Client Name

Unilever Pakistan

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Farah Naz Baig

SBS Thought Leadership Areas

Behavioural Studies

SBS Thought Leadership Area Justification

The selected thought leadership area, Behavioural Studies, directly aligns with my Experiential Learning Project (ELP), which explores how Gen Z perceives and reacts to employer branding in the context of Unilever Pakistan. Behavioural studies examine human attitudes, preferences, motivations, and decision-making—core components of my research.

My project applies behavioural insights to understand what drives Gen Z in workplace choices, how they interpret corporate culture through social media, and what causes engagement or disengagement with employer brands. The use of focus groups, interviews, and surveys to capture Gen Z's expectations and deal-breakers further reflects a behavioural approach to understanding organizational attraction.

By linking theory (e.g., the EmpAt model, psychological safety, and trust cues) to practical employer branding strategies, this project bridges academic behavioural frameworks with real-world HR practices. The findings not only highlight generational behavioural patterns but also offer actionable guidance for companies like Unilever to align their branding with the values and cognitive preferences of future talent.

Hence, Behavioural Studies is the most appropriate lens to frame and justify the contribution of this ELP.

Aligned SDGs

GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Aligned SDGs Justification

The most relevant Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) aligned with this project is Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. This study focuses on understanding and improving how organizations attract, engage, and retain Gen Z talent, particularly in the context of Unilever Pakistan. It explores workplace expectations around fair compensation, mental well-being, growth opportunities, flexibility, and inclusivity—all of which are essential elements of decent work. By highlighting the importance of authentic employer branding and aligning organizational practices with the values of young professionals, the project contributes to building more supportive, ethical, and future-ready workplaces. In doing so, it supports SDG 8’s aim to ensure inclusive and sustainable economic growth, productive employment, and decent work for all, especially the next generation entering the workforce.

NDA

No

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of employer branding on Gen Z in the context of Unilever Pakistan. It aims to understand Gen Z’s workplace preferences, how social media shapes their perceptions of employers, and what aspects of employer branding resonate with or fall short for this generation. The goal is to recommend strategies for Unilever Pakistan to enhance its employer brand appeal to emerging Gen Z talent. A mixed-method approach was adopted, relying entirely on primary data. Qualitative insights were gathered through six focus group discussions with university students (soon-to-be graduates) and ten in-depth interviews with Gen Z employees in various organizations. These conversations were transcribed and systematically coded to extract key themes and recurring ideas. Quantitative data were obtained from a structured survey of 284 Gen Z respondents, capturing their priorities, perceptions, and expectations regarding workplaces and employer branding. The survey results are presented with descriptive statistics and visualizations to complement the qualitative findings. The findings indicate that Gen Z places high importance on meaningful work, career growth, flexibility, competitive pay, and inclusive work cultures. They especially like valid and clear communication on the part of employers. The role of social media is both important and quite complicated, on the one hand, Instagram or LinkedIn are actively used to evaluate the employers, and on the other hand, too perfect posts tend to be understood suspiciously. Users were quite fond of behind-the-scenes content and employees generated content that portrays actual workplace dynamics. These themes were reinforced by the survey: more than 85 percent of respondents made flexible work and the ability to grow very high, and many pointed to the importance to them of the social or environment impact of a company. Remarkably, almost half of respondents indicated that staged branding content has an adverse impact on their impression of employer. To boost its popularity with employers, Unilever Pakistan needs to invest in genuine storytelling, market its culture of flexibility and value-based initiatives. To maintain the efforts on attracting talent in a competitive labor market, it will be important to commensurate the branding activities according to the values of Gen Z.

Document Type

Restricted Access

Document Name for Citation

Experiential Learning Project - Unilever EB

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