Conversation with Navashree Bharadwaj, Employer Brand Manager at HUL
HUL is the market leader in Indian consumer products with a presence in over 20 consumer categories such as soaps, tea, detergents, shampoos, foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products and water purifiers with over 700 million Indian consumers using its products.
Sixteen of HUL's brands featured in the AC Nielsen Brand Equity list of 100 Most Trusted Brands Annual Survey (2014), carried out by Brand Equity, a supplement of The Economic Times. HUL is one of the country's largest exporters; it has been recognized as a Golden Super Star Trading House by the Government of India.
HUL has been a pioneer in organizing many student engagement programs to register its footprint over talent acquisition space. Owing to the receptive mentality of its management it has been successful in maintaining a steady and a positive image of being a first-choice employer.
Navashree Bharadwaj is an Employer Brand Manager, HR at HUL (Hindustan Unilever Limited) since September 2016. She had pursued MA in Human Relations Management and Labour Relations from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai in the year 2013-15. She was hired by HUL upon completion of her course as a Management Trainee in May 2015.
Here are the valuable insights shared by Navashree Bharadwaj:
How has HUL L.I.M.E evolved over the years?
L.I.M.E has entered into season 10 now, and there has been a lot of changes over the years. The initial conception was to start a marketing-specific competition as no such competition existed at that point in time. We also wanted to be a market leader and come out as a one-stop-shop to learn about marketing.
Over the years we have realized to provide this opportunity to other companies as well. This made us to partner with other small companies who did not have a greater reach into the campuses and introduced their cases into the competition.
New things were added almost every year, however, the outlook of L.I.M.E drastically changed in 2017 after receiving feedback from students, who wanted more HUL cases to be inculcated into the competition.
Initially, HUL L.I.M.E would be held in 10-12 campuses, gradually a wildcard entry was initiated to reach out to non-participating campuses.
Last year, the zonal format was introduced with 18 participating colleges divided into zone A and B. To reduce complexity each zone was given a single case to be solved. In the grand finale, we tried to introduce something relevant and contemporary like, how to encourage people to pay income tax, even a case on election prospect, etc. All these innovations and changes made L.I.M.E a popular competition among students.
Proud Moments: HUL | Organiser’s Perspective
There is one such memory when a particular team presented their idea on the election prospect in a grand finale, it was highly appreciated by the invited Chief Election Commissioner. Later on, the team was asked by the govt. body to design a full-fledged campaign for them. This made me feel very proud.
According to a survey by AC Nielsen on the best employer to work for with one of the judging parameters being Student Engagement Initiatives, HUL has been winning the first position for the last two years. Especially at this time when lot many competitions are getting launched and some of them being great ones, it makes us feel really great.
How HUL evaluates SUCCESS of its Student Engagements?
We have a pre-decided agenda and objective behind all these employer branding initiatives. HUL is a leadership factory and we have nearly 450+ CEOs as per the latest count so our main theme is always focussed on Leadership. All the programs that we do also carry that fervor inside it. Our Future Leader program, Internship program, leadership workshops all have Leadership as their main theme.
During campus talks, we always try to portray HUL's belief in leadership and gives early on the responsibility to its employees. We try to inform the students that HUL as a brand is not only focussed on marketing and there are myriad profiles in finance, sales, etc. Once the students have clarity about various profiles, we judge the success of our engagements by checking the strength of the audience and also the increase in the number of applications received and the actual participation.
What are the various student engagement initiatives executed by HUL?
Apart from L.I.M.E, FINACE, The Premier League, IT REBOOT, we also have a competition named TECHSPARK exclusively for the students in IITs.
How HUL connects with students on campuses?
We connect with students via a digital platform and by organizing various student engagement competitions across campuses. However, leadership talks and internship programs have been the best connect points for HUL.
Advice (Tips) for the students participating in HUL L.I.M.E
I would ask the participants not to overdo things. Often times the idea-based challenge takes the shape of a research-based challenge and students deviate from the main theme. The panelists look for the clarity of the ideas rather than looking for a possible solution. We are more concerned about the approach.
Unique Proposition of HUL L.I.M.E
We had been pioneers in organizing student engagement competitions for many years now. However, there are a lot many good competitions conducted by other brands. However, there are certain things which make us stand out in the crowd is firstly CNBC working as a media partner, HUL L.I.M.E has many different rounds culminating in a grand finale where students present cases of national importance.
We keep executing small changes in branding, creating awareness among students, and also by adding mentorship to the competition at times. HUL L.I.M.E has now become an international challenge. We try our best to keep the cases relevant to make the competition look very contemporary.