You are on page 1of 27

Please either complete section below or affix Barcode Label here:

NB: This label shows Course Code; Course Name and assessment item number.

Course Code: E H R 2 0 3

Course Name: Recruitment and Selection


Due Date:
Assessment Item #: 2
Enrolment: Online
Course Convenor: Dr Matthew Xerri
Please provide your STUDENT NUMBERS or affix Student Barcode Label here:

S 5 0 0 0 5 7 7

Student Name: Natasha Fulton

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY DECLARATION


Breaches of academic integrity (cheating, plagiarism, falsification of data, collusion) seriously compromise student learning, as well as
the University’s assessment of the effectiveness of that learning and the academic quality of the University’s awards. All breaches of
academic integrity are taken seriously and could result in penalties including failure in the course and exclusion from the University.
Students should be aware that the University uses text-matching software to safeguard the quality of student learning and that
your assignment will be checked using this software.
I acknowledge and agree that the examiner of this assessment item may, for the purpose of marking this assessment
item:
reproduce this assessment item and provide a copy to another Griffith staff member; and/
submit this assessment item to a text-matching service. This web-based service will retain a copy of this assessment item
for checking the work of other students, but will not reproduce it in any form.
Examiners will only award marks for work within this assignment that is your own original work.
I, hereby certify that :
except where I have indicated, this assignment is my own work, based on my personal study and/or research.
I have acknowledged all materials and sources used in the preparation of this assignment whether they be books, articles,
reports, lecture notes, or any other kind of document or personal communication
I have not colluded with another student or person in the production of this assessment item unless group work and
collaboration is an expectation of the assessment item..
this assignment has not been submitted for assessment in any other course at Griffith, or at any other University or at any
other time in the same course without the permission of the relevant Course Convenor.
I have not copied in part or in whole or otherwise plagiarised the work of other students and/or other persons.
I have not made this piece of work available to another student. without the permission of the Course Convenor.
Providing this declaration falsely is considered a breach of academic integrity.
I have retained a copy of this assessment item for my own records.

Acknowledged by: Natasha Fulton Date: 07-08-2016


(insert name here)
Where the item is submitted electronically Clicking "I Agree" constitutes an electronic signature for the purpose of assignment declaration compliance.
STUDENT CONSENT
(to be completed by the student before their essay, assignment or other work is uploaded to an internal/online
learning University website or used for the purpose of moderation (not to be used if there is to be public access to the
Work)
At Griffith the use of assessment exemplars by academic staff is encouraged to inform students’ understanding of the
performa nce standards associated with learning and achievement in the course. An assessment exemplar is an
authentic example, actual sample or excerpt, of student work that has been annotated to illustrate the ways in which it
demonstrates learning, achievement and quality in relation to the intended learning outcomes (including graduate
outcomes) for the course. Assessment exemplars may be made available in a range of ways. In order to collect
assessment exemplars students are asked to consent, on every assessment item submitted, for their work, without
disclosure of the contributor’s identity, to be used, and reproduced as an assessment exemplar for standard setting and
moderation activities.
I acknowledge that for the purpose of standard setting and moderation activities the examiner of this assessment item
may, wish to store, reproduce, annotate, and communicate my work to others, including future students, without
disclosure of my identity.

I consent to my Work Insert title of Assessment Item, without disclosure of my personal details, being
stored, reproduced, annotated and communicated within the University’s secure online learning
environment.

I do not consent to my Work Insert title of Assessment Item being stored, reproduced, annotated and
communicated within the University’s secure online learning environment under any circumstances.

Acknowledged by: Natasha Fulton Date:

Where the item is submitted electronically Clicking "I Agree" or “I do Not Agree” constitutes an electronic
signature for the purpose of student consent.

Extension requests
Assessment item number: Click here to enter text.
Due date: Click here to enter text.
Extension request granted: Click here to enter text.
Amended due date: Click here to enter text.
Extension approved by: Click here to enter text.
Approval date: Click here to enter text.

Examiner’s use only


Name: Click here to enter text.
Mark given: Click here to enter text.
Second examiner (if required): Click here to enter text.
Mark given: Click here to enter text.

☐Submitted late without extension – returned to student to seek extension/special assessment


☐Suspected plagiarism: referred to the Course Convenor.
☐Returned to student to be resubmitted by: (date) for the following reasons:

Griffith University collects, stores and uses personal information for administrative purposes only. The
information collected is confidential and will not be disclosed to third parties without your consent, except to
meet government, legal or other regulatory requirements. For further information consult the University's
Privacy Plan at http://www.griffith.edu.au/privacy -plan

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

follow (Leaptrott, et al., 2014).

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

growth strategy [ CITATION Gre16 \l 1033 ].

Table 1. Business strategy for specified organisation


Business strategy Priority General staffing implications
(P = primary;
S = secondary;
NA = not
applicable)
Cost leadership Efficiency focus, adaptable,
NA trainable, wiling to follow
standardised procedures

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

Specialisation Adaptable, learning oriented,


networking skills, customer relations
NA
skills, emotional resilience, fit with
company culture

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

ready to go when needed [ CITATION Col09 \l 1033 ].

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

success of the business strategy.

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

important staff-customer relationships at OZStyle4U maintaining their loyalty [ CITATION

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 [

CITATION Bul12 \l 1033 ].

Table 2. HR/Staffing strategy/Talent philosophy

Strategy element General approach by Organisation Particular

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)

2.3 Job requirements


Staffing oriented job analysis creates a list of job tasks that can be grouped together under job

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

all information together [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ].


The job requirements matrix allows the business to see what is needed by a future employee to

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

Job specification Person specification


Duty Tasks Importance Time KSAO/Competency Importance of
of duty spent KSAO/Competency to
(%) on performance
duty (1 = Low, 10 = High;
(%) E = essential, D =
Desirable)
Basic 1. Ensure all financial activities are 1. Financial Management 1. 10- Essential
Accounting/ carried out with diligence and Standards knowledge
Book keeping compliance to the company’s
financial procedures manual and
Financial Management Standards.

2. Monitor actual financial 1. Budgeting Skills 1. 10- Essential


20 10
performance against budget, and
produce a monthly report providing
details on comparison of actual 2. Basic business accounting 2. 10- Essential
financial performance to budget, and booking keeping skills
analysis of variations and advice as
required.

Sales 1. Monitor and manage sales 1. Ability in 1. 8- Essential


Performance performance against store sales designing/costing and
targets and produce a monthly report preparing marketing
providing details on comparison of strategies for a retail
20 10
actual sales performance to targets, outlet.
analysis of variations and advice as 2. Knowledge of sales 2. 8- Essential
required. software and reports.

Store 1. Maintain the company’s information 15 10 1. Inventory management 1. 7- Desirable-


Operations systems with up-to-date information experience Willing to train

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

4. Other ad hoc duties as may be 1. Flexibility and willingness 1. 8- Desirable


assigned by OZStyle4U Operations to learn.
Manager – Retail (Southern Region). 2. Ability to stand on feet all 2. 10- Essential
day.
3. Excellent communication 3. 10- Essential
skills
4. Good presentation 4. 10- Essential

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

3. Develop strategies to meet customer 1. Commitment and ability to 1. 10- Essential


needs and expectations, including in- 20 40 define, meet, and exceed
store marketing displays and fashion customer service
shows. standards.
2. Three (3) years’ relevant 2. 10- Essential
recent experience in retail
management, preferably in
the fashion industry
3. Innovative and creative 3. 8- Desirable
mindset

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

wanted [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ].

11
Table 5. Recruitment communication for specified position

12
OZStyle4U
“Leaders in the Fashion Experience”

STORE MANAGER

Are you passionate about customer service?


Do you love fashion?
Are you creative?

OZStyle4U, a leader in designer fashion wear is expanding to


Tasmania. We pride ourselves on excellence and innovation in
customer service, while being passionate about making a difference in
our employee’s lives.

OZStlye4U is looking for a passionate, fashion forward, customer


oriented, born leader to manage our flagship Tasmanian store in
Hobart.

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

For more information, or to apply please go to www.ozstyle4u.com

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

a breach of privacy [ CITATION Bre14 \l 1033 ].

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

ascertain their KSAO’s [ CITATION Phi15 \l 1033 ]

Table 6. Source effectiveness analysis specified position


Source Type of Average speed Cost per hire Expected

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

will provide OZStyle4U with a view on a candidate’s passion, experience, communication

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

their references checked.

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

[ CITATION Ran01 \l 1033 ].

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

1033 ]. Conducting a customer service simulation allows OZStyle4U to determine what a

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

candidate [ CITATION Ran01 \l 1033 ].

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.

Satisfactory: I had an angry customer. I listened to their


concerns, I rang head office and passed on the
customers concerns.

Poor: I had a difficult customer, I palmed them off on a


sub-ordinate
Tell me about a Behavioural Innovative and Good: I conducted some market research and I saw an Good=10
suggestion you made to creative mindset opportunity to increase customer loyalty. I planned and
increase customer service devised a customer loyalty rewards system. I also Satisfactory= 5
or loyalty that was created an in store promotion to get information on the
implemented loyalty system out to customers. The loyalty card Poor=1
system was successful and increased customer loyalty
by 30%.

Satisfactory: I noticed that the store next door created a


loyalty system so I copied their approach and
implemented it.

Poor: I have not made any suggestions to increase


customer service or loyalty in the past.
Describe a successful Behavioural Leadership skills in a Good: I was manager of a successful team in a retail Good=10
team you were on, tell me retail environment store, we were successful as our store exceeded all other
what you believe made and team player. stores for sales and customer service. I believe our team Satisfactory= 5
the team successful. was successful because of mutual respect for each other,
we were able to communicate with each other extremely Poor=1
well, and appreciated and listened to each other’s views.
We also trusted each other implicitly.

Satisfactory: I was manager of a successful team. We


were successful because we worked really well together
and were like friends.

Poor: I have not been on a successful team yet.

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

ensuring the manager can do everything required of them.

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.
References
Barclay, J. (2001). Improving selection interviews with structure: Organisations' use of "behavioural"
interviews. Personnel Review, 30(1), 81-101. doi:10.1108/00483480110380154

Brezoiu, G. (2014). How social media recruitment influences organizational social responsibility.
Economia: Seria Management, 17(1), 172-180.

Buller, P., & McEvoy G M. (2012). Strategy, human resource management and performance: Sharpening
line of sight. Human Resource Management Review, 22(1), 43-56.
doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2011.11.002

Collings, D., & Mellahi, K. (2009). Strategic talent management: A review and research agenda. Human
Resource Management Review, 19(4), 304-313. doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.04.001

Greer, C., Carr, J., & Hipp, L. (2016). Strategic staffing and small- firm performance. Human Resource
Management, 55(4), 741-764.

Huang, T. (2001). Succession management systems and human resource outcomes. International
Journal of Manpower, 22(8), 736-747. doi:10.1108/EUM0000000006508

Kong, E., & Thomson, S. (2009). An intellectual capital perspective of human resource strategies and
practices. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 7(4), 356-364.
doi:10.1057/kmrp.2009.27

Leaptrott, J., McDonald, J., & Wilson, J. (2014). Managerial carrots and sticks: Encouraging strategy
implementation. Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies, 20(5), 177-193.

Marx, T. G. (2015). The impact of business strategy on leadership. Journal of Strategy and
Management, 8(2), 110-126.

Nikolaou, I. (2104). Social networking web sites in job search and employee recruitment. International
Journal of Selection and Assessment, 22(2), 179-189. doi:10.1111/ijsa.12067

PayScale. (2016, July 31). Retail Store Manager in Hobart, Tasmania Salary (Australia). Retrieved July
31, 2016, from PayScale:
http://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Retail_Store_Manager/Salary/0df8bb5f/Hobart

Phillips, J., & Gully, S. (2015). Strategic Staffing, global edition, 3rd edition. London: Pearson Education
Limited.

Randall, E., & Randall, C. (2001). A current review of hiring techniques for sales personal: The first step
in the sales management process. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 9(2), 70-83.

Reynolds, K., & Arnold, M. (2000). Customer loyalty to the salesperson and the store: Examining
relationship customers in an upscale retail context. The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales
Management, 20(2), 89-98.

23
Sanchez, J., & Levine, E. (2009). What is (or should be) the difference between competency modeling
and traditional job analysis. Human Resource Management Review, 53-63.
doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2008.10.002

Seek. (2016, July 31). Retrieved July 31, 2016, from SEEK: http://www.seek.com.au/jobs/in-hobart-
tas/#dateRange=999&workType=0&industry=&occupation=&graduateSearch=false&salaryFro
m=0&salaryTo=999999&salaryType=annual&companyID=&advertiserID=&advertiserGroup=&k
eywords=Retail+manager&page=1&displaySuburb=&seoSuburb

Stevens, C., & Szmerekovsky, J. (2010). Attraction to Employment Advertisements: Advertisement


wording and Personality Characteristics. Journal of Managerial Issues, 22(1), 107-126.

2593 words

24

You might also like