British-Dutch multinational Unilever, a leading player in the consumer goods sector, has announced plans to reduce its workforce starting next month as part of a strategy to maximize profits. The company, which operates in over 190 countries including Ethiopia, currently employs more than 128,000 people globally.
The decision to downsize comes in response to declining profits and an oversaturated employee base. Unilever has been a prominent provider of food, home, and personal care products in Ethiopia since 2015. Sources indicate that the company had signaled its intention to cut staff six months ago, with the reductions set to take effect in December 2024.
This workforce reduction is not limited to Ethiopia; it is part of a broader initiative that will impact employees worldwide. In Ethiopia, the company plans to streamline operations by reducing the number of employees in each administrative unit to one or two.
While Unilever aims to offer discounts on its products both locally and internationally, it is expected that the cuts will have a more significant impact on lower-paid workers. Employees are reportedly exploring alternative options amid the impending changes.
Unilever has been in operation for over 120 years and produces more than 400 well-known brands, including Signal, Lifebuoy, OMO, Sunlight, Knorr, Geisha, and Lux. In Ethiopia, the company markets more than 20 products.
Recently, Unilever sold its Russian operations to a local manufacturing group following pressure from campaigners who argued that the company’s presence in Russia supported the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
In its latest financial report for the third quarter of 2024, Unilever recorded sales of approximately 15.2 billion euros, a decline from about 16 billion euros in the previous quarter. As it navigates these challenges, Unilever’s workforce reduction reflects ongoing efforts to enhance profitability and adapt to changing market conditions.
Consultancy Service for the Development of organizational working manuals (Human Resource management manual, financial management manual and Logistics & Procurement manual) for Garden Dairy
October, 2024
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Background
Garden Dairy is small enterprise that was established as a small milk retail business in late 2019 in southern Addis Ababa. It is now an enterprise engaged in dairy processing, wholesale, and retail trade business. The enterprise’s products are raw milk, yogurt, cheese of different types, and butter. It generates revenue from the sale of these products. The enterprise collects raw milk from framers and process into different and supplying them to the market. Currently the enterprise has more than 18 full time staffs and the enterprise is working to expand it production capacity by increasing the number of staffs and milk collection capacity. Furthermore the enterprise financial resource is increasing from the time to time.
Despite the growth of the enterprises, the enterprise is operational for not more than four years and the Organizational management system is not yet led by operational manuals. Hence, it is important to produce a policy manuals particularly HR manual, Financial management and procurement manuals for the application of general principles that guide and govern its operation and human resources and financial management.
The creation of a realistic and practical company organizational structure that enhances the contribution of all staffs involved in the realization of the objectives of the Company is compulsory. The policy manual draws on normal practices in the administration and management of the enterprise, the Ethiopian Labour Law, the experiences of other similar enterprises and a modern approach. To provide a uniform guideline that facilitates the timely recording, summarizing and preparation of financial reports, put in place an effective internal control system, create a system that facilitates proper custody, and utilization of resources and to promote financial accountability and transparency, financial management manual is important. To ensure effective use of resources and competitive based procurement process, procurement manual is very important.
The purpose of this TOR is to recruit qualified consultant to develop Organizational manuals particularly, HR manual, Financial and Logistics & Procurement manual for Garden dairy and organize training for staffs to understand the manuals.
Objective of the consultancy:
The major objective of the consultancy work is to Develop Three organizational manuals particularly HR manual, Financial and Logistics & Procurement manual including creating annexes that include request forms, checklists, report templates, trackers, and other relevant tools for Garden Dairy and organize training for staffs to present the manuals.
Specific Objectives of this assignment are:
To Develop HR manual
To develop Financial management manual
To develop Logistics & Procurement Manual
Organize one day Training for concerned staffs to fully understand the manuals
Scope of the consultancy
What is to be done?
The consultant is expected to make assessment the current organizational management systems and documents, collaborate with relevant departments to gather input & insights, Develop draft HR, Financial management and Logistics & Procurement Manuals, collect feedback on the draft manuals, Submission of final documents for approval and organize one day training on the manuals to the concerned staffs of the enterprise.
Duration of the assignment:
The assignment should be completed within One Month after entering into agreement. First week to make assessment; second and third weeks to draft the manuals and the fourth week for Finalization and training
Methodology:
The consultant will make initial assessment of the organizational management system which will include review of existing policy documents. The consultant will organize meeting with company leadership to understand the demand. The company will also collect data from other companies similar to the Garden dairy. Organizing training for concerned staffs will also help to understand the policy document by all staffs.
Table 1: Specific Activities to be undertaken by the Consultant: The consultant will come up with a detailed action plan/schedule.
Stage 2: Conduct a thorough needs assessment and review of existing organizational documents.
Stage 3: Drafting of the Manuals
Stage 4: Organize Training on the manuals
Consultancy Deliverables
This engagement will have the following deliverables:
Inception report
Initial Assessment Report
Draft three manuals (HR, Financial and Logistics & Procurement)
Final Policy documents
Training attendance of Garden Staffs
Reporting and Communication:
The CONSULTANT will hold a contract with Garden Dairy and will receive technical feedbacks from Oxfam in Ethiopia.
Payment of the Consultancy:
The payment for this consultancy will happen in two installments:
Payment
Amount
Note
1
30%
Submission of Draft policy documents
2
70%
Submission of final Policy documents
Required Profile of the CONSULTANT:
Potential CONSULTANT should have the following profile:
Extensive knowledge and proven experience of Developing organizational policies
Minimum of MA/MSc/MBA holder.
Recommendations from Organizations/Business served by the consultant
Major Responsibilities of Different Actors:
Garden Dairy partner organization (Oxfam in Ethiopia) will monitor the quality of the assignment and provide approval if the assignment are delivered successfully.
Garden dairy will be responsible for handling administrative issues to making available documents and organize the trainings.
The consultant is expected to accomplish all the activities listed in Table 1 above and come up with the deliverables listed under Section 5 above.
Submission of technical and financial proposals – Application:
The CONSULTANT is expected to submit technical and financial proposals which include the following:
Express well on the methodology of how the CONSULTANT intends to carry out the assignment. Possible to suggest improvement to the ToR.
A proposed work plan that includes proposed dates and the intended period covering the assignment.
A proposed budget that reflects cost breakdown (breakdown of consultants’ daily rates and other pertinent costs, if any).
Estimation of Number of Consultancy Days:
A total about three weeks is estimated, but the CONSULTANT can estimate the actual dates required to accomplish the assignment may be based on the practical experiences.
Evaluation criteria: The CONSULTANT will be evaluated based on the following criteria
Mandatory requirements:
The applicants to go through this selection criteria would be those who have submitted copies of legal documents (valid registration, renewed business license and TIN certificates). This is the first step that should be checked before identifying consulting firms eligible for selection. If this requirement is not fulfilled, the applicant’s technical and financial proposals will be rejected, and the application will be disqualified.
Other Criteria:
No
Criteria description
Maximum weight
1
Understanding and reflection on the terms of reference (ToR). How deep the consultant understood the assignment including its scope.
5
2
Proposed methodologies and tools for the development of Organizational manuals
10
3
Good understanding of organizational policy development (professional experience) (experience of the firm or the owner)
10
4
Technical competency of proposed professional(s) to undertake the assignment (professional background) (Please include CVs of each member not more than 3 pages each for the team proposed for this work) (not only CV but also agreement with the consultant )
10
5
Rich knowledge and demonstrated experience in organizational Policy development (HR, Finance, Procurement)
15
6
Recommendations from organizations/enterprises served by the consultant
20
Sub – Total for Technical Evaluation
70
N.B. bidders who score below the technical pass mark will be considered non-responsible and will not move to the next evaluation stage which is financial evaluation
Financial evaluation
30
Detailed Budget to deliver the task should be clearly indicated. The applicant should detail its financial requirement to undertake the assignment and should not leave anything for the assumption that the company would cover the cost of some of the tasks. The cost should include, but not limited to: Consultancy/Professional FeesOther expenses (please mention nature of expenditure)Total amount including TOT/VAT & other applicable taxes Terms of Payment Please clearly indicate the validation period of your financial proposal
Total
100
Invitation for bid Timetable
DATE
TIME
Tender advertisement date
Deadline for submission of tenders (receiving date, not sending date)
Deadline for request for any clarifications from Garden Dairy
Last date on which clarifications are issued by Garden Dairy
