Unilever launches ‘BizMaestros 2021’

Unilever Bangladesh Ltd (UBL) kicked off its 12th edition of the flagship business case competition 'BizMaestros 2021' yesterday.

With the theme 'Navigating in the New Normal', UBL has been organising the competition for the last 11 years with a view to developing leadership quality and analytical skills for the future among the youth.

The website of 'BizMaestros 2021'—https://bizmaestros.site— went live yesterday, where students can register their business cases for the evaluation, UBL said in a press release.

The competition promises to provide students with 'the thrill of real business'. Every year there is a unique overarching theme as well as separate themes for each round, it said.

UBL with the proposition promises to provide the youth with opportunities to develop and elevate themselves to become the leaders of tomorrow.

This year, UBL is expecting a direct engagement with over 600 students in the first round, it said.

Last year, the company engaged with more than 30 universities across the nation, where over 400 students in 145 teams participated in the first round of BizMaestros 2020.

The first round will focus on the context of the new normal, highlighting significant shifts in the consumer landscape and how Unilever's purpose-led brands can have a dynamic way to connect consumers to drive sustainable business growth.

Three-member teams hailing from the same university will submit their solutions. The second round will be a live presentation assessment round, where 30 qualifying teams, selected from the first round, will present their individual solutions virtually to the judges, according to the UBL press release.

"They will be aided with mentoring and learning sessions at this stage. After the virtual two rounds are over, 'BizMaestros 2021' will conclude with a grand physical finale, where the top six teams will compete with each other for the championship. They will have top corporate leaders of this age as their judges," it said.

Rupali Chowdhury, managing director of Berger Paints Bangladesh Ltd, Syed Nasim Manzur, managing director of Apex Footwear Ltd, Zaved Akhtar, chief executive officer of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, and KSM Minhaj, managing director of Unilever Consumer Care Ltd, will work as the panel judge of the competition and officially announce the name of 'BizMaestros 2021' champion and runner-up teams.     

The champions will have the unique opportunity to represent Bangladesh in the Unilever Future Leaders League (FLL 2022)– the global competition of Unilever that takes place in the UK every year where champion teams from across the world battle it out to win the global championship.

The champions will also get fast-tracked in the recruitment process for Unilever's flagship management trainee programme, the Unilever Future Leaders Programme (UFLP).

The top three teams of the competition will also be provided with the opportunity to avail an internship programme under ULIP (Unilever Leadership Internship Programme).

Apart from the top three teams, those who qualify for the second round throughout the competition will be in the talent pipeline of future recruitment opportunities in Unilever Bangladesh.

Sakshi Handa, human resource director of UBL, said BizMaestros is the gateway for students to have experience the thrill of real business, receive quality mentoring from industry leaders and gain access to recruitment opportunities at Unilever Bangladesh.

"Through this competition, we have identified some of the brightest young minds and mould them into future leaders. I am truly excited to see how the students will respond to our challenges this year!"