024).

Offering coaching and mentoring

Executives at Unilever combine with high-potential managers through the Senior Mentorship Programme to enable knowledge exchange that develops leadership potential (Unilever).

Driving cultural change

Strategic participation in diversity and inclusion programs from senior executives helps Unilever demonstrate its dedication to fair promotion throughout the organisation hierarchy (Unilver, 2024).

 People Professionals (HR & Learning & Development Teams)

The People Function, composed of HR professionals and Learning and development team members, takes charge of leadership development initiatives through their design creation implementation and assessment stages (Unilver, 2024). People Professionals maintain vital importance through their work to deliver effective programs that are accessible to all employees and maintain Unilever’s cultural standards.

Involvement and Importance

Programme design and delivery

The Learning and development personnel at Unilever design two main programs, including the Unilever Future Leaders Programme (UFLP) and specialised developmental pathways for their managerial workforce (Unilever, 2024).

Talent identification and succession planning

HR professionals utilise data assessments together with 360-degree feedback to discover future leadership potential that leads them to build specific development plans.

EDI Integration

The organisation implements EDI Integration by including equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) principles throughout their leadership programs, which offer development access to underrepresented groups (Unilever, 2024).

Measuring Success

HR evaluates leadership success through employee engagement surveys together with performance metrics and staff retention rates to improve programs according to received feedback.

Therefore, the executive team defines strategies and gives support to leadership development along with enforcing cultural changes, yet the human resources and employee development team manages organised learning activities dev, develops talent and embeds inclusive practices. Sustainable leadership development that includes everyone at Unilever is achieved through collaborative work.

Question 9

AC 3.2 Evaluate the extent and nature of the methods used by your own organisation (or an organisation with which you are familiar) to evaluate the impact of its leadership and management development activity. Drawing on your reading explain how this might be improved. Justify your answer.

Evaluation of Leadership and Management Development at Unilever

Unilever has established multiple methods for assessing leadership and management development programs to verify their alignment with team growth and company objectives. The company evaluates measurable outcomes, including employee engagement metrics, performance indicators, and retention statistics. The evaluation procedures currently used provide valuable information, but room exists to strengthen them to obtain better quantitative results and complete impact assessment.

Current Evaluation Methods

Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Model

Unilever’s leadership development initiatives received an assessment using Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Model. This model evaluates:

Reaction

Organisations measure participant satisfaction after training through survey activities (Kirkpatrick Partners, 2024).

Learning

Knowledge and skill gains between pre- and post-assessment tests are used to determine the outcomes of learning achievements (Kirkpatrick Partners, 2024).

Behaviour

Observing the application of learned skills in day-to-day leadership practices, often through managerial feedback and peer assessments.

Results

Research findings analyse the implications of extended business performance, which include better production rates and greater workforce involvement (Kirkpatrick Partners, 2024).

The model delivers a thorough assessment methodology, yet immediate post-training evaluations fail to track enduring leadership behaviour changes (Jackson, 2022). Leadership development assessments based on human perception often fail to use standard measurement methods to determine the long-term effects of developmental programs.

360-DegreeFeedback

Unilever depends on 360-degree feedback as one of its methods to evaluate leadership development. Executives at Unilever seek feedback from supervisors together with peers and subordinates to evaluate the leadership performance of their colleagues (Vorecol, 2019). Leadership behaviours receive a better evaluation by getting feedback that combines multiple viewpoints to both highlight positive aspects and reveal opportunities for better performance.

The particular approach proves important for helping people gain self-knowledge while assisting them in creating individualised skill improvement programs (Qualtrics, 2024). However, this approach depends on the subjective opinions of raters, and they can introduce bias into their evaluations. Also, the methodology falls short in offering a complete insight into the leadership development program’s impact on organisation-wide effects since it lacks direct comparison to measurable goals, including sales growth and employee retention numbers (Stone, 2022).

Recommendations for Improvement

Unilever should link educational performance indicators directly with company performance key performance indicators.

Unilever should enhance its leadership development evaluation process by creating stronger bonds between leadership training achievements and business key performance indicators, including financial metrics and customer satisfaction gaps. Leadership development assessments should incorporate existing performance metrics, which include team engagement KPIs, along with innovation KPIs and retention rate KPIs, since they directly demonstrate the long-term advantages of leadership growth.

Longitudinal Impact Tracking

Unilever needs to establish an extended measurement approach that tracks the continued effectiveness of behaviour changes in their leaders. To track leadership skill maintenance along with its impact on measurable team and employee metrics, Unilever should conduct routine evaluations between six and twelve months.

Enhanced Focus on EDI Metrics

Unilever should include EDI indicators in its evaluation process to determine how its leadership development training programs create inclusive organisational cultures. Unilever should evaluate the ways diversity exists in its leadership recruitment path and track the professional development of marginalised employee groups.

Presently, Unilever implements evaluation methods that successfully detect immediate participant responses and individual training results. The evaluation methods can achieve greater effectiveness by incorporating business results as metrics, tracking development effects over time and implementing equal diversity and inclusion analysis structures. Such enhancements will create a better and more dependable framework to measure the far-reaching effects of leadership and management development initiatives.

Question 10

AC 3.3 Assess two specific business benefits that can accrue to organisations which invest in first-rate, up-to-date, evidence-led leadership and management development programmes.

Business Benefits of Investing in Evidence-Led Leadership and Management Development at Unilever

A company that invests in present-day, evidence-based leadership and management development courses receives major business advantages. The investment in such programs leads to individual performance growth, together with improved team effectiveness and sustainable organisational growth. Any organisation, including Unilever, could obtain vital business benefits through sturdy leadership and management development investments.

Increased Employee Engagement and Reduced Turnover

The substantial outcome of leadership development investments provides better employee engagement, which leads to reduced turnover rates. Organisations led by managers who possess modern evidence-based knowledge about management and leadership demonstrate superior abilities to inspire, retain and motivate their teams (Ashley-Osuzoka, 2024).

Unilever emphasises transformative leadership and emotional intelligence during management training because it helps leaders understand their teams more deeply so they establish better trust and promote inclusivity throughout the organisation (Unilever, 2021). The outcome is improved employee satisfaction coupled with enhanced commitment, which then results in lower rates of employee turnover.

Leadership training helps executives better match team goals with corporate objectives, and this enables workers to develop increased engagement, which in turn produces higher motivation and lower turnover rates (Botwin, 2024). Employees who are highly engaged perform additional tasks that lead to productivity growth. The business performance improves while recruitment costs decrease substantially because employee retention increases through this practice. Unilever’s evidence-based leadership development initiative has enabled the company to prevent employee turnover, especially during global market competition (Unilever, 2024).

Enhanced Organisational Performance and Innovation

The clear business advantage of leadership development includes improved organisational performance as well as innovative capacity (The, 2024). Leaders who receive modern management training and learn how to manage challenging problems create better conditions for innovation in their teams.

The Unilever Future Leaders Programme (UFLP) serves as an example of evidence-based development that enables managers to acquire abilities for market adaptation, along with data-based decision-making and multicultural team management skills (Unilever, 2024). Leaders who apply problem-solving approaches supported by concrete evidence develop stronger abilities to discover new expansion possibilities while handling interruptions.

Organisations that provide fresh training ensure their leaders stay current on new technological patterns alongside market conditions and consumer trends (Join the Collective, 2024). With this knowledge, the company adopts a leading position instead of a following position, which results in enhanced decision quality and market success. The financial funds of an organisation dedicated to leadership development create measurable innovation benefits that include advanced product development and streamlining processes as well as better customer experiences (IMD, 2025).