After a challenging contest among the top six finalists, team Extra Drill from the Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka (IBA DU) lifted the coveted champion's trophy of Unilever Bangladesh's BizMaestros 2022. The final event saw teams from the Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP); the Faculty of Business Studies (FBS), and IBA of DU. The champion team of Sibbir Riyan, Akibur Rahman and Ferdous Hasan will now prepare for a greater stage, the international level of the competition – Unilever Future Leaders' League (FLL) 2023, that will take place in London with participants from universities across the world. The first runner-up title was awarded to Team Inmates of Ishrat Jahan Ikra, Syed Fatin Ishraq, and Naeem Abrar from DU. Team Final Gambit was named the second runner-up. The second runner-up team members are Marjuka Ahmed Chowdhury, Shelachi Mitra, and GM Naimuz Saadat from BUP. The overarching theme of BizMaestros this year was "Bangladesh Rising With U." The theme focused on the potential and possibilities that the youth dividend can lead Bangladesh from their respective areas of skills and passion. As a platform for skilling youth for employability and entrepreneurship, BizMaestros provides the participants hands-on training, mentorship and exposure to the ways of work of leading FMCG brands throughout various rounds of the competition. Also, the members of the top six teams will get fast-tracked into internship and management trainee programme opportunities with Unilever Bangladesh. The grand finale event was held on Tuesday at a Dhaka hotel where the finalist teams were evaluated by a panel of esteemed judges. Read more: Unilever Bangladesh wins 'Asia's Best Employer Brands 2022' award To develop leadership and analytical skills for the future among the youth, BizMaestros 2022 kicked off early in October. More than 270 teams from over 30 campuses participated in the first round where the three-member teams, from their undergraduate final year, submitted their unique solutions to real business cases. Following a competitive and challenging round, the top 30 teams were forwarded to the semi-final and the top six teams to the final round. Read more: 'The Dependables' wins Unilever BizMaestros 2021

Unilever Bangladesh has been recognised as "Asia's Best Employer Brand 2022" by the World HRD Congress for its "commitment to cater to the evolving demands of the youth's career preferences and the changing business environment." The 13th edition of Asia's Best Employer Brand Awards gathered global industry leaders and organisations in Singapore. Zaved Akhtar, chief executive officer and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh, said: "Becoming a top employer of choice gives us the privilege of onboarding a diverse group of the brightest minds as partners in our endeavour of building a better planet and society." Read: Unilever Bangladesh donates Tk 50 lakh to employees affected by flood Sakshi Handa, human resource director of Unilever Bangladesh, said: "Through various campus programmes, we offer the youth the opportunity to take up high-impact careers in a field of their choice – supply chain, marketing, finance or corporate." "We also have freelancing opportunities, return from career break programs and BizMaestros – one of the best business competitions in Bangladesh, that challenges the youth to unleash their potential."

Unilever Bangladesh Limited (UBL), the largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company has recently launched a Voluntary Donation Programme to support the families of its outer core employee, the Distribution Field Force (DFF), who have been impacted by the devastating floods in Sylhet, Bogra, and the central-northern region of Bangladesh. Through this programme, employees of Unilever Bangladesh have donated a portion of their monthly salary, and the company matched the donations to raise a total of Tk 50 lakhs, read a media statement. More than 550 DFF staff were affected by the floods, living without basic necessities such as clean water and shelter. Read: Bangladesh wins Unilever Future Leaders' League 2022 To stand beside them, Unilever Bangladesh is providing a sum of Tk fifty lakhs of monetary assistance over July and August and distributing water purifier tablets and protective gear like gum boots. “The Distribution Field Force (DFF) is an integral part of UBL. Despite the impact of the flood, they are doing their duties to smooth business continuity. “We are committed to the health and wellbeing of our staff, and as a company, rallied together to stand beside our DFF in their tough time. After all, when you take care of your people, they will take care of the business,” said Sakshi Handa, Human Resource Director, Unilever Bangladesh Limited. Read Unilever starts collecting plastic in partnership with Circular As one resilient team, Unilever Bangladesh is ensuring the continued safety and well-being of the DFF and their families.

A three-member team from Bangladesh has won the Unilever Future Leaders' League competition, a business case competition that connects students from all over the world. With this win, Bangladesh holds two champions and three runners-up trophies of the Unilever Future Leaders' League. The global competition aims to create a "better business and a better world through empowering the youth" to solve real-life business challenges. This year over 54,000 applications were received from 45 universities globally. Abrar Mahir Ahmed, Afnan Sayed and Rafsaan Muhab Shams won the award after competing with 23 countries in the final round. All three of them are now management trainees of Unilever. Rafsaan is an alumnus of Dhaka University's Institute of Business Administration, and Abrar and Afnan are alumni of North South University. As the winners, they will receive a career development opportunity of an all-inclusive trip to the Unilever headquarters in London. In Bangladesh, the opportunity to participate in this global forum is awarded to the champions of BizMaestros – the flagship business competition of Unilever Bangladesh. Read: 'The Dependables' wins Unilever BizMaestros 2021 From 340 students of undergraduate final years, the BizMaestros finalists had to go through multiple rounds with increasing levels of challenges to solve. Through these rounds, the participants were provided with hands-on training from managers, learning sessions with real business cases and mentorship from leaders of Unilever. Mohammad Zaved Akhtar, chief executive officer and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh, said: "It is a moment of pride for Unilever Bangladesh to witness our talented team's glorious win in the Unilever Future Leaders' League competition. The team showcased their skills and talent on an international platform and upheld the Bangladesh flag."

Unilever Bangladesh and Circular, a social purpose-driven organisation involved in plastic waste management, have joined hands to collect 1,000 tonnes of plastic from Dhaka in the next year. The plastic wastes will be collected from Dhaka North City Corporation and Dhaka South City Corporation from June 2022 to May 2023. Read: Unilever Bangladesh launches Sustainability Report 2021 According to the World Bank data, less than 30 percent of the plastic waste produced in Bangladesh is collected and only 37 percent of the collected plastic waste is recycled while the remaining is landfilled, among which an estimated 24,032–36,047 tonnes are dumped in the river system. To prevent this environmental catastrophe caused by plastic waste pollution, Unilever Bangladesh believes it is important to build a sustainable circular loop that contributes to the circular economy and sustainable development goals (SDGs). The company has built multi-stakeholder models with diversified partners to collect 10,000 tonnes of plastic from the environment by 2023. Unilever and Circular will work together to build a sustainable and equitable reverse supply chain for the recovery of all kinds of post-consumer plastic waste. Circular's plastic collection model will help bring together the waste collectors, increasing the transparency and traceability of the supply chain. Also, it works at the household level to create awareness about the harmful effects of plastic pollution and the need for segregation at the source to recover all plastics to improve their recyclability.

Unilever Bangladesh has unveiled its Sustainability Report 2021, "Partnering Bangladesh." The report, recently launched at an event in the capital, shows the company's work and impact on the health, environment and society. In 2021, Unilever Bangladesh invested over Tk430 million covering 10 different SDG agendas. It collaborated with the largest municipal-backed plastic waste collection project in Bangladesh and supported communities fighting Covid-19. Read: Confidence Infrastructure inaugurates geotextiles plant Zaved Akhtar, CEO and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh, said: "In Bangladesh, we have used our brands to improve the lives of people. We have many success stories like improving the oral hygiene of the children of the country and teaching over 10 million school children proper hand washing since the 1990s." "We are now focusing on replicating these experiences for toilet hygiene, the habit of safe water consumption and mental wellbeing, as we identified these to be the areas where there are barriers or taboos." "But it is clear we need to do much more – within our business, and by using our size, scale and partnerships in our value chain and beyond," Zaved said. Read Unilever rebranding 'Fair and Lovely' Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun said: "Unilever has not only been conducting business in Bangladesh for more than five decades but also working with its partners for the social and environmental progress of Bangladesh as an ethical and responsible organisation. "The company is working with about 1 million entrepreneurs across the country. As a result, Unilever Bangladesh is making a huge contribution in creating employment." British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson said: "Despite the challenges and vulnerability of Bangladesh on climate, I feel the partnership between the government, Unilever, as a catalyst and a private sector donator of capability and purpose and finance, and the capability of the third sector, corporate civil society organisations to reach out into the society, is very strong." Read Unilever hands over cheques for Tk 71.84 million to Labour Welfare Foundation

The human resources (HR) director of Unilever Bangladesh has been recognised as one of "The Top Most Global HR Leaders" in Bangladesh by the World HRD Congress. Endorsed by the CHRO Global and the World Federation of HR Professionals, Sakshi Handa has been honoured with the prestigious award for her contribution and professional achievements as a purpose-driven thought leader in human resources development, namely in Bangladesh. She will be officially conferred the title at the 30th edition of the World HRD Congress and Awards Ceremony in March in India's Mumbai. Also read: 'The Dependables' wins Unilever BizMaestros 2021 "The Top Most Global HR Leaders" selection is part of the World HRD Congress which marks its 30th year in 2022. It is an iconic listing of HR leaders and professionals who have created value with immense talent, ethical conduct and demonstrated standards of professionalism and performance. "I believe in the power of compassionate leadership, empowering my team to lead with an employee-centric approach and making the HR function a strategic partner to the business," Sakshi, who describes herself as having a mind for business and a heart for people, said. With 17 years of HR experience, Sakshi has been the HR director of Unilever Bangladesh since September 2019. Also read: Serajul Islam Chy, Afsan Chy, 4 others get BRAC Bank-Samakal Lit Award "On behalf of Unilever Bangladesh, it would be a privilege for me to humbly accept the award as a testimony of Unilever's commitment towards people development," she said.

Unilever Bangladesh Limited (UBL) and Unilever Consumer Care Limited (UCL) recently handed over two cheques for Tk 71.84 million respectively to the Ministry of Labour and Employment’s ‘Labour Welfare Foundation’ as its contribution to workers' share of profit.UBL’s Company Secretary and Legal Director SM Rashed Quayum and Head of Corporate Affairs, Partnerships and Communications Shamima Akhter along with UCL’s Regulatory Affairs Head and Company Secretary, Mohammad Naharul Molla handed over the cheques to State Minister for Labour and Employment Ministry Begum Mannujan Sufian at the Secretariat, according to a press release. Also read: Unilever announces two new policies for its employees, says press releaseThis fund promises to strengthen the government’s efforts to ensure the safety of workers and to help the workers and their families in case of any major disaster. Labour and Employment Sakiun Nahar Begum and Director General BLWF (Bangladesh Labor Welfare Foundation) Begum Zebunnesa Karim (Additional Secretary), were also present at the Cheque Handover Ceremony. Read Unilever Bangladesh appoints Zaved Akhtar as CEO, MD  The press release said that since the beginning of the pandemic, Unilever has taken utmost care to safeguard its people working in factories and follow the top tier global protocol of Unilever and Bangladesh Government.In addition to maintaining highest level of social distancing and mask compliance across its manufacturing operation, Unilever in Bangladesh has ensured physical barriers to ensure physical distancing in the common places like canteen and change room. Also read: Covid-19: Unilever partners with UNICEF to support BangladeshSince the beginning of COVID-19 in Bangladesh Unilever has introduced dedicated transport facility for all its employees at factories, which follow strict social distance and diligently conduct regular sanitization of these vehicles’ multiple times in a day. Apart from Unilever run immunity-boosting medical assistance programme, hygiene care kit for all employees including providing sanitization products for their homes in regular intervals and cover all employees for weekly COVID testing. Read Former Unilever chairman Kamran joins Robi as independent director For all these measures, Unilever in Bangladesh invested heavily in the last 18 months and have invested Tk 18 Crore to ensure safety of its people against COVID. Apart, as a responsible organization bears all the medical treatment costs of all its employees in this regard.

Unilever Bangladesh Limited (UBL) has introduced two progressive policies as part of its effort to build equitable workplaces for its employees.The policies are Caregiver Service at Home and Interchangeable Public Holidays, according to a press release of the company.Unilever’s Caregiver Service policy enables the employees to avail a helping hand on-demand at a discounted cost to take care of their children, elders and ailing family members, said the press release. Also read: Unilever Bangladesh appoints Zaved Akhtar as CEO, MD Trained caregivers and certified nurses will be providing services to those family members of employees who need assistance. Through this policy, Unilever employees can be benefited from Covid-19 Patient Care at home or hospital, Nursing Homecare Services, Physiotherapy, Maternal Care and Nanny Services.The policy—Interchangeable Public Holidays allows employees to celebrate their special days by choosing to exchange or merge holidays with Unilever’s annual holiday list. This comes with the recognition that cultural or religious holidays are equally important, but individually driven.Speaking on the new policies, the Chief Executive Officer of Unilever Bangladesh, Zaved Akhtar said, "Our endeavour is to build an equitable workplace for all our employees and achieve equity, diversity and inclusion in everything we do.” Also read: Covid-19: Unilever partners with UNICEF to support Bangladesh“We are striving towards a workplace that will carry a profound sense of belonging that ensures everyone is treated fairly, has equal access to resources, and has equal opportunities.” said Akhtar.

Unilever Bangladesh Limited (UBL), one of the largest consumer goods companies in the country, has announced the appointment of Zaved Akhtar as their Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD), effective from July 1. Zaved will also join the Unilever South Asia Leadership Team.  He is currently serving as the Vice President of Digital Transformation & Growth, South Asia, based in India.  Read: Former Unilever chairman Kamran joins Robi as independent director Zaved will succeed Kedar Lele, who served as the CEO and Managing Director of UBL since January 2018 and subsequently became Chairman in addition to Managing Director in 2020.  Kedar will join the Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) Management Committee as Executive Director, Customer Development. He will continue as the Chairman of UBL.  A career marketer and business leader, Zaved began his career with British American Tobacco and then joined Unilever as Senior Brand Manager for its Oral Care business in 2000.  Read:Covid-19: Unilever partners with UNICEF to support Bangladesh With 24 years of professional experience across South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australasia, Zaved has rich expertise in consumer centricity, design thinking and innovation management.  He is a graduate of the Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka.  In his current role as the Vice President, Digital Transformation & Growth, Zaved set up the ‘Digital Council’ for Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and anchored the ‘Reimagine HUL’ agenda, a widely recognized programme across Unilever as a comprehensive end-to-end digital transformation programme with impact.  Read: Kedar Lele named new Chairman of Unilever Bangladesh Sanjiv Mehta, President Unilever South Asia, said, “I would like to thank Kedar for his outstanding leadership of the Bangladesh business and laud his efforts towards strengthening Customer Development execution, transforming the company’s end-to-end supply chain, developing talent and improving diversity in UBL." Sanjiv said he is delighted to welcome Zaved as the CEO and MD of Unilever Bangladesh, and to the South Asia Leadership Team.  "His contribution towards crafting Unilever’s Five Fundamentals of Growth and driving the Reimagine HUL agenda in India has been tremendous. I am certain that he will lead the Bangladesh business to greater heights.”