BENGALURU: With an aim to develop entrepreneurial skill and agility, Hindustan Unilever has decided to send its executives to work at startups. The company has decided to send its staff to startups for a period ranging from three months to two years. This comes as a part of the Entrepreneurial Immersion and Secondment initiative.

Under this program, the executives staying at the startups for up to a year will be on HUL’s payroll, while the cost of the rest will be shared by HUL and the startups that host them.

According to ET, BP Biddappa, Executive Director, HR, Hindustan Unilever Limited was quoted as saying, “In an extremely dynamic and fluid environment, this is an opportunity for leaders to experience different business models and inculcate an end-to-end mindset. We want our people to develop entrepreneurial skills as they work in a large company—not to take resources for granted, but to deal with everything with an owner's mindset.” 

The move is being seen by many as a good one, as it will help the executives to hone their skills and learn new things. Initially the startups will be selected from a group of startups in which Unilever has invested directly or indirectly.

Last year, HUL prepared a list of 10 startups, which were given access to part of its business and other valuable resources. In return the company would get an insight into new technologies being used by the startups in engaging customers and other new ways of distributing products. Typically executives with 7-12 years of experience have been enrolled under this initiative.

But the downside of this initiative is the fact that there is always a possibility that some of the executives may decide to stay on with the startup and not return to the parent company.

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