Ben Pharr, Matt Brown & Brian Miller
Personnel Selection
1.
Position: Sales Associate
Reports to: Human Resources, Shift Supervisor
Qualifications: None
Relevant labor market: All (Western Washington, Eastern Washington, Northern Oregon, and Southern
Oregon,)
Timeline: Continuous and ongoing. The timeline from interview to hiring decision should not exceed one
week.
Activities to undertake to source well-qualified candidates:
Regional media advertising (print, internet, television, radio ads)
Post ongoing job position on company website and relevant websites (such as Monster)
Increase advertisement for postings on social media sites
Encourage employee referrals by reminding employees of incentives
Place a time limit for tenure of employment for employee referral incentives (90 days)
Advertise at local job/career fairs
Reach out to local resources, such as schools or community organizations to promote advertising of
qualified candidates
Increase accessibility and visibility of in-store hiring kiosks
Re-examine the screening survey for candidates to decrease the time HR has to spend reviewing
applications (possibly by adding a customer service dimension or behavioral questions)
Contact local staffing agencies to seek qualified candidates
When available, contact state agencies to seek candidates
Staff members involved:
HR Recruiting Managers
Human Resources Managers
Information Technology (for web postings)
Budget
Variable (determined by service area)
Ben Pharr, Matt Brown & Brian Miller
Personnel Selection
2.
An ideal candidate for Tanglewood would be a candidate who is able to meet the requirements
of the position while focusing not only on sales, but also on customer service. Many retail positions offer
early job opportunities for students still in high school or who have just begun college; however this
large job market comes inherently with a large degree of turnover. Most retail environments offer open
recruitment, with little to no education or previous/relevant experience required. This helps to keep the
organization staffed, with the drawback of having a near constant hiring need. Some divisions in
Tanglewood utilize more targeted measures, while others prefer the open stance. The breakdown of
open versus targeted per method is as follows:
Media – Traditionally, media is an open recruitment method. Advertisements in print, on the internet,
or on television reach a large population at one time. Due to Tanglewood’s turnover, media can help
mitigate staffing issues by reaching many candidates at once. Like other methods of open recruitment,
skills and abilities may fall to the wayside, as the tradeoff for reaching a large population means that
specific job criterion are often neglected to “cast a wide net” of potential applicants.
Referrals – Tanglewood uses a referral system to reward current employees for referring friends to open
positions within the organization. Referrals are more of a targeted method of recruitment, as employees
will most likely refer applicants that they believe will do well within the organization. While this may not
be a formal targeting process, most current employees can make well-reasoned estimations of family or
friends who would perform well within the job context.
Kiosks- Job kiosks located in the stores are another form of open recruitment. Any person visiting a
Tanglewood location can view videos and complete a job application. The kiosk method has a few
advantages over advertising, such as a reduced cost and the ability to “weed out” inappropriate
applicants through testing. Furthermore, videos provided on the kiosks can also provide a realistic job
preview that may not be present in mass media recruitment methods.
State job services – A state job service is usually another method of open recruitment, but as described
in the Tanglewood summary, may also be a bit more targeted to ideal candidates. In the Tanglewood
scenario, the state job services is provided with a copy of qualifications, so the assumption is that the
state service can better match candidates who are qualified with the position and provide training to
those individuals.
Staffing Agency – Use of a staffing agency is one of the most targeted approaches used by Tanglewood.
By outsourcing selection, Tanglewood uses the staffing agency to identify candidates who possess the
KSAO’s necessary for retail work. This method will better ensure candidates who begin working with
Ben Pharr, Matt Brown & Brian Miller
Personnel Selection
Tanglewood have the requisite skills and training for the position. Use of a staffing agency, despite the
cost, will also ensure that management’s concerns about candidates lacking customer service skills will
be addressed.
Ben Pharr, Matt Brown & Brian Miller
Personnel Selection
3.
Upon close examination, Western Washington is the only region that utilizes state job services
and receives the majority of its applicants through this service. However, they only hire 9% of the
candidates, which is appalling compared to their other recruiting methods, which hire roughly 43% of
candidates on average. Western Washington heavily favors referrals over media, kiosks, and job services
resulting in them spending most of their budget on referrals. Additional pre-hire costs may account for
the inflation in cost to utilize referrals. Most referral programs give incentives to current employees who
refer their friend when they are successfully hired. The cost per hire is considerably lower with referrals
than any other method, with state job services following close behind. It may be advantageous for the
Western Washington region to utilize state job services more frequently because of its high 6 month and
1 year retention rates. Furthermore, it is vastly cheaper than utilizing referrals which yields similar 6
month and 1 year retention rates.
Eastern Washington pioneered all the policies used by Western Washington, although the
overall policies have been tempered by geographical differences. This has resulted in the job service
method not being utilized and instead utilizing media advertising. Based on the data, utilizing the media
is not yielding desired results. The retention rates are lower than referrals and kiosks in addition to
qualification and hiring rates. Eastern Washington receives the majority of its applicants through media,
but this yields the lowest qualification rates and hiring rates. Because of low retention rates utilizing the
media method, the expenses generated by 6 month and 1 year survival costs are increased. Based on
the data, Eastern Washington invests more heavily in referrals since it yields the highest in qualification
and hiring rates and retention rates. Kiosks yield very similar results to referrals and would be something
to consider since the total cost is a million less to fund.
Northern Oregon rejects the notion of utilizing referrals, claiming that the use of signing
bonuses is a waste of money and could lead to hiring unqualified candidates based on biased
recommendations. Instead, Northern Oregon invests heavily in kiosks since the administrator is
considered a “technocrat”. Based on the data though, their kiosks only do slightly better than their
media method. Qualification rates for 6 month retention are higher for media while the hiring rate and 1
year retention is higher for kiosks. The kiosk nearly costs double to operate, which does not seem
advantageous considering the percentages it yields. This division has adopted a staffing agency lately
and by far yields the best results. The most impressive is the 6 month and 1 year retention rates. These
retention rates help keep the cost per 6 month and one year survival down and help to reduce turnover.
Southern Oregon is a smaller region, ergo has less funding for their methods. It should be noted
that the methods of referrals, kiosks, and staffing agencies were first tried in this area. Across the board,
retention rates are strong. Compared to other regions, Southern Oregon accomplishes a better job of
equalizing the distribution of funds to its different methods. It appears that the cost per survival is high
compared to the other methods, where the retention rates with the other two methods are
considerably higher than the kiosk. This region could reassess their funds and maybe relocate them to
either the staffing agency or referrals. Overall, this region has the best balance of qualification, hiring,
and retention rates of all the other regions.
Ben Pharr, Matt Brown & Brian Miller
Personnel Selection
4.
The Northern Oregon division has suggested that the other divisions within Tanglewood adjust
their policy to using kiosks and staffing agencies during recruitment. There are advantages and
disadvantages to this policy. The most prominent advantage to this option is that the employees that
are hired through kiosks and agencies will have a better understanding of what is expected of them to
perform the duties of the job. This will help sort through the applicants who actually want to work at
Tanglewood versus the applicants that are just looking for a job. By watching the short videos on the
kiosk, a potential applicant can experience a RJP and learn more in-depth details of the job. The details
of which can serve to determine if the applicant chooses to submit the application or not. In addition, by
using a staffing agency, Tanglewood removes itself from the initial selection and training of potential
employees which eliminates training costs. This is because the staffing agency sorts through the best
candidates for the job and candidates receive minimal training before coming to work at Tanglewood.
Staffing agencies have also yielded the highest retention rates for 6 months and for 1 year. However, the
disadvantage to using kiosks and staffing agencies is the cost and lack of personal attention that is given
to each applicant at Tanglewood. First, we evaluate the cost. Each kiosk cost approximately $40,000 in
addition to the other costs of hiring additional employees. Although the kiosk may help sort through
potential employees, it will make the overall cost of hiring much higher. By that same token, using an
agency is nearly twice as expensive and makes total cost just that much higher. Second, since
Tanglewood is concerned with the turnover rate perhaps losing the personal attention each potential
applicant and each new hire receives while going through the hiring process may reflect negatively and
turn away those potential employees who are looking for a long-term family environment. Therefore,
the change of hiring policy to a less “touchy-feely” process based upon both previously listed reasons
would not be a recommended course of action. The final effect of this policy change would be higher
cost and a less personable company image for potential applicants.
Ben Pharr, Matt Brown & Brian Miller
Personnel Selection
5.
There are a couple different ways to solve this. Three of these are alternative testing methods for
the applicant, and one is an alternative recruiting method.
1. Role-play – Putting the candidate in a role playing scenario with a particularly unruly customer
will allow you to see how the candidate reacts in the situation. This will give you some insight as
to how the candidate will react in the actual situation.
2. Work sample – Very much the same reasoning as the role playing idea. Tanglewood has stated
that cost is not too imperative as far as recruiting goes, so although work samples are expensive,
they may be applicable here. Work samples are an accurate representation of what is to be
expected on the job because it is actually something that happens on the job, so you would put
the individual in the scenario of dealing with a customer in a job-like atmosphere.
3. Realistic Job Preview – This is all about showing the candidate what is likely to happen on the
job. Showing a video of a customer being hostile towards an employee, and then asking what
the candidate would have done in the same situation, will also allow you to recognize what the
applicant considers acceptable behavior.
4. Realistic recruiting message – As you will see in #6, a realistic recruiting message will show
anyone reading the job perils and allows them a more accurate estimation of what is expected.
This way, candidates who read the recruiting message and still apply will know what is expected
of them and be ready.
I do not agree with some manager’s assessment of using more positive messaging. This will only blind
the candidates more, so they will be more uncomfortable when the situation inevitably occurs. The
other managerial focus groups’ concerns were that of employees being frustrated with customers, and
in some cases, acting violently. All of the above can resolve this issue by showing the employees, before
they hit the floor, what the necessities of the job will entail, and the appropriate course of action to
remedy any conflict.
Ben Pharr, Matt Brown & Brian Miller
Personnel Selection
6.
Targeted
Are you an eager, energetic salesman in the Oregon/Washington area? Interested in immersing yourself
in a constantly growing culture with like-minded professionals? Well then, Tanglewood is looking for
you!
Tanglewood stores is looking for bright, unique individuals. Candidates for the position must have a
background in sales and marketing and must be able to meet quality standards for customer service.
Critical thinking, adaptability, and service orientation are required.
Join our highly connected, compassionate community today and hit the ground running!
Branded
“Working at Tanglewood has been absolutely wonderful for me. I am surrounded by caring individuals
who go out of their way to not only make the environment here incredible, but also to make each
customer leave with a smile.” – Bruce Banner
Tanglewood stores is opening our doors! If the notion of working with committed specialists on a team
that cultivates success and synergy interests you, apply today! We are an organization that prides
ourselves on allowing the employee autonomy in their tasks. At Tanglewood, we are all about fun, and
we promise you won’t even feel like you are working! We work hard to ensure that all our employees
have the benefits they deserve, and will work diligently with you to provide you with the skills and
abilities you will need to succeed. A relaxing context, great organizational commitment, and a positive
attitude will have you and your customers smiling!
Realistic
Tanglewood stores is looking for apt men and women. This is a sales associate position. Technical
knowledge and customer service skills are needed.
Tanglewood takes great pride in our customer service and our constant professionalism. You will learn
the skills necessary to become a successful salesperson, and you will be engrossed in our passionate
sense of unity and teamwork. Because Tanglewood is a retail position, you may find yourself in some
unique situations. On occasion, you may be forced to deal with unruly customers asking for requests
that we cannot comply with. On even fewer occasions, these customers may use verbal harassment and
maintain a hostile environment for yourself and others. We are searching for those unique individuals
that can persevere through a difficult condition and keep on smiling. Our goal is to provide excellent
service to any and all customers that choose Tanglewood, because in the end, we want to make sure
that these customers get what they want, and can go home happy.
Pros/Cons of Realistic
The realistic recruiting message has some strengths and weaknesses. One of the strengths, especially in
this situation, is that both positive and negative aspects of the job are described and can be expected
when the job is attained. The result of this is that some applicants, maybe those applicants who act with
opposition towards their customers, will self-select out. One of the weaknesses of this is that of those
who self-select out, you may miss an extremely good employee who was just dissuaded by the message,
Ben Pharr, Matt Brown & Brian Miller
Personnel Selection
but who would, in actuality, be able to handle the conditions. Realistic recruiting is very good when
turnover is high, and 50% turnover definitely warrants this type of message.