Essay: Chern's Case Study

Transition analysis
An analysis of Chern’s internal labor market revealed that if the company wants to maintain its present levels of staffing, there is a probability that it will have to hire 60 full time sales associates from outside the company. Therefore, in order for Chern’S to hire 60 full time sales associates, it will require 1780 applicants. 534 of them will have to be job candidates of which the company provides 80 offers.
Flagship store’s transition probability matrix
Based upon the past three years
Job category Job level FTSA
(%) PTSA
(%) DEP
(%) BUY
(%) MER
(%) Exit
(%) Current # of employees
Full-time sales associates (FTSA) 1 50 15 5 5 5 20 140
Part-time sales associates (PTSA) 1 30 50 0 5 0 15 30
Department manager (DEP) 2 6 0 75 6 12 20 16
Buyers (BUY) 2 0 0 0 65 7 30 15
Merchandising Managers (MER) 2 12 0 0 0 80 20 8
Transition analysis: using the transition probability matrix to forecast employees
Forecasted employees for the coming year
Job category Job level FTSA
PTSA DEP BUY MER Exit Current # of employees
Full-time sales associates (FTSA) 1 70 21 7 7 7 28 140
Part-time sales associates (PTSA) 1 9 15 0 2 0 4 30
Department manager (DEP) 2 1 0 12 1 2 3 16
Buyers (BUY) 2 0 0 0 10 1 4 15
Merchandising Managers (MER) 2 1 0 0 0 6 2 8
Forecast for the year 2015 81 36 19 20 16 41
59 deficit 6 surplus 3 surplus 5 surplus 8 surplus exits
Current and future labor market for retail salespeople
Career one stop is a vocation info net that offers currently as well as projected employment trends. The largest majority of Chern’s employees are made up of retail salespeople who also emerge as individuals with the most frequent turnover in Chern’s company. According to one stop’s forecasted trends, it is likely that by 2020, the number of retail salespersons will increase (table 3). Particularly, Florida shows an extremely positive growth with a projected increase of 19% that is 2% higher than the anticipated growth in US (Career onestop.org, 2015). This is good news for Chern’s since an increase in the number of sales persons is equivalent to a larger pool of applicants from which chern’s can draw upon. This will enable chern’s to employ more people with qualifications. However, Chern’s will will have to increase its sourcing practice in order to reach a wider population. Nevertheless, it is essential for Chern’s to consider other aspects apart from growth. The growth in technology has resulted in an increase in efficiency of salespersons which has potentially resulted in a decline in the number of people needed (Bureau of Labor statistics, 2015).
The Bureau of Labor statistics (2015) states that in the whole of the United States, the overall salesperson’s projected growth is 17%. In Florida, the rate of employment as well as the number of job vacancies for the position of retail sales persons makes up to 7 % of the country’s total employment and number of job opportunities. The United States Department of labor (2015) projects that; the overall number of all the occupants is 14%. Florida has been ranked among the top five states that have the highest number of the retail salespeople. Even though, this ensures that there is an elevated pool of prospective employees, it results in a high qualified applicant competition (Bureau of Labor statistics, 2015).
Table 3: O*Net’s projection for retail salespersons’ employment
Retail salespersons Employment 2010 Employment 2020 % change Job openings
USA 4,261,600 4,968,400 17% 195, 870
Florida 290,200 345,860 19% 14, 090
The Bureau of Labor statistics (2015) projects that there is likely to be an increase in the number of retail sales workers by 13% between 2010 and 2020 in the United States (table 4). This rate of growth is 4% lower than that of the retail salespersons position. In Florida, the same position is likely to grow at a rate of 16% from 2010 to 2020. The general increase in people in retail sales sector will result in a stronger competition in terms of talent which will be effective when considering staffing planning (Bureau of Labor statistics, 2015).
Table 4: O*Net’s and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for retails sales persons
Retail sales person Employment 2010 Employment 2020 % change
USA 8, 267, 620 9, 305, 900 13%
total 528, 310 612, 410 16%
cashiers 200, 040 225, 430 13%
Florida
Gaming change people and booth cashiers 790 690 -13%
Rental and counter clerks 25, 830 27, 010 5%
Parts salespeople 11, 450 13, 420 17%
Retail salespeople 290, 200 345, 860 19%
Data collected by the Occupational Statistics Office, Employment Projections and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015) shows that 31.7% retail salespeople from among the employees who are between the ages of 25 and 44 have a high school diploma. 27.7% of the employees had some college experiences but lack a degree while 20.6% of them have a Bachelor’s degree. These employees make up a total of 80% of all the salesperson in the United States. Since the overall level of education required for an individual to get a salesperson position is less than high-school, Chern’s will not have to be concerned about a shortage of talent.
However, it is evident from the analysis above that Chern’s will experience a shortage of labor in terms of full time sales associates by the year 2015. Similarly, there is an increase in the number of retail sales person employment in Florida which is advantageous for Chern’s in that it will have a wider pool of eligible applicants. Therefore, Chern’s should expand its hiring and recruiting efforts in order to fill the company’s empty positions. With an increase in the talent pool, Chern’s has a better opportunity of choosing the right people for the job.
Rank order the recruiting sources based on their ability to maximize the company’s staffing goals
Recruiting sources effectiveness for sales persons associates
Priority ranking source Hiring speed (months) Cost per hire (USD) Culture fit Average fiscal returns for the first year (USD) % rate of the first year turnover
1 Employee referrals 2 2, 600 Very good 38, 000 10
2 Cherns.com 2 1,500 Good 38, 000 20
3 College hiring 5 4, 000 Good 30, 000 20
4 Search firm 3 5, 200 Average 20, 000 15
5 Walk-ins 1 1, 500 Poor 5, 00 30
6 Newspaper adverts 2 2, 000 Poor 4, 000 25
How the Internet might be more effectively used to source and recruit applicants
Internet may be used as an effective source for both recruiting and sourcing of applicants (Adam, 2009). There are various internet sources that are useful and reliable resources such as;
Monster.com
Monster.com job search site is essential in that it allows the creation and expansion of diversity through its ‘international search.’ In addition, it has a free ‘homepage’ where people can post their resume thus giving the recruiter a vast access to the applicant’s important information. It is also significant to the applicant in that it allows them to follow each step of the hiring process through researching on the ‘career tools.’ In other words, it is easy for both the applicant as well as the employer.
Linkedln.com
This is a networking tool that assists in finding connections to industry experts, recommended job candidates as well as business partners. Linkendln.com allows the users that have registered to keep a list of people’s contact details that they know and rely on in the business thus it is an effective sourcing resource. In addition, it creates brand awareness as it is an immense form of social networking.
Simplyhired.com
It assists employers in sourcing talented recruits through reviewing resumes that have been posted by potential applicants. In addition, employers can also post open employment positions for applicants in order for them to upload their resumes.
Boolean Search
Search engine: yahoo
Command site employed: linkedin.com (search for retail sales person or retail sales associate) Georgia
David Fields
‘ David comes from Norcross, Georgia
‘ He works at NCR Corporation, a global leading company in consumer transaction technologies that turns an individual’s everyday businesses in extraordinary experiences.
‘ David is a specialist in communication as well as customer service.
‘ He has worked for several years as a retail sales person thus has lots of experience in this sector.
‘ David received a number of recommendations for excellent customer service
Kimberly Knox
‘ Kimberly lives in Douglasville, Georgia.
‘ She works as a chief Customer Service Representative for Gold’s Gym.
‘ She previously worked as a retail sales associate for several years thus has experience in this field.
‘ Kimberly has a bachelor’s degree that she attained from Branell institute.
How Chern’s can improve the diversity of its applicant pool
Having a diverse workforce will enable Chern’s to have more creative thinking since it brings the experiences and ideas from various backgrounds, as well as culture. This will assist the company to have a competitive advantage over the other organizations that are mostly made up of individuals who behave and think in a similar manner. In order for Chern’s to improve its chances of attracting an extensive pool of job applicants, it will have to consider the following strategies and techniques.
Diversity at the place of work
A diverse workforce is that which mirrors on the community it is based upon. Preferably, an organization should have a good spread of diversity all through its organization’s hierarchy, with each of the groups being represented both at the lower and higher levels. Having a well devised diversity policy in place, which entails diverse managerial and staff trainings, will assist Chern’s to attain a better understanding of the benefits and principles of diversity (Dineen & Williamson, 2012).
Identifying diversity gaps
For Chern’s to gauge its company’s workforce, it should have its managers conduct a survey of their respective departments in order to get a count of various groups of people. Chern’s should then compare the results with the local demographics. When the company compares its workforce with the extensive community, it should be able to identify the underrepresented and overrepresented groups. There is a wide range of organizations as well as resources that offer the demographic information that Chern’s can use in identifying diversity gaps.
Job listings
Chern’s should advertise job openings over an extensive area in order to attract many diverse candidates. Chern’s should look at other regions where there are apparent gaps in the labor force, and consider advertising jobs there through specific websites and journals. For instance, if the company wants to attract more young people, it should put adverts on websites and publications geared towards the young individuals. It is essential for the company to keep in mind that the job should be visible to all individuals and not just to those who are underrepresented (Greer, Carr & Hipp, 2015).
Job fairs
Chern’s should often hold job fairs in its community in order to offer good public relations for its business. Dineen and Williamson (2012) argue that Job fairs will also put a company on the radar of excellent cross-section of prospective employment candidates. While holding the job fairs, it is important for Chern’s to ensure that it provides information regarding its diversity and equality policy. It should also demonstrate the manner in which it welcomes people of all age’s backgrounds, races, gender and ethnic groups. This can be achieved by bringing a diverse mix of employees at the fair to represent the company so that they can share their experiences and insights with potential job applicants.
Outline for recruiting guide
By completing the outline recruiting guide process, Chern’s will have classified its procedures and policies that relate to staff positions. It will also have set forth what it considers as both legal and effective recruiting behaviors in addition to establishing an overall recruitment process of sales persons. This recruiting guide step entails the decision of the company to relate to the internal or external process of recruiting (Phillips & Gully, 2012). As chern’s fills 60-70% of its department’s managers and assistant managers internally, it is evident that its cultural values emphasize on the belief that employees are valued. While the primary recruiting method of the company has been internal promotions into the positions of management, it is becoming a difficult task to maintain the level of talent that sales associates need to have as they move upwards to leadership roles.
In the lower level positions, extended vacancies usually result to lower profits as a result of the less that optimal operations. Therefore, it is essential for Chern’s to implement an external recruitment procedure so as to attract the most talented and brightest new associates. Other organisations have employed many experienced and top performing sales personnel. Hence, Chern’s should ensure that it puts in lots of efforts in targeting these passive job seekers. It should also make sincere efforts in encouraging individuals to consider Chern’s as their employer. The company can accomplish these through the use of attractive and above the market employment offers which are designed to suit their needs and lifestyle better. The following recruiting guide can assist Chern’s in recruiting sales associates effectively (Phillips & Gully, 2012).
‘ Develop policies and procedures: in all stages of the employment process, it is essential to consider the affirmative action goals and equal employment opportunities. Chern should ensure that it treats all its applicants with respect and care. Applicants should be updated on their progress all through the process and notified promptly in case they have not made it. Individuals involved in the process of recruiting should ensure that they sincerely communicate to the applicants and not promise them anything during the process. This will ensure that the procedures and guidelines of the company are followed to the latter and that Chern’s sourcing plans remain as effective as possible.
‘ Budget: These entails the budget for advertising vacant positions online as well as through talent agencies. Another example is the budget involved in hosting of regular facility events, employee referral programs, participation in community activities and sponsoring sports teams from the local area.
‘ Activities: These activities include continues college, campus, and job fairs recruiting efforts, internal job postings, creation of the apprenticeship program and communicating with other HR departments from known closing or downsizing companies.
‘ Timelines: it is essential to set timeline as it will assist in controlling the recruiting, sourcing and selection process. The timeline also assists the hiring managers to continue being on top of the process as well as keep the applicants engaged in the hiring process. All parties involved should ensure that they set a relevant and realistic timeline for the position that they are recruiting.
‘ Have accountable staff members: The function of the human resource management entails ensuring that a company complies with state and federal laws, company strategy, ethical and compensation practices and handle diversity issues thus provides the managers with the required tools.
‘ Legal considerations: This involves equal and fair treatment during the process. It is essential to ensure that the involved parties follow state and federal employment laws, the policies of the company regarding ethical conduct and salary compensation guidelines.
‘ Recruitment steps: The Company should follow the recruitment steps to the latter.
Increasing Applicants’ Fairness Perceptions
All applicants should receive a fair treatment throughout the process of hiring and selection. It is important to keep all the candidates and applicants informed of the ongoing process. Interviews should be carried out using approved and standardized methods with all questions being pre-determined by management. There are three forms of perception fairness that applicants can feel connected to the selection and recruitment process of the company. Distributive fairness relates to the manner in which the applicant feels regarding the fairness of the promotion or hiring system. Procedural fairness refers to the beliefs of the candidate concerning the fairness of the procedures and policies that guide the Company in its promotion or hiring process (Jelley& McCarthy, 2014).
Interactional fairness, on the other hand, deals with the perception of the applicant regarding treatment during the process. Dealing with the honesty of the candidate or applicant with respect as well as utilizing positively perceived recruiters is likely to increase fairness perception. When using external as well as internal recruiters, Chern’s should make sure that they use recruiters who posses characteristics that can support the candidates. The recruiter should have knowledge both of the position and the company. According to Jelley and McCarthy (2014), a recruiter who fails to answer questions regarding the position or the company they are recruiting for will appear ineffectual to the applicant. The applicant will then attach such an image to the company. Sociability, active listening skills, intelligence, trustworthiness, and enthusiasm reflect well on the image of the company (Jelley& McCarthy, 2014).
Reducing spillover
Spillover effect may result is the indirect consequence of an action. Chern’s can prevent spillover through treating the applicants with respect, responding to applicants quickly, helping candidates to feel thrilled by the opportunity and explaining the reason for rejecting the applicant.
Employer brand
Chern’s is famous for its high quality and expensive products, core values, good selection as well as superior customer service. Its brand should be such that it conveys why someone would want to be an employee of Chern’s Department Store. Employees look for a company that has a constructive image. The company’s brand should make your employees feel proud as they are the brand’s ambassador (Varady & Kleinhans, 2013).
Recommendations
‘ Sponsor scholarships
‘ Demonstrate products in TV commercials
‘ Use social media to market its products. For instance can ask on social media which of their brand do people consider best and why’? Should use newspaper to advertise
‘ Target recruiting on campus and college fair
Assessing internal candidates at Chern’s
Chern’s talent philosophy entails promoting from within and improving internal services of promotion. After a latest turnover analysis, Chern’s found out that all the potential good candidates that could take the position of the department manager had left the company. Chern’s carried out exit interviews and discovered that the potential candidates were leaving the organization since their efforts to communicate succession planning and promotional opportunities intentions had been inadequate. Chern’s realized that a lot of the potential candidates were leaving the company due to poor career plan visibility.
Recommendations
‘ Chern’s should ensure that it continuously and systematically identifies the abilities of each of the succession candidates
‘ It should build off its current program
‘ It is essential for the company to consider succession management as a continuous process but not as something that only takes place once or twice a year.
‘ The company should make sure that it uses assessment of the applicant’s competencies to figure out development opportunities, as well as training programs. This is an effective measure as it will increase the readiness of the candidate for key positions.
‘ Chern’s should give its candidates information regarding the areas they have an interest in.
‘ The company should allow candidates to become active partners when steadily building up the competencies that they will require moving to the next position.
‘ For instance, some companies allow their employees to have access to their profiles in order to ensure that they can see the place they are at.
‘ Chern’s should ensure that it checks in with the candidate’s confidentiality and give them feedback so that they become aware of where they stand.
‘ In general, it is crucial for employees to be able to see the potential and a future in the company. This is achievable through communication efforts.
‘ When hiring supervisors, Chern’s should be prepared to negotiate their salary using a consistent and fair practice. These include considerations of issues that deal with internal equality, an appropriate salary range, and market conditions. The kind of offer should solely depend on the how in demand the position is during that particular time as well as on the company’s needs.
‘ When extending the official employment offer to the candidate, Chern’s should ensure that it gives emphasis to its support for the participation of the employee in networking organizations. In addition, it should also emphasis on the employees benefit package including their children and spouses, any relocation services and reimbursement where necessary.
‘ Chern’s should ensure that it hires candidates from organizations and departments that have the most refined selection tools in order to give the organization more than the capability to hire the best individual of them all. This is essential as it will assist Chern’s to build a culture of success and achievement.
‘ In cases where the departments seek to enhance diversity, or the talent pool’s diversity is low, Chern’s should ensure that it offers a competitive package especially in those areas where the minorities are in high demand.
References
Adam, M. (2009). Talent sourcing solutions in today’s fragmented media reality. Global Business & Organizational Excellence, 28(3), 20-32. doi:10.1002/joe.20256
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition, Retail Sales Workers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/retail-sales-workers.htm
Career onestop.org. (2015). your source for career exploration, training & jobs, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor: Retail salesperson. Retrieved from http://www.careerinfonet.org/occ_rep.asp?next=occ_rep&Level=&optstatus=011000000&jobfam=41&id=1&nodeid=2&soccode=412031&menuMode=&stfips=13&x=46&y=8
Dineen, B. R., & Williamson, I. O. (2012). Screening-oriented recruitment messages: Antecedents and relationships with applicant pool quality. Human Resource Management, 51(3), 343-360. doi:10.1002/hrm.21476
Greer, C. R., Carr, J. C., & Hipp, L. (2015). Strategic staffing and small’firm performance. Human Resource Management, doi:10.1002/hrm.21693
Jelley, R., & McCarthy, J. (2014). Examining a Strategy for Improving Candidate Perceptions of Test Fairness. Journal Of Police & Criminal Psychology, 29(2), 68. doi:10.1007/s11896-013-9122-1
Phillips, J., & Gully, S. M. (2012). Strategic staffing. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Slavich, B., Cappetta, R., & Giangreco, A. (2014). Exploring the link between human resource practices and turnover in multi-brand companies: The role of brand units’ images. European Management Journal, 32177-189. doi:10.1016/j.emj.2013.06.001
Varady, D., & Kleinhans, R. (2013). Relocation Counseling and Supportive Services as Tools to Prevent Negative Spillover Effects: A Review. Housing Studies, 28(2), 317-337. doi:10.1080/02673037.2013.767882