CASE STUDY

Title of the case:

A Case Study on Recruitment & Selection- The HR aspect in Retail

Source:https://www.researchgate.net

Step 1: Introduction (Problem identification)

Introduction to the Retail Sector in India

Retail is India’s largest industry, accounting for over 10 per cent of the country’s GDP and

around 8 per cent of the employment. Retail industry in India is at the crossroads. It has emerged

as one of the most dynamic and fast paced industries with several players entering the market.

But because of the heavy initial investments required, breakeven is difficult to achieve and many

of these players have not tasted success so far. However the future is promising; the market is

growing, government policies are becoming more favourable and emerging technologies are

facilitating operations. Retailing in India is gradually inching its way toward becoming the next

boom industry. The whole concept of shopping has altered in terms of format and consumer

buying behaviour, ushering in a revolution in shopping in India. Modern retail has entered India

as seen in sprawling shopping centres, multi-storeyed malls and huge complexes offer shopping,

entertainment and food all under one roof. The Indian retailing sector is at an inflexion point

where the growth of organized retailing and growth in the consumption by the Indian population

is going to take a higher growth trajectory. The Indian population is witnessing a significant

change in its demographics. A large young working population with average age of 24 years,

nuclear families in urban areas, along with increasing working-women population and emerging

opportunities in the services sector are going to be the key growth drivers of the organized retail

sector in India.
COMPANY PROFILE:

Essar are the leading players in Steel, Oil & Gas, Power, Communications, Shipping Ports &

Logistics, Construction and Minerals. They have operations

in 20 countries. They employ 60,000 people with a market of US$ 15 billion. Essar continues to

expand with focus on markets in Asia, Africa, Europe, America and Australia. It is a low cost

manufacturer with high quality products and innovative customer offerings.

Essar vision:

We will be a respected global entrepreneur, through the power of positive action.

Essar mission:

We are committed to innovative growth, through our personal passion, reinforced by a

professional mindset, creating value for all those we touch.

Essar spirit:

It has changed significantly and continues to evolve and to keep pace with the changing times.

Vodafone-Essar is a joint venture of Essar Communication Holdings Ltd. It is India’s largest

cellular service companies with over 100 million telecom subscribers in India and Kenya. It has a

majority stake in the telecom assets of the Dhabi Group in Uganda and the Republic of Congo.

The Mobile Store has its CEO as Mr. Srikant Gokhale with the Essar Group venture. It is the first

countrywide chain of telecom retail outlet. It offers a world class shopping environment, with

state of the art technology. It currently runs 1,300 outlets branded “the MobileStore” and has the

vision to have over 2500 outlets across 650 cities in next 2 years.

It is a one stop mobile solution shop that provides, multi brand handsets, accessories,

connections, repairs, VAS etc. Its outlets are in three formats: Large - 1000-1500 square feet,

Medium- 800-1000 square feet and Corner-150-200 square feet, with smaller formats located

primarily in large malls.

It offers the widest and most comprehensive range of mobile phones with special offers from all
the key brands available across the globe. It has undertaken an extensive training program to

equip all its employees with in-depth knowledge of the products and brands available at the

store, thereby allowing them to provide the right kind of guidance to the customer. All major

handset brands like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung, Motorola, Fly, Sagem, HP, iMate,

Dopod, HTC and Blackberry are available at the store. It has also tied up with all leading

Operators like Airtel, Vodafone, BPL, Idea, MTNL/BSNL and Reliance, Tata Indicom.

The HR department carries out the main functions of recruitment, selection, induction,

performance appraisal, compensation management and other work related to HR policies and

grievances.

The Manpower Requirements are done city-wise with time-lines for store deployment and salary

& designation to be offered. The different sourcing avenues include consultants, campus

placements, referrals, portals, advertisements and walk-ins.

Step 2: Situational Analysis: (Summary)
TheRecruitment and Selection function of human resources has special significanceinretail as the
employees operate ina distinctive environment. This paper focuses ontherecruitment and
selection functioninthe Indian Retail Industry with specific emphasis on a live case.
OBJECTIVE:

The objective of the research is to emphasize the importance of the Recruitment and Selection

function. After this, we need to understand the process it follows and find a best possible solution

to meet the challenges of this process.

METHODOLOGY:

The Research Methodology is based on primary data made available by an in-depth interview at

a Retail Store. Also secondary data is carried out through various web-site portals, books and e-

articles. The assimilationof the informationis used tosuggest ways andmeans to facethe

arising challenges of the Recruitment and selection function.

The sources withinthe organisation itself (like transfer ofemployeesfrom one departmentto other,
promotions)tofill a positionare known as the internal sources of recruitment. Recruitment of
candidates from all the other sources (like outsourcing agencies etc.) are known as the external
sources of recruitment.
Some of the External Sources of Recruitment are given below:
1. PRESS ADVERTISEMENTS: Advertisements of the vacancy in newspapers and journals are
a widely used source of recruitment. The mainadvantage of this method is that it has a wide
reach.
2.EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES:Variousmanagement institutes,engineering colleges,
medicalCollegesetc.areagood source of recruitingwellqualified executives, engineers,
medical staff etc. They provide facilities for campus interviews and placements. This source is
known as Campus Recruitment.
3. PLACEMENT AGENCIES: Several private consultancy firms perform recruitment functions
on behalfof client companies by charginga fee. These agencies areparticularly suitable for
recruitmentof executives andspecialists.It is alsoknownas RPO (RecruitmentProcess
Outsourcing)
4. EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES: Government establishespublicemploymentexchanges
throughoutthecountry.These exchanges providejob information tojobseekersandhelp
employers in identifying suitable candidates.
5. LABOUR CONTRACTORS: Manualworkerscanberecruitedthroughcontractorswho
maintain close contacts with the sources of such workers. This source is used to recruit labour for
construction jobs.
6. UNSOLICITED APPLICANTS: Many job seekers visit the office of well-known companies
on their own. Such callers are considered nuisance to the daily work routine of the enterprise.
But can help in creating thetalentpoolorthedatabase of the probable candidates for the
organisation.
7.EMPLOYEE REFERRALS / RECOMMENDATIONS:Many organisations havestructured
system where the current employees of the organisation can refer their friends and relatives for
some position in their organisation. Also, the office bearers of trade unions are often aware of the
suitability of candidates. Recruitment Management can inquire these leaders for suitable jobs. In
some organizations these are formal agreements to give priority in recruitment to the candidates
recommended by the trade union.
8. RECRUITMENT AT FACTORY GATE: Unskilled workers may be recruited at the factory
gate these may be employed whenever a permanent worker is absent. More efficient among these
may be recruited to fill permanent vacancies.
Some of the Internal Sources of Recruitment are given below:

1. TRANSFERS:The employees are transferredfromone department to another according to

their efficiency and experience.
2. PROMOTIONS: The employeesare promotedfrom one department to another with more
benefits and greater responsibility based on efficiency and experience.
3.OthersareUPGRADINGand DEMOTION of present employees according totheir
performance.
4.RETIREDandRETRENCHEDemployees may also be recruitedonceagainincaseof
shortage of qualified personnel or increase in load of work. Recruitment of such people save time
and costs of the organisations as the people are already aware of the organisational culture and
the policies and procedures.
5. TheDEPENDENTS and RELATIVESOF DECEASEDEMPLOYEESandDISABLED
EMPLOYEES are also done bymany companies so thatthe membersof the familydo not
become dependent on the mercy of others.

Both recruitment and selection are the two phases of the employment process. The differences
between the two are as follows:

1.Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them
to apply for jobs in the organisation whereas selection involves the series of steps by which the
candidates are screened for choosing the most suitable persons for vacant posts.
2. The basic purpose of recruitments is to create a talent pool of candidates to enable the
selection of best candidates for the organisation, by attracting more and more employees to apply
in the organisation whereas the basic purpose of selection process is to choose the right candidate
to fill the various positions in the organization.
3. Recruitment is a positive process i.e. encouraging more and more employees to apply whereas
selection is a negative process as it involves rejection of the unsuitable candidates.
4. Recruitment is concerned with tapping the sources of human resources whereas selection is
concerned with selecting the most suitable candidate through various interviews and tests.
5. There is no contract of recruitment established in recruitment whereas selection results in a
contract of service between the employer and the selected employee.
Step 3: Questions and Answers:

1) What type of Recruitment and selection process is done in Retail Industry?

ANS: Recruitment in retail industry is done through the manpower requirements i.e. Done city-
wisewith time-lines for store deployment and salary & designation to be offered.

The retail sector includes all the shops that sell goods to the ultimate customer, who buys them
for personal and not business use. It encompasses all kinds of shops, from kiosks and small
groceries to supermarket chains and large department stores.

In other words, if you need to hire acashier, store manager, sales associate or fill in a similar job
within the retail sector, this article is for you.

2) What are the types of recruitment?

ANS: Two types of Recruitment process

I. INTERNAL RECRUITMENT
II. EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT

INTERNAL RECRUITMENT

I. TRANSFERS
II. PROMOTIONS
III. RETIRED and RETRENCHED
IV. EMPLOYEE REFERENCES

EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT

I. RECRUITMENT AT FACTORY GATE

II. EMPLOYEE REFERRALS / RECOMMENDATIONS
III. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES
IV. PRESS ADVERTISEMENTS
V. PLACEMENT AGENCIES
VI. UNSOLICITED APPLICANTS
3) What are the two phases of employment phases in recruitment and selection process?

ANS:
Both recruitment and selection are the two phases of the employment process. The differences
between the two are as follows:

1. Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them
to apply for jobs in the organisation whereas selection involves the series of steps by which the
candidates are screened for choosing the most suitable persons for vacant posts.
2. The basic purpose of recruitments is to create a talent pool of candidates to enable the
selection of best candidates for the organisation, by attracting more and more employees to apply
in the organisation whereas the basic purpose of selection process is to choose the right candidate
to fill the various positions in the organization.
3. Recruitment is a positive process i.e. encouraging more and more employees to apply whereas
selection is a negative process as it involves rejection of the unsuitable candidates.
4. Recruitment is concerned with tapping the sources of human resources whereas selection is
concerned with selecting the most suitable candidate through various interviews and tests.
5. There is no contract of recruitment established in recruitment whereas selection results in a
contract of service between the employer and the selected employee.
Step 4: Concluding Remarks:
Thus we are faced with the following Recruitment and Selection challenges and their solutions:
Recruitment Challenges
1 To exclude poor applicants to avoid
Counter-productive work.
2 The recruitment policies, sources &
methods have to be evaluated from
time to time.
3 To bring in more effectiveness in the
recruitment process
Name of the Individual/ Group who submitted the case solution
TELU SRAVYA
REG No:MBAR0180
Evaluator’s Remarks/ Grade:
Signature of the evaluator
Recruitment Solutions
1. By including applicants with promising
potentials.
2. Successful recruitment program shows good
number of successful placements, number of
offers made, and number of applicants, Cost
involved and time taken for filling up the
position.
3. Uses methods like Video conference for
following reasons of time savings, faster
decision making, cost savings in candidate
travel, lodging, etc. and an opportunity to meet
the candidates before narrowing the list
Date: