PremiumParanjpe—a former chief executive officer of HUL, India and executive vice-president for Unilever, South Asia—will lead the company’s business transformation and head the human rights function, the company said
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NEW DELHI : Consumer goods company Unilever Plc on Tuesday said it will slash 1,500 management positions globally as part of an organizational shakeup and appointed chief operating officer Nitin Paranjpe as its chief transformation officer and chief people officer.
The company employs 149,000 people worldwide. In India, Sanjiv Mehta, chairman and managing director, will continue to lead the business at its local arm Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL).
Unilever said it will focus on five business divisions—beauty and well-being, personal care, home care, nutrition, and ice-cream.
Responding to Mint’s query on the India business, a company spokesperson said HUL has a mutually beneficial relationship with the Unilever Group.
“India has been and continues to be one of the three top priority markets for Unilever. We will continue to have executive leadership of Sanjiv Mehta, chairman and managing director, under the supervision and guidance of the HUL board. We have a mutually beneficial and interdependent relationship with Unilever Group, bringing the best of trends, innovations and capabilities to the Indian market. We will continue to leverage this organization structure to serve our consumers and customers even better. Changes, if any, will be announced in due course," the spokesperson said.
Unilever announced these measures in a bid to ease shareholder concerns.
Shares at Unilever have fallen about 13% over the past year, according to a report by Reuters.
The company recently made an unsuccessful bid for GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer healthcare business.
HUL is the largest pure-play fast-moving consumer goods company in India, selling everything from detergents to soaps. It employed 21,000 people and had a turnover of ₹45,311 crore in 2020-21. Its products are sold in over 8 million outlets in the country.
Paranjpe—a former chief executive officer of HUL, India and executive vice-president for Unilever, South Asia—will lead the company’s business transformation and head the human rights function, the company said.
The organizational model has been developed over the last year, said Alan Jope, chief executive officer, Unilever. “The model is designed to continue the step-up we are seeing in the performance of our business," he said.
“Moving to five category-focused business groups will enable us to be more responsive to consumer and channel trends, with crystal-clear accountability for delivery. Growth remains our top priority and these changes will underpin our pursuit of this," said Jope.
The proposed new organization model will result in a reduction in senior management roles of around 15% and junior management roles by 5%, equivalent to around 1,500 roles globally, the company said.
Unilever also announced changes to its leadership team, including the appointment of Fernando Fernandez, executive vice-president, Latin America, as president, beauty and well being; Fabian Garcia, president, North America, has been appointed president of personal care, responsible for skin cleansing, deodorants, and oral care.
Hanneke Faber, president of foods and refreshment, has been appointed president of the company’s nutrition business, among other changes.
Other members of the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE) will continue in their roles.
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