Chapter I

Overview

A. Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a private, family-owned American company based in
Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is the oldest and largest
manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In addition to greeting cards,
Hallmark also manufactures such products as party goods, gift wrap, and stationery. The
company is also involved in television, having produced the long-running Hallmark Hall
of Fame series since 1951, and launching the Hallmark Channel 50 years later (replacing
an earlier joint venture with The Jim Henson Company, Odyssey Network).
Hallmark has over 27,000 employees; 20,000 of them work in the United States,
about 5,600 of whom are full-time employees. About 2,700 Hallmarkers work at the
Kansas City headquarters. On June 26, 2019, it was announced that Mike Perry would
serve as president and CEO, while Donald J. Hall Jr. serves as Executive Chairman and
David E. Hall as Executive Vice-Chairman. Hallmark's creative staff consists of around
900 artists, designers, stylists, writers, editors, and photographers. Together, they
generate more than 19,000 new and redesigned greeting cards and related products per
year. The company offers more than 48,000 products in its model line at any one time.
Hallmark has a diverse portfolio of businesses:
 Hallmark Greetings offers a wide range of greeting cards, gift wrap and related
products in more than 100 countries and 100,000 retailer rooftops worldwide.
 Hallmark Retail includes more than 2,000 Hallmark Gold Crown stores in the
United States, Canada, England, Ireland and Scotland. Products are also sold on
hallmark.com.
 Crayola sells a range of art materials and toys designed to spark children’s
creativity around the globe. It also operates Crayola Experience attractions.
 Crown Media Family Networks operates Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies &
Mysteries, and Hallmark Drama, three 24-hour cable networks, in addition to the
 e-books division of the Hallmark channels, Hallmark Publishing, and Hallmark
Movies Now, a subscription-based streaming service.
 Crown Center is a real estate development company that manages the 85-acre
hotel, office, entertainment and residential complex surrounding Hallmark’s
world headquarters in Kansas City, Mo.

B. UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is an American for-profit managed health care
company based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. It offers health care products and insurance
services. It is the largest healthcare company in the world by revenue, with 2018 revenue
of $226.2 billion and 115 million customers. The company is ranked 6th on the 2019
Fortune 500. The Optum brand was created in 2011 as the company's health services
business. Optum is UnitedHealth's technology-focused arm.
UnitedHealth Group is a distinctively diversified health and well-being company
headquartered in the United States, and a leader worldwide in helping people live
healthier lives and helping make the health system work better for everyone.
They are committed to introducing innovative approaches, products and services
that can improve personal health and promote healthier populations in local communities.
With the core capabilities in clinical expertise, advanced technology and data and health
information uniquely enable us to meet the evolving needs of a changing health care
environment.
UnitedHealth Group serves clients and consumers through two distinct platforms:
 UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare provides health care coverage and benefits services.
 Optum
Optum provides information and technology-enabled health services.
Unitedhealth Group foundational competencies are:
 Clinical Insight
Knowledge and experience in organizing health care resources to best serve
specific local market needs.
 Technology

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 Enabling a variety of interactions at enormous scale and complexity, helping
connect all participants in health care.
 Data & Information
Unique skills in collecting, managing and analyzing data; and the capability to
translate data into actionable information.
Those are facts about UnitedHealth Group:
Through UnitedHealthcare and Optum, UnitedHealth Group offers health benefits
and services to people residing in all 50 states in the United States and more than
130 other countries.
UnitedHealth Group invests more than $3.5 billion in technology and innovation,
and processes approximately 1.1 trillion transactions annually.
More than 320,000 people worldwide power UnitedHealth Group with their
entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to quality, including approximately 90,000
clinical professionals focused on helping people live healthier lives.

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 Chapter II
Case and Questions
Strategic Selection: A Review of Two Companies

A. Case
Managers are proactively improving the employees selection process with various
strategies that will ideally enhance corporate success. Some of these strategies focus on
improving the quality of the individuals who apply for work, as well as those individuals who are
actually hired into the organization. Other strategies target the selection process itself and seek to
improve the various activities involved in proper hiring. The overriding theme of these efforts is
that the staffing/selection function is a key component of an organization’s strategy because the
process ideally provides highly motivated and qualified employees who can ultimately impact
the financial and operational well-being of a company.
Hallmark Cards is one company that emphasizes selection. It recently developed a
recruiting metric called a “staffing index” that enables management to track the degree to which
newly hired employees are performing as expected on the job. A series of evaluations are
conducted over time, and scores are compared to obtain a longitudinal perspective on the quality
of the hiring decisions.
UnitedHealth Group is another organization that has improved its selection activities with
proper strategic planning and execution. The company’s Vice President of Recruitment Services
decided to modify hiring procedures within the organization by splitting job candidates into two
basic groups. The first group of individuals was comprised of high-level professionals who
would be recruited by internal staffing specialists, while the second group included various staff
and line personnel who would be acquired with outsourcing contacts. This “two-pronged”
strategy enabled the company to save money through increased control and efficiency.
These various strategic selection approaches enable companies to improve the manner in
which employees are hired and placed within a hierarchy of jobs. Many other strategies could be
employed in different employment situations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of

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selection. Overall, these efforts should increase the degree of fit between employees and
organizations and increase the completion of strategic objectives.

B. Questions
1. Compare and contrast the two selection strategies used by the organizations discussed in
the case.
2. What other strategies might help organizations better utilize and manage selection
activities?

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 Chapter III
Literature Review

Selection and Placement

Selection is the progress of choosing individuals with qualifications needed to fill jobs in
an organization. Without these qualified employees, an organization is far less likely succeed.
Perhaps the best perspective on selection and placement comes from two HR beliefs that
underscore the importance of effective staffing: hired hard, manage easy. And good training will
not make up for bad selection.
Placement, the ultimate purpose of selection if placement, or fitting a person can put them
into the right place or right job, it should be seen primary as a matching process that can affect
many different employment outcomes.
Applicant Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Selection and placement activities typically focus on applicants’ knowledge, skills, and
abilities (KSAs), but these activities should also focus on the degree to which job candidates
“generally” match the situations experienced both on the job and in the company. For instance,
the match between a person and the job and/or company could impact such factors as an
individual’s attraction to work and intentions to take a job. Consequently, managers should
definitely consider the work relationship between personal and occupational characteristics.
Person/job fit is an important concept that involves matching the KSAs of individuals
with the characteristics of jobs. People already in jobs can help identify the most important KSAs
for success as part of job analysis. The fit between the individual and job characteristics is
particularly important when dealing with overseas assignments because employees must have the
proper personality, skills, and interpersonal abilities to be effective in the international
environment.
In addition to matching people to jobs, employers are also increasingly concerned about
the congruence between people and companies, or person/organization fit. For instance, a

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recent study of person/organization fit showed that congruence was related to various attitudes
about work, suggesting that fit is important when managers make placement decisions.

Criteria, Predictors, and Job Performance

A selection criterion is a characteristic that a person must possess to successfully
perform work, to determine whether or not candidates might possess a certain selection criterion
(such as ability or motivation), employers try to identify predictors that are measurable or
visible indicators of that positive characteristic. three good predictors of “permanence” might be
individual interests, salary requirements, and tenure on previous jobs. If a candidate possesses
any or all of these predictor criteria, it might therefore be assumed that the person would stay on
the job longer than someone without those predictors.

Job Performance, Selection Criteria, and Predictions

Validity in Selection
Validity is the correlation between a predictor and job performance. In other words,
validity occurs to the extent that the predictor actually predicts what it is supposed to predict.
Several different types of validity are used in the selection function :
 Concurrent Validity
Is one method for establishing the validity associated with a criterion variable.
Concurrent means “at the same time” and suggests that an employee’s performance information

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is collected at one point in time and then compared statistically. concurrent validity is measured
when an employer tests current employees and correlates the scores with their performance
ratings on such measures as accident rates, absenteeism records, and supervisory performance
appraisals.

 Predictive Validity
Another method for establishing criterion-related validity is considered a “before-the-
fact” approach. To measure predictive validity, test results of applicants are compared with their
subsequent job performance.

Reliability in Selection
Reliability of a predictor is the extent to which it repeatedly produces the same results
over time. For example, if a person took a test in December and scored 75, then took the same
test again in March and scored 76, the exam is probably a reliable instrument. Consequently,
reliability involves the consistency of predictors used in selection procedures. Job success is
measured by assessing factors such as absenteeism, accidents, errors, and performance appraisal
ratings.

Selection Responsibilities

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 Selection is a key responsibility for all managers and supervisors in a company.
However, organizations vary in how they allocate selection responsibilities between HR
specialists and operating managers.

The Selection Process

Most organizations take a series of consistent steps to process and select applicants for
jobs. Company size, job characteristics, the number of people needed, the use of electronic
technology, and other factors cause variations on the basic process.

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 Applicant Job Interest
Traditionally, individuals have submitted résumés by mail or fax, or applied in person at
an employer’s location. But with the growth in Internet recruiting, many individuals complete
applications on-line or submit résumés electronically.
Pre-Employment Screening
Many employers conduct pre-employment screening to determine if applicants meet the
minimum qualifications for open jobs.
Application Forms
Application forms are universally used and can take on different formats. Properly
prepared, the application form serves four purposes:
o It is a record of the applicant’s desire to obtain a position.
o It provides the interviewer with a profile of the applicant that can be used

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 during the interview.
o It is a basic employee record for applicants who are hired.
o It can be used for research on the effectiveness of the selection process.

Selection Testing
Many different kinds of tests can be used to help select qualified employees. Literacy
tests, skill-based tests, psychological measurement tests, and honesty tests are often utilized to
assess various individual factors that are deemed important for the work to be performed. These
useful employment tests allow companies to predict which applicants will be the most successful
after being hired.
 Ability Tests
Tests that assess an individual’s ability to perform in a specific manner are grouped as
ability tests.
o Cognitive ability tests
Measure an individual’s thinking, memory, reasoning, verbal, and mathematical abilities.
o Physical ability tests
Measure an individual’s abilities such as strength, endurance, and muscular movement.
o Psychomotor tests
Which measure a person’s dexterity, hand– eye coordination, arm– hand steadiness, and
other factors.
o Work sample tests
Which require an applicant to perform a simulated task that is a specified part of the
target job.
o Situational judgment tests Measure a person’s judgment in work settings. Situational
judgment tests are a form of job simulation.
 Personality Tests
Many different personality characteristics exist, some experts believe that there is a
relatively small number of underlying major traits. The most widely accepted approach to
studying these underlying personality traits (although not the only one) is the “Big Five”
personality framework. The Big Five traits are generally considered to be useful predictors of
various types of job performance in different occupations.

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  Honesty/Integrity Tests
Companies are utilizing different tests to assess the honesty and integrity of applicants
and employees. Employers use these tests as a screening mechanism to prevent the hiring of
unethical employees, to reduce the frequency of lying and theft on the job, and to communicate
to applicants and employees alike that dishonesty will not be tolerated.

Selection Interviewing
Selection interviewing of job applicants is done both to obtain additional information and
to clarify information gathered throughout the selection process. Interviews are commonly
conducted at two levels: first, as an initial screening interview to determine if the person has met
minimum qualifications, and then later, as an in-depth interview with HR staff members and/or
operating managers to determine if the person will fit into the designated work area.
Types of Selection Interviews
o Biographical Interview, focuses on a chronological assessment of the candidate’s past
experiences.
o Behavioral interview, applicants are asked to describe how they have performed a certain
task or handled a problem in the past, which ideally predicts future actions and shows
how applicants are best suited for current jobs.
o Competency Interview, A competency profile for the position is often utilized, which
includes a list of competencies necessary to do that particular job.
o Situational Interview, contains questions about how applicants might handle specific job
situations.

Background Investigation
Background investigation may take place either before or after the in-depth interview.
The value of background investigation is evident when the investigation reveals that applicants
have misrepresented their qualifications and backgrounds. The only protection is to get
verification on applicants either before or after hire, and to never assume that applicant
information is accurate. If hired, an employee can be terminated for falsifying employment
information.
Medical Examinations and Inquiries

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 Medical information on applicants may be used to determine their physical and mental
capabilities for performing jobs. Physical standards for jobs should be realistic, justifi able, and
linked to job requirements.

Chapter IV
Discussion

1. Compare and contrast the two selection strategies used by the organizations
discussed in the case.
The idea behind a solid hiring practice is that the company will find more success
through the proper hiring procedures.
Staffing and selection is a key component for a company’s strategy and their
overall success because it means that the company is looking for the best most motivated
and qualified employees that will help bring their company future success both
financially and operationally.
Proper hiring procedures should place the best candidate into positions that are
available, these employees should not only have the intelligence necessary for the jobs

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that they are fulfilling, but also be the right fit for the company and the company’s
strategic values and goals.
 The first selection strategy discussed was used by Hallmark Cards, and is called a
“staffing index”. The staffing index allows the company to have the ability to
track the success or not of newly hired employees, it measures if the employee
and the overall quality of the hiring process.
 At UnitedHealth Group they use a “two pronged” method to help the company
save money via increased control and efficiency. This two pronged strategy starts
by separating job candidates into two separate categories, those that will be
sourced internally and those that will be sourced externally. The first group is
high level professionals that would be recruited by internal staffing specialists,
while the second group was comprised of staff and line personnel that would be
through outsourcing contacts.
The differences between these two methods for hiring are vast:
 Hallmark Cards Company wants to be able to judge the longevity of their newly
hired employees based on evaluations conducted over time, while also using the
data to analyze their hiring process and decisions. Metrics help to manage better.
They tell what to do more of and less of. Metrics allow us to focus limited
resources on tools and strategies that demonstrate a significant business impact.
These are the reasons why use metrics in recruiting:
o First, technology that helps organizations transition into a paperless
environment makes it easier to capture and analyze data at a much more
granular level across the enterprise.
o Next, as global infrastructures standardize, the workforce will become
more geographically dispersed, and team structures will most likely
incorporate a number of individuals who work remotely. As a result,
managers will no longer be able to assess an individual's performance by
physically looking at employee output. Instead, metrics will become the
primary tool to measure and compare productivity between dispersed
employees and business units.

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  UnitedHealth Group employs a different strategy that allows the company to
recruit the higher level professionals using their own internal staffing specialists,
while using outsourcing for line personnel. this most likely saves the company
money because they do not have to pay their internal staffing specialists extra to
interview and select the lower level employees as well. Also with outsourcing
company can get any advantageous, that is :
o Companies can focus on main business activities (main activities).
o Companies do not need to bother providing facilities, food allowances,
even health insurance.
o Company competence instead of power better in the field, because that's
the core of the business.
o Reducing risks to the completion of the business in the future, by
determining the number of company employees.
o Increase efficiency and improve non-core jobs.

Both companies have programs in place to track their recruitment, and both seem
to be doing it for money saving purposes on their own way. Hallmark Cards is tracking
their hiring decisions over time, presumably to lower their turnover rate and learn how to
make better hiring decisions the first time, and UnitedHealth Group is blatantly stating
that they separate their candidates into two groups in order to recruit the higher level
professionals from within, this most likely saves the company money because they do not
have to pay their internal staffing specialists extra to interview and select the lower level
employees as well.

2. What other strategies might help organizations better utilize and manage selection
activities?
Other methods that could be used to help an organization are :
 Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
One of the more traditional selection methods is to make choices based on
knowledge, skills and abilities - or KSAs. This selection method begins with job analysis.
The human resources department analyzes each job and creates a job specification that

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lists all required knowledge, skills and abilities needed to perform the job. The human
resources department then determines the best way to assess each candidate to determine
whether he possesses those KSAs. The final step is to process all job applicants using
those assessment tools.
 Multistage Selection Strategies
A multistage selection strategy combines a number of assessment tools as part of
the process. The human resources department is responsible for validating each
assessment tool and ensuring that it is legitimately related to the requirements of the open
position. Examples of different stages in a multistage selection strategy are personality
tests, skills tests, interviews and sample work performances. This strategy is paired with
either a conjunctive or compensatory strategy.
 Conjunctive Selection Strategy
When the human resources department uses a conjunctive model, it administers
multiple assessment tools in a series of stages. If a person does poorly on an initial
assessment, he is eliminated from the pool of applicants. When using this strategy,
assessment tools must be carefully ordered so that a candidate is not eliminated based on
a less important criteria than one that is assessed later in the process. The advantage to
this strategy, however, is that it is less costly than a compensatory strategy because later
assessment tools are administered to fewer people.
 Compensatory Selection Strategy
One way of avoiding the disadvantage of the conjunctive selection strategy is to
use a compensatory selection strategy. This method administers all assessment tools to
applicants at the same time - or at least all of them are administered before a candidate is
eliminated or selected. The scores of all assessment tools are combined to give each
applicant a composite score. Under this system, an applicant is less likely to be
eliminated based on the results of a single assessment tool and comparisons can be made
among the composite results of all applicants.

These various strategic selection approaches enable companies to improve the

manner in which employees are hired and placed within a hierarchy of jobs.

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 Many other strategies could be employed in different employment situations to
improve the efficiency and effectiveness of selection. Overall, these efforts should
increase the degree of fit between employees and organizations and increase the
completion of strategic objectives.

Chapter V
Conclusion

This case involves two different companies that have differences in the selection and
recruitment of employees. Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a private, family-owned American company,
which is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. Hallmark also
manufactures products such as party goods, gift wrap, and stationery and involved in television,
this company approaches the "staffing index" in obtaining employees who are in line with work
within the company, while UnitedHealth Group is an American for-profit managed health care
company, it offers health care products and insurance services. approach to obtaining qualified
employees in accordance with the required field of work with the "two pronged" method, namely
for high level professionals taken from internal staffing specialists, and for line personnel / staff
employees they obtain through outsourcing. So the difference between the two company

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strategies in getting employees in accordance with the needs of each company certainly has
advantages of each.

References

Mathis, Robert L and Jackson, John H (2008). Human Resource Management, (twelfth edition).
Thomson South-Western.
https://brainmass.com/business/strategy-and-business-analysis/strategic-selection-and-the-
orientation-problem-381673
https://www.hallmark.com/
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/selection-strategies-hr-30795.html
https://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/

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