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0
Recruitment and
Selection Plan for
OZStyle4U
NATASHA FULTON
S5000577
GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY
1.0Introduction
This report has been written to provide a strategic recruitment and selection plan to for the
position of store manager at OZStyle4U, Hobart, Tasmania. The report will follow three phases
with the first being pre- recruitment. This will cover the business strategy being used, the
human resource/ staffing strategy to be used in the recruitment of the store manager and finally
the job requirements matrix, which will provide job and person specifications. The second
phase will be recruitment and this will cover the employment value proposition, recruitment
communication which will provide a job advertisement and the sourcing effectiveness analysis.
Phase three will cover the assessment plan panel interview questions and evaluating and
choosing candidates.
The limitations of this report are that for some sections, most notably the multiple hurdles
approach, the availability of data and research to support all claims is lacking. This leads to the
opportunity for further research in these fields. The goal of this report is to provide a strategic
recruitment and selection plan to hire the best manager to align with the business strategies of
OZStyle4U.
2.0 Pre-recruitment
2.1 Business strategy
The business strategies of OZStyle4U are differentiation and growth. OZStyle4U’s
differentiation strategy is evident through their innovation and their aims to provide high
quality fashion wear while providing exceptional customer service and loyalty. OZStyle4U’s
growth strategy can be shown by their plan to grow an additional 12 stores in 2 years. Both of
these strategies have implications for staffing the Hobart store manager position as different
strategies rely on the manager having a certain skill set pertinent to the strategy [ CITATION
Mar15 \l 1033 ].
1
This strategy requires the manager to be a top research talent, this is for two reasons, the first
being that OZStyle4U is an innovative company and the second being that it is the manager’s
job to know and understand the customers. A top research talent manager will be able to do this
by developing new services and ways to create exceptional customer service and loyalty
[ CITATION Rey00 \l 1033 ]. The manager should also have an entrepreneurial mindset and be
creative. This would assist the manager in being able to create instore marketing and fashion
shows directed to their current and future customers [ CITATION Lea14 \l 1033 ]. The
differentiation strategy has unique characteristics, because of this the manager is required to
have a high tolerance for ambiguity as the uniqueness means there is unlikely to be a guide to
The growth strategy needs the manager to be future oriented, flexible and willing to take
controlled risks to successfully implement the strategy. A manager that is future oriented will
be more prepared to deal with change as the business grows [ CITATION Gre16 \l 1033 ]. A
flexible manager who is willing to take controlled risks is more likely to be able to take
advantage and implement new market opportunities as they arise ensuring the success of the
2
Differentiation (quality) Top research talent, entrepreneurial
P mindset, creativity, high tolerance
for ambiguity
Growth Future oriented, flexible (willing to
assume multiple roles), willing to
S
take controlled risks
2.2 Human resource strategy, staffing strategy and the talent philosophy
The staffing strategy OZStyle4U should follow is highlighted bellow. These have been selected
because of the business strategies being used. When following these strategies managers are
considered to be investments because of the unique knowledge they bring to the job enabling
the strategy to succeed [ CITATION Kon09 \l 1033 ]. Intellectual capital is difficult to replace
and has been shown to increase competitive advantage when following a differentiation
strategy [ CITATION Kon09 \l 1033 ]. By proactively employing the manager OZStyle4U can
maintain this competitive advantage by having a skill bank of the most successful managers
Currently OZStyle4U employs both core and flexible staffing approaches, this should continue
in the Hobart store with the manager’s position being full-time permanent. This is due to this
position being central to the success of the business strategy because it is their role to see that
customer service excellence is created [ CITATION Bul12 \l 1033 ]. Research has shown that
customer loyalty is built from the relationships that staff form with the customer. These
relationships when done correctly, create increased loyalty to the business directly impacting
3
the business strategy [ CITATION Rey00 \l 1033 ]. For this reason all staff are critical to the
OZStyle4U must externally recruit all positions for the launch of the Hobart store, however in
the future this store will be able to use the businesses succession planning. This enables
OZStyle4U to keep their top talent and intellectual capital and promote from within
[ CITATION Hua01 \l 1033 ]. These staff can be trained to fill in new manager positions.
Training can also be used to keep top innovative staff who like learning and creating, in the
business. [ CITATION Bul12 \l 1033 ]. As talent is an investment and critical to the success of
the business strategy, OZStyle4U should try to retain staff. Retaining staff will keep the
Col09 \l 1033 ].
OZStyle4U takes a combined approach to staffing decisions with top key positions being
recruited by the Human Resources manager with the store manager being involved with the
recruiting of store staff. This allows both the business and the store manager to pick those who
will best fit with the organisation and competencies. OZStyle4U can then focus on staff with
competencies that will give flexibility with store staff allowing the growth strategy to succeed [
4
approach for this
position
(select one – can
select both, but this
must be justified)
HR perspective Investment Costs Investment
Staffing emphasis Proactive Reactive Proactive
Type of workforce Core Flexible Core
Position focus Critical General Critical
Labour market Internal External External
Skill acquisition Train Select Train / Select
Talent management Replace Retain Replace
Skills focus Person-Job fit & Person-organisation Person-organisation
KSAOs fit & Competencies fit & Competencies
Staffing decisions HR Manager Hiring Manager HR Manager
(Centralised) (Devolved)
duties to create job specifications [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ]. This analysis also allows for the
knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics (KSAO’s) that are needed for each task to
be linked to the duties. The KSAO’s and their weighting of importance along with the duties,
their weighting of importance and time to complete, create the job requirements matrix, pulling
be successful in the position, it also enables the business to ensure that the person they hire has
the right KSAO’s and competencies to meet the job requirements. This then allows the business
to fill positions with people who share and wish to enforce the business strategy [ CITATION
San \l 1033 ].
5
Table 3. Job requirements matrix for specified position
6
on sales, purchases, cost of goods
sold, labour costs, and stock 2. IT skills 2. 10- Essential
inventory at the OZStyle4U store
3. Knowledge of point-of- 3. 7- Desirable-
sale software Willing to train
Customer 1. Seek out customer feedback through 1. Customer service focus. 1. 10- Essential
Service regular, structured and unstructured 2. Ability to build strong
strategies and provide monthly relationships with
reports to operations management customers 2. 10- Essential
3. Customer Service
feedback and reporting
experience
7
Staff 1. Manage staffing, performance, job 1. Leadership skills in a retail 1. 8- Desirable
Supervision knowledge and skill development environment.
through identifying and 2. Understanding of the 2. 8- Essential
implementing training, so as to principles of equal
satisfy legislative requirements, the employment opportunity. 3. 10- Essential
company’s Customer Service 15 25 3. Team Player
Standards and budgeted cost 4. Ability to communicate
percentages. effectively, liaise and
negotiate with staff at all
levels.
Workplace 1. Maintain the Safety Plan and 1. Commitment and ability to 1. 10- Essential-
Health and Management Systems ensuring define, meet, and exceed Willing to train
Safety compliance at all times with the the relevant health and
10 5
company’s Safety Standards and safety legislative
relevant legislative requirements. requirements.
8
3.0 Recruitment
3.1 Employee value proposition
The employee value proposition is what OZStyle4U is willing to offer the future store manager
and what OZStyle4U wants in return [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ]. The offerings being put
forward by OZStyle4U are based on market research undertaken on July 31st 2016. At this time
the average salary was between $38,664 and $54, 896 and the average bonus was between $0
and $10,033 [ CITATION Pay16 \l 1033 ]. As OZStyle4U has a differentiation strategy where
the core focus of the future manger will be customer focus OZStyle4U is willing to pay an
above average amount of $55,000 to attract the right employee. OZStyle4U will also offer a
12% bonus of base salary in line with the market research conducted [ CITATION Pay16 \l
1033 ]. The bonus will be based on sales and customer feedback. This will ensure that customer
service creates the drive for the manager to succeed [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ].
Further market research has shown that many retail stores offer in- store clothing allowances
and clothing discounts [ CITATION See16 \l 1033 ]. OZStyle4U will also do this creating in-
store advertising as customers can see the current trends on the people serving them, this also
enforces to the customer that OZStyle4U has high quality designer fashion that even staff enjoy
wearing [ CITATION Rey00 \l 1033 ]. OZStyle4U will also offer a great orientation program to
allow the manager a more seamless entry into the business this will also help the manager more
easily understand OZStyle4U and their business strategy [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ].
Alongside this there will be great career advancement opportunities on offer helping to
continue OZStyle4U’s succession plan while also keeping top talent in the business
[ CITATION Hua01 \l 1033 ]. Finally a creative workplace will be provided to ensure the
manager has the resources to use their innovation to the fullest [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ].
9
Table 4. Employee Value Proposition for specified position
Item Focus Type Organisatio Employee To which
n contribution applicants
contribution might it
appeal
Base Salary Job- Related Extrinsic 55,000 38 Hours per Most
week + workers
occasional
overtime
Allowance Job- related Extrinsic 2000 Neat, tidy, Fashion
presentable forward
appearance workers
Sales Job- related Extrinsic 12% of base Sales Sales driven,
incentive salary, based performance customer
on sales and customer focussed
levels and loyalty workers
customer
feedback of
at least 80%
satisfaction
Career Person- Intrinsic Career Drive towards Career
Development Related advancement personal driven
Opportunitie and training growth workers
s
Orientation Organisation- Intrinsic Full Willingness to Most
related induction learn workers
into the
organisation
Creativity Person- Intrinsic Creative A love of Innovative
and the related work merchandisin workers
ability to environment g and
explore your and the marketing
innovation ability to
explore
innovation
10
3.2 Recruitment communication
This recruitment advertisement was created to attract the right person for the manager position,
one who not only has the right KSAO’s required to successful do the job but who also fits
within the organisation [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ]. The job advertisement has been written to
show OZStyle4U’s culture as this has been shown to have a positive effect on recruiting a
person for a person- organisation fit [ CITATION Ste10 \l 1033 ]. Research has also shown that
using certain keywords in a job advertisement has a direct effect on attracting potential recruits,
for this reason the job add has listed the most important job requirements that a manager will
need to succeed in this position [ CITATION Ste10 \l 1033 ]. From earlier market research
[ CITATION See16 \l 1033 ], the provisions are what potential employees, with the skill sets
OZStyle4U wants, are most attracted to, increasing the success of recruiting the top talent
11
Table 5. Recruitment communication for specified position
12
OZStyle4U
“Leaders in the Fashion Experience”
STORE MANAGER
Job Requirements
3 Years retail management experience, preferably in fashion
Excellent customer service skills
A proven sales history
Basic accounting and book keeping skills
A love of fashion
Excellent communication skills
We Will Provide
A Great, diverse business
Amazing salary with great bonuses
Clothing allowance and instore discounts
Career Advancement
The ability to pick your team
3.3 Sourcing
13
Social media and networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and You Tube will be
one of the main avenues for sourcing talent. In today’s fast paced, technology reliant world,
these sites have access to more than 2 billion people, with a large majority of these saying they
cannot live without this technology [ CITATION Bre14 \l 1033 ]. With OZStyle4U having only
9 weeks to have a new store manager employed social media has a great advantage of having a
shorter hiring time than traditional methods [ CITATION Bre14 \l 1033 ]. Social media
recruiting is also in a better position to recruit those who may be a better fit for the organisation
as the people following OZStyle4U on various social media sites already have a love for the
fashion being offered [ CITATION Bre14 \l 1033 ]. However, OZStyle4U needs to be aware of
ethics surrounding the use of potential employee’s social media activity as this could be seen as
Although employee referrals are one of the best forms of sourcing talent [ CITATION Bre14 \l
1033 ] OZStyle4U does not have any current staff in Tasmania, making this option unusable.
Instead in addition to social media OZStyle4U will use internet job boards such as seek. This
will allow for a turnaround time in accordance with the 9 weeks available. Using a site such as
Seek will allow not only for candidates to apply for the job via OZStyle4U’s job advertisement
but also allow for OZStyle4U to search for potential top talent [ CITATION Nik04 \l 1033 ].
Another sourcing avenue OZStyle4U will use is walk-ins, these potential recruits are fast but
can be of low quality. The way OZStyle4U will attract better walk-in applicants is by
advertising the opening of the new store, this will build interest in potential employees
encouraging them to apply [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ]. Finally to source the best talent
OZStyle4U will look at retail staff in other stores to assess skill and potential fit for the
business. This will allow OZStyle4U to observe any potential employees in action to better
14
(list in applicant Fast/Medium/Slo (High/Medium/Lo applicant quality
order of (Active/Passiv w w) (High/Medium/Lo
importance e/ w)
) Semi-passive)
Net- All Medium Low High
working
and Social
Media
Internet Active Moderate Low Medium
Job Board
Observatio Passive Moderate Low Very High
n
Walk-ins Active Fast Low Low
4.0 Selection
4.1 Assessment plan
This assessment plan is designed to find the best potential manager based on a person-
organisation fit. This will allow OZStyle4U to test the competencies required to successfully
implement the business strategy. Following the multiple hurdles approach OZStyle4U will start
with resumes. This will be the first hurdle and will remove those who do not have the
experience or basic skills [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ]. Next will be a telephone interview,
from this OZStyle4U can add more information to what was gathered from the resume. This
skills and ability to think on their feet. At this point OZStyle4U can also talk about availability
and briefly discuss the business allowing both parties to determine their fit with each other
[ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ]. Those who pass this telephone screen will move on to having
Reference checks will be conducted, although they can often be a poor determinate of a
candidates ability to perform the job, with careful questioning some useful information can be
found to gauge a candidate’s potential success within the business [ CITATION Ran01 \l
15
1033 ]. The next hurdle will be an accounting test. This will be done to ensure the candidate
has basic accounting and book keeping skills needed to do the job. These skills are of essential
and high desirable importance making them imperative to the job. Failure in these skills means
the candidate would not succeed at several important tasks, most likely resulting in turnover
The next step is to simulate a customer service experience. As shown earlier the right candidate
is one who has exceptional customer service skills and the ability to build strong relationships
with customers increasing loyalty and meeting OZStyle4U’s differentiation strategy. Therefor
testing a candidate’s ability to succeed at this is of high importance. Research has shown many
applicants ‘stretch the truth’ on resumes and even in phone interviews [ CITATION Ran01 \l
potential employee can do, removing any stretches of the truth [ CITATION Ran01 \l 1033 ].
Conducting a customer service simulation also lets OZStyle4U to see if a candidate has the
right KSAO’s to succeed in the business strategy. Finally if a candidate passes all stages then
they will have a panel interview consisting of structured questions. Structured interview
questions are more likely to show the success of a potential employee than other interview
types because it improves objectivity in the interviewer making it easier to equally assess each
16
Table 7. Assessment Plan for specified position
Characteristic Importance of Select Resume Phone Reference Accounting Job Panel
(Selection Criteria) characteristic (S) Screen Check Test Simulation Interview
to job Train Customer
performance (T) Hurdle Hurdle Hurdle Hurdle Service
(1 = Essential;
≥2 = High Hurdle
Desirable;
≥3
=Desirable)
Customer Focus 1 S 1(15) 2(15) 3(5) 4(50) 5(15)
Ability to build strong 1 S 1(10) 2(10) 3(60) 4(20)
relationships with
customers
Customer Service feedback 1 S 1(50) 2(50)
and reporting experience
Three (3) years’ relevant 1 S 1(80) 2(20)
recent experience in retail
management, preferably in
the fashion industry
Leadership skills in a retail 1 S 1(30) 2(70)
environment.
Commitment and ability to 1 S 1(10) 2(10) 3(60) 4(20)
define, meet, and exceed
customer service standards.
Understanding of the 1 S 1(40) (60)
principles of equal
employment opportunity.
Innovative and creative 1 S 1(20) 2(80)
mindset
Budgeting Skills 1 S 1(25) 2(25) 3(50)
Basic business accounting 1 S 1(25) 2(25) 3(50)
and booking keeping skills
Knowledge of sales 2 S 1(25) 2(25) 3(50)
software and reports.
Ability in 2 S 1(25) 2(45) 3(30)
designing/costing and
preparing marketing
strategies for a retail outlet.
Financial Management 2 S 1(50) 2(50)
Standards knowledge
IT skills 2 S 1(35) 2(35) 3(30)
Excellent communication 2 S 1(50) 2(50)
skills
Ability to communicate 2 S 1(60) 2(40)
effectively, liaise and
negotiate with staff at all
levels.
Team Player 2 S 1(30) 2(30) 3(40)
Flexibility and willingness 2 S
to learn.
Good presentation 3 S 1(100)
Commitment and ability to 3 T
define, meet, and exceed
the relevant health and
safety legislative
requirements.
Inventory management 3 T
experience
Knowledge of point-of-sale 3 T
software
Ability to stand on feet all 3 S 1(60) 2(40)
day.
18
4.2 Panel interview questions
The panel interview questions for the manager position are behavioural in type for a few
reasons. Firstly the answer from behavioural questions provides evidence of a candidate past
experience in a given situation, providing information on their KSAO’s. Secondly they allow a
candidate to better explain their KSAO’s rather than imagine what they might be in a given
situation. Thirdly behavioural questions have been shown to elicit more truthful answers from
candidates thus removing some of the truth stretching [ CITATION Bar01 \l 1033 ].
Question one was chosen to determine past experience in customer service. Additionally this
question will test the candidate’s problem solving skills and their ability to build customer
relations by focussing on how they deal with difficult customers and what they do to continue
the customer relationship in the face of difficulty [ CITATION Bar01 \l 1033 ]. The second
question was designed to test customer service innovation and creativity. A good response to
this question will also show planning skills and the ability to conduct market research. Finally
the third question will assess the candidate’s leadership skills. This question will also assist in
determining whether the candidate is a team player and will provide insight into what the
candidate believes success is. All three questions will allow OZStyle4U to choose the right
candidate by allowing the candidate to showcase their KSAO’s [ CITATION Bar01 \l 1033 ].
Table 8. Panel Interview questions for specified position
Interview question Question Selection criteria Answer Answer
type scoring
Tell me about a time you Behavioural Customer Focus and Good: I had an angry customer. I listened to their Good=10
had a difficult customer, Commitment and concerns without taking it personally, I apologised,
how did you deal with the ability to define, remained calm and spoke with them to come to a Satisfactory= 5
customer and what the meet, and exceed conclusion everyone was happy with. A few days later I
outcome was. customer service followed up with the customer to ensure they were Poor=1
standards. happy. The customer was very happy and continued to
shop with us.
21
4.3 Choosing and hiring candidates
At OZStyle4U the most important factor to ensure success of the business strategy is customer
service excellence, innovation and loyalty. As the manager is critical to the success of the
business strategy, a multiple hurdles approach will be used. This approach will ensure that
candidates that do not meet the required criteria at each stage of the assessment process will be
removed from selection [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ]. This removes those who will not fit with
the organisation or have the correct KSAO’s. OZStyle4U has chosen this approach because it is
the manager and their staff who will ensure the success of the business strategy by being the
frontline in customer service [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ]. If the manager does not have the
right KSAO’s or cannot do basic accounting and booking or if they do not have excellent
customer service skills and are not innovative then they will not succeed at the job or the
business strategy [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ]. Therefore each step is designed to be a hurdle
5.0 Conclusion
This report developed a three phase strategic recruitment and selection plan. This was done to
recruit a suitable pool of high quality applicants that matched the KSAO’s and competencies
required to successfully do the job and implement the business strategy. Phase one covered pre-
recruitment, looking at the business and staffing strategies while also defining the job
requirements. Following this phase two was developed to recruit and source suitable high
quality applicants. Finally phase three discussed the assessment methods required to correctly
choose the best candidate from the pool of applicants. This report will allow OZStlye4U to
choose the candidate that best suits the business strategies of OZStyle4U.
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