Unilever’s flexible work model changed what it means to go to work. Leaders created a place that made employees’ lives better despite increasing pressure to be more productive.A few years ago global consumer products corporation Unilever realized it needed to expand while cutting costs and carbon output. Now, Unilever employees can work whenever they like, wherever they like, as long as their work gets done.

Unilever calls this “agile working,” and it shifts the emphasis from time and attendance to specific targets and goals, creating a location-independent concept of work. “The idea was to really transform the culture around working at Unilever so the company could be more competitive as a global entity in a very competitive global marketplace,” said Chris Raia, vice president of organizational effectiveness and leader of the company’s agile working program.

But Unilever had to figure out how to unite a workforce spread across nearly every time zone in a way that was convenient for everyone. “Unilever’s business model is one where much of the innovation that the company brings to market is generated by global teams and then implemented in operating companies around the world,” Raia said.

The company had to look for ways to help people work more effectively on global teams using technology while simultaneously reducing real estate costs and becoming more environmentally sustainable.

Unilever leaders realized that while promoting efficiency and sustainability, they could also create a place that made employees’ lives better despite increasing pressure to be more productive.

“Business conditions have never been more competitive,” Raia said. “We weren’t facing any really acute issues with people. There was just a general awareness on behalf of the HR function and senior leaders of the company that people are feeling stretched, that we have to help people work differently, more flexibly and in more balanced ways; to remove what we call the ‘artificial barriers’ to productivity, to help them not only be better at their work but also have a better quality of life.”

The Agile Worker Model

“There is no real ‘typical day’ for me,” Plummer said. “I choose where I need to be for the activity that I need to do that day. … If I want to talk to my boss, Chris, we will have a Skype conversation, and I can do that from the office, but it’s often easier to just do that from home. We’ll often work on documents using Skype, so we’ll spend up to two hours a day doing desk sharing on Skype together.”

Plummer said the key to staying focused in a boundary-less position is clear communication about not only the goals she’s expected to achieve but the availability of each team member. “We’re not focusing on working nine to five. I sometimes work at seven in the morning, I sometimes work until 11 at night, and I’ll go for a run at lunch time or I’ll have the evening off. Sometimes I’ll work really long hours, and sometimes I won’t,” Plummer said.

It’s all about having performance-based targets rather than focusing on time and attendance, she said, and leveraging technology and flexible work arrangements to support them. “I’ve got four main goals for the year, and every week we go through where we’re at with everything.”

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