Introduction
Since the start of strategic planning, the environment’s constant flux has made five-year planning challenging. Consequently, it is essential to comprehend the complex network of ecological and organizational elements influencing plan execution (Morgan et al., 2019). Measuring and categorizing administrative components facilitates the development of successful strategies. Due to the unpredictability of the global economy, businesses must develop performance plans based on the results of the environment. Numerous studies emphasize the significance of internal and external circumstances in strategy formulation (Sooducho-Pelc & Sulich, 2020). It is essential to study the internal and external settings of the organization to identify obstacles to plan implementation. This study examines PZ Cussons’ internal and external environments to develop HR strategies, improve the employees’ effectiveness and the company’s financial performance.
PZ Cussons Nigeria
PZ Cussons Plc is a market leader in personal and home products. During the last several years, the company has discovered a method to redefine conducting business in consumer goods items (Kalu et al., 2021). PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc is a wholly-owned subsidiary of its parent company, which operates as a distributor, producer, and marketer of consumer goods. The company makes a wide range of products, including detergents, personal care products, soap, conditioners, moisturizing lotions, and hair moisturizers. Diet and nutrition, electronic equipment, home care, beauty, and personal care are the categories of these commodities. PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc’s markets are: Cussons Baby, Carex, Morning Fresh, Premier Cool, The Imperial Leather, Haier Thermocool, Mamador, Zip, and Devon Kings brands are promoted by Cussons Nigeria Plc under the PZ brand umbrella. PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, and operates more than 30 distribution locations around the country (Sołoducho-Pelc & Sulich, 2020). As a result, to develop a successful human resource strategy for a firm, one must consider the organization’s competitive advantage and possible internal and external contexts.
Business Model
PZ Cussons’s business strategy relies on brand development to benefit all stakeholders. The business concept involves gaining an understanding of present and future customer needs. PZ Cussons uses comparable information to build consistently popular brands and products (Davidescu et al., 2020). PZ Cusson depends on marketing and advertising. This business plan is executed by investing in multichannel advertising and marketing campaigns to engage with consumers and build recognizable, trustworthy, and well-liked brands (Abubakari & Thuranira, 2021). This method establishes customer relationships and distribution networks to supply products wherever consumers shop and provides them with items that meet their needs.
Competitive Advantage
Competitive advantage refers to the benefit rivals get by selling or supplying superior value to their consumers in return for their money. It is gained whether via lower pricing or product and service differentiation (Cavallo et al., 2020). Competitive advantage is defined by superior performance, which is defined as outperforming present or future rivals, maximizing profit, or acquiring a significant market share.
PZ’s innovation capability is a crucial competitive advantage. Due to PZ’s quick creation of new items, they have been able to address new market risks and provide existing customers with reasons to purchase from PZ (Malik, 2019). Customers often look for discounts and unique offers on items, which is another benefit of PZ’s creative approach. Additionally, PZ’s innovation assists them in weakening the negotiating power of their customers by introducing new items regularly. Thus, due to innovation, new items’ availability minimizes patronizing customers’ departure from PZ products and gives PZ goods a competitive edge in the market.
PZ also has a dynamic orientation since it is service-oriented and product-oriented, focusing on what consumers need rather than purchasing. This feature provides them with a competitive edge over competing goods and services. Similarly, PZ maintains cheap costs for its clients by using economies of scale (Chikwe & Biriowu, 2018). This approach positions them as a danger to new competitors and replacement goods or services. PZ’s research and development efforts are notable since these expenditures offer the company a competitive advantage against new threats.
PZ has an efficient supply chain due to its diverse supply chains and committed suppliers, giving them a competitive edge in negotiating power with suppliers. In addition, PZ’s multiple attributes provide the company with a durable distinction from the competition (Chikwe & Biriowu, 2018). After gaining a comprehensive understanding of the organization and critically evaluating its competitive advantage, it is necessary to examine its organizational context to develop successful strategies for the organization.
Organizational Context Analysis
The internal and external environment may be characterized in terms of a large number of different factors. Rules and regulations of the corporate environment, national culture, markets, and industry characteristics are all examples of contextual elements that may influence an organization’s human resource strategy (Voukkali & Zorpas, 2022). In appendices 2 and 3, the PESTLE and SWOT analyses are used to examine PZ’s organizational setup; additional sources and articles support the analysis.
PESTLE Analysis
Political Analysis
There is a relationship between political variables and the elements impacting PZ Cussons Plc’s long-term profitability in a particular nation or market. To thrive in a market as dynamic as Nigeria’s personal and home goods industry, one must diversify one’s exposure to systemic risks linked to the country’s political setting (Bruijl, 2018). Most Nigerian policies provide incentives for food and nutrition companies, electrical appliances businesses, and home care, beauty, and personal care businesses in Nigeria. These political inducements include tariff reductions, duty-free imports, and ease of access to land. However, the inner political background is oddly combined with a more hostile global economic environment.
Economic Analysis
The prolonged recession in the U.S. has had a negative impact on a variety of industries, including electrical appliances, home care, and beauty and personal care. PZ Cussons’ study revealed an indirect decline in investment from global corporations that had previously invested in the industry. This, in turn, has led to a significant mismatch between supply and demand for most of PZ’s goods (Sołoducho-Pelc & Sulich, 2020). The HR Management will possibly have to restructure the International Affairs Department in order to regain connection with foreign investors.
Social Analysis
Employees in the electrical appliances, home care, and personal care industries have developed a variety of health problems because of their working environment. Because most individuals do not want to work, recruiting employees in this field have become more difficult (Abdel-Basset et al., 2018). Most of the industries established by PZ are responsible for the rise of several rural regions, which have improved the people’s level of life (Abubakari & Thuranira, 2021). The perception of PZ has made it difficult to acquire exceptional employees, which is also a task for HR to partake in order to maintain the company’s relevance.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Purposive Recruitment: PZ Cussons Plc has a high percentage of staff recruited through rigorous measures. Therefore, they are geared toward long-term organizational objectives. Furthermore, purposeful hiring ensures PZ has culture-fit staff and conforming workers that adhere to the objective of the organization, which proves the motivational effectiveness of the HR department.
Highly Experienced Onboard Workforce: PZ Cussons Plc has a veteran workforce due to its effective training and learning program. As a result, it fosters a strong link between the employee and the company’s values or purpose. Further, it is essential for the company’s HR team to achieve long-term employee participation. PZ has also made enormous investments in the training and development of its personnel, resulting in a highly competent staff and an eagerness to do more.
Weaknesses
Employee Benefits: PZ’s employee turnover rate is relatively high because of low incentives in sick pay, holiday pay, and pension, which have attributed to undesirable labor returns, as employees tend to lose the motivation because of interruptions in payment.
Employee Wellbeing: The rise of mental issues in PZ due to burnout has equaled reduced productivity. Therefore, PZ being a dedicated organization towards their employees should encourage the HR to establish a mental health foundation that employees would benefit from.
Opportunities
Hybrid Work Model: The expansion of the market would reduce the advantages held by competitors, which will allow PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc to increase its level of competitiveness compared to that of its rivals. Hence, the organization may establish additional flexibility in workplace. That requires putting the focus on the employees and allows for a combination of in-office and remote work that will lead to a conducive working culture at PZ.
The HR management will also have to employ diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) as part of their workplace ethics. DEI activities are a component of efforts to address prejudice, discrimination, harassment, unfair compensation, and other problems that occur in the workplace. The necessity for DEI has also risen as a result of the changing work paradigms, which have shifted from being conducted in person to being conducted in virtual or hybrid settings that PZ has used.
Threats
Over Transparency: Over the last two years, consistent openness has led to an increase in the number of other organizations emulating the PZ work culture. This brings downward pressure on profitability and general sales, which has resulted in decreased sales. In this way, PZ gives a way for excessive amount of competitors, who are considered to be one of the most common threats in a SWOT model (Krwawicz, 2019). The HR as a conceptual mastermind of the company should establish a more hermetic working situation in which structural plagiarism would be less possible.
HR Strategies
The HR division develops human resource strategies for PZ that will be most effective in assisting the company in overcoming its issues and improving its performance. In addition, human resources may collaborate with other departments to improve the company’s profitability, value, and attractiveness (Voukkali & Zorpas, 2022). This strategy will be significant to the organization since it has the potential to aid in the growth of the organization. In order to help PZ reduce present problems, access potential possibilities, overcome weaknesses, and strengthen areas of strength, the following human resource initiatives will be implemented.
Improving Compensation Packages
Every employee places a high value on money, incentives, and other advantages. Providing them with a competitive wage that allows them to live the lifestyle they choose is essential (Okeke & Ikechukwu, 2019). This will aid the company in decreasing its high staff turnover rate and raising employee satisfaction, both of which are now high (Fuertes et al., 2020). As a result, the company can better keep its highly trained employees, which saves money by eliminating the need to quickly retrain new employees in the same role.
Flexibility
It is critical to provide workers with a range of scheduling options and opportunities to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Lack of work-life balance and inflexible working hours lead to high employee turnover and low engagement (Bruijl, 2018). Flexibility will ultimately cause employees to work harder for the organization, which will reduce the attrition rate. Flexibility will also reduce the cost of employee turnover (Okeke & Ikechukwu, 2019). This turnover will alleviate some of the organization’s problems, such as the high turnover rate of employees.
Recruitment Strategy
A smart recruiting strategy identifies the kind of candidate required for a job, relieving the organization of the need to continually balance workers’ abilities and personalities to develop a stronger team. In addition, it will reduce staff turnover by giving potential employees detailed information on their roles (Mujtaba & Senathip, 2020). The most successful recruitment strategy is the Realistic Employment Preview (RJP), which gives employees accurate employment expectations (Sooducho-Pelc & Sulich, 2020). New employees are more satisfied with their jobs when they have reasonable expectations. RJP decreases staff turnover, enhances employee satisfaction, and increases organizational commitment (DiClaudio, 2019). This recruiting will assist the company in mitigating specific challenges, such as entering a new market and staff retention.
Employee Performance Review
It is vital to identify the skills and abilities that employees now possess and those they need in a changing society. Thus, employee testing, self-assessment, feedback, and simulations will be used to achieve this (Lin & Kellough, 2019). These performance evaluations will help the firm train employees about areas where they may improve while also recognizing they excel (Sharma et al., 2020). Employee performance evaluations will also save money for the organization since they will reduce the need to train all personnel regularly and divert those resources toward tackling new entrants such as the oil market, which has been a source of dispute (Olson et al 2018). Additionally, it will aid the firm in establishing the competencies required of workers to handle their money successfully, hence boosting the organization’s financial efficiency. An introduction of DEI ethical standards would also be appreciated to enhance the balanced communication between members of the organization.
Conclusion
PZ Cussons Nigeria’s success stems from dependable suppliers, excellent marketing techniques, and a highly competent staff. Additionally, they face dangers from new environmental requirements, and fierce rivalry. The HR management needs to change the recruitment strategy in order to reduce employee turnover and leakage of workplace settings. This report recommended many human resource initiatives, including salary enhancement and employee performance evaluation. Being a mediator between the company and the workers, HR can enhance the company’s performance by positively adjusting the aforementioned problematic segments.
References
Abdel-Basset, M., Mohamed, M., & Smarandache, F. (2018). An extension of neutrosophic AHP–SWOT analysis for strategic planning and decision-making. Symmetry, 10(4), 116. Web.
Abubakari, M., & Thuranira, B. (2021). The consumer goods sector and the sustainability agenda in Ghana: A review of sustainability commitments. Discover Sustainability, 2(1), 1-17. Web.
Akman, M. K. (2019). SWOT analysis and security management. European Journal of Management and Marketing Studies. Web.
Bruijl, G. H. T. (2018). The relevance of Porter’s five forces in today’s innovative and changing business environment. Available at SSRN 3192207. Web.
Cavallo, A., Sanasi, S., Ghezzi, A., & Rangone, A. (2020). Competitive intelligence and strategy formulation: Connecting the dots. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal. Web.
Chikwe, J. E., & Biriowu, C. S. (2018). Strategic planning and firm’s sustainability in turbulent business operating environment: Lessons from selected oil and gas industry in Nigeria. International Journal of Business and General Management, 7, 5-16.
Davidescu, A. A., Apostu, S. A., Paul, A., & Casuneanu, I. (2020). Work flexibility, job satisfaction, and job performance among Romanian employees—Implications for sustainable human resource management. Sustainability, 12(15), 6086. Web.
DiClaudio, M. (2019). People analytics and the rise of HR: How data, analytics and emerging technology can transform human resources (HR) into a profit center. Strategic HR Review.
Fuertes, G., Alfaro, M., Vargas, M., Gutierrez, S., Ternero, R., & Sabattin, J. (2020). Conceptual framework for the strategic management: A literature review—Descriptive. Journal of Engineering, 2020.
Lin, Y. C., & Kellough, J. E. (2019). Performance appraisal problems in the public sector: Examining supervisors’ perceptions. Public Personnel Management, 48(2), 179-202. Web.
Kalu, J. C., Obi, J. N., Ekeagbara, J. A., Odejobi, T., Obiri, J. E., Oloruntoba, A.,… & Beckley, B. C. (2021). Total quality management and its effects on organisational performance: A study of PZ Cussons Plc. Lagos, Nigeria. International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 32(2), 203-215. Web.
Krwawicz, M. (2019). Metoda SWOT Plus jako rozwinięcie metody SWOT. Nowoczesne Systemy Zarządzania, 14.
Malik, A. (2019). Creating competitive advantage through source basic capital strategic humanity in the industrial age 4.0. International Research Journal of Advanced Engineering and Science, 4(1), 209-215. IRJAES
Morgan, N. A., Whitler, K. A., Feng, H., & Chari, S. (2019). Research in marketing strategy. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47(1), 4-29.
Mujtaba, B. G., & Senathip, T. (2020). Layoffs and downsizing implications for the leadership role of human resources. Journal of Service Science and Management, 13(02), 209. Web.
Okeke, M. N., & Ikechukwu, I. A. (2019). Compensation management and employee performance in Nigeria. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 9(2). Web.
Olson, E. M., Slater, S. F., Hult, G. T. M., & Olson, K. M. (2018). The application of human resource management policies within the marketing organization: The impact on business and marketing strategy implementation. Industrial Marketing Management, 69, 62-73.
Sharma, A., K Tripathi, R., & Bhat, G. (2020). Comparative performance evaluation of RC frame structures using direct displacement-based design method and force-based design method. Asian Journal of Civil Engineering, 21(3), 381-394.
Sołoducho-Pelc, L., & Sulich, A. (2020). Between sustainable and temporary competitive advantages in the unstable business environment. Sustainability, 12(21), 8832.
Voukkali, I., & Zorpas, A. A. (2022). Evaluation of urban metabolism assessment methods through SWOT analysis and analytical hierocracy process. Science of The Total Environment, 807, 150700.
Appendix 1: PZ Cussons Business Model
Appendix 2: PZ Cussons Pestel Analysis
Technology Analysis
Technological advancements are rapidly disrupting several sectors. The transportation industry is an excellent instance of this. PZ Cussons Plc should do a study of the rate at which technology undermines its growth (Voukkali & Zorpas, 2022). This analysis focuses on how PZ’s competitors are utilizing new technology. It also examines how that technology is affecting their product offerings and how it affects their value chain structure within the Consumer Goods sector.
Environmental Analysis
A company’s profitability may be affected by differences in market norms or environmental standards, which may occur when various markets are compared. Several environmental and liability regulations are in effect even inside the borders of Nigeria (Sołoducho-Pelc & Sulich, 2020). For example, there are accountability provisions in the event of a mistake or an environmental catastrophe and favorable tax advantages for enterprises participating in the renewable energy industry.
Legal Analysis
In a few countries, such as Nigeria, the legal framework and institutions are inadequate to protect an organization’s intellectual property rights. PZ Cussons should thoroughly assess this matter since it might result in the theft of the organization’s secret sauce, eroding its overall competitive edge (Akman,2019). The leadership of PZ Cussons Plc should consider the following legal concerns in Nigeria: antitrust legislation in the personal and household goods business and across the nation; equality law; intellectual property law; consumer rights and e-commerce; labor regulations; and safety and health law.
Appendix 3: PZ Cussons SWOT Analysis
PZ Cussons Plc has a high rate of effective go-to-market strategies for its goods, which has contributed to the establishment of a highly sustainable economy. The healthy free cash flow of PZ Cussons Plc enables the company to invest in new initiatives. PZ Cussons Plc has a very effective training and learning program, which has resulted in a highly purposeful and experienced team.
In comparison to other organizations, PZ’s attrition rate is relatively high. Due to its strategy of implementing employee benefit scheme and developing foundations to check on mental health issues. Therefore, PZ Cussons Plc was able to meet the difficulties posed by new
The hybrid work model and DEI initiatives would result in the loss of competitive advantages, allowing PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc to increase its comparative competitiveness. A newly drafted taxation policy may substantially influence how the company is conducted and provide new opportunities for existing businesses such as PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc to increase profitability.
Their openness nature may threaten productivity since other organizations provide the same ideals. However, over the last two years, consistent profitability has increased the number of industry participants by exerting downward pressure on profitability and overall sales.
