recruitment consultant (hrm, slim)

Table of contents

Acknowledgement

Introduction

The Human Resource planning process

The Recruitment Process

The Selection Process

Placement and Induction process

Performance Evaluation of the sales force

Incentive schemes for better performance

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Acknowledgement

“The process of attracting a pool of people from which qualified candidates for

job vacancies can be chosen”

Byers & Rue- The definition for recruitment

Recruitment procedure is one of the Key Result Areas (KRA‟s) in any

organization because the success and growth of any firm depends on this. This is one of

the major aspects of the HR planning process as well, but at present it is a major area

which should be considered by the whole organization.

We as reputed recruitment consultants, who have been helping many growing

organizations and continuing to do so in recruiting new employees, are glad to share our

expertise knowledge with your company as well.

We ensure that the recruitment procedure that we are going to introduce will be a

success and lead your company to a higher level with efficient and effective performance.

I would like to specially thank Mr. Nalin Munasinghe our resource person who

has helped us in vast ways sharing the knowledge, skills and attitudes to develop this

compilation. Also I take this opportunity to thank my dear parents, brothers and sisters

who have helped us to collect information from a wide array of dissipated resources.

D. N. Dharmarathna

Recruitment Consultant

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Describing the personal

selling function

Defining the strategic role of the sales

function

Developing the sales

force

Determining salesforce

effectiveness and

performance

Introduction

CRM or customer relationship management is the modern trend in marketing

where creating customer relationships take more prominence than just the buying and the

selling. The reason is to create more customer life time value.

Out of the main marketing communication tools personal selling is more aligned

towards close customer relationships since they are the people who are going to persuade

the potential customers to purchase their products and services. Personal selling could be

defined as,

“Personal communication with an audience through paid personal of an

organization or its agents in such a way that the audience perceives the

communicators organization as being the source of the message”

Ingram, LaForge, Avila, Schwepker Jr., Williams; Sales Management 6th

Edition

Sales people encourage the use of innovative products and services hence they

are positive contributors to the society also they play the role as Revenue producers

because they are the ones who are inducing the target market to buy the products. Since

this organization is a service provider the sales force has a major role to play.

Figure: - Sales management model

Ingram, LaForge, Avila, Schwepker Jr., Williams; Sales Management

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Analyzing organizational

objectives and plans

Convert corporate objectives to man power

objectives

Forecasting future man power needs

Assessing current man power supply

Comparison of man power demand and

supply- Man power gaps

Action plan to fill man power gaps

Monitor - control and evaluate HR planning

effort

The Human Resource planning process

The human resource planning process is one of the main responsibilities of the

HR Manager. But at present this responsibility does not solely come under the HR

Managers context since it directly affects the profitability of the company consequently.

Figure: - Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) Sri Lanka CCHRM study pack 2010

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HR planning could be defined as,

“The process by which an organization ensures that it has the right number of

people and the right kind of people at the right place at the right time doing things

for which they are economically most useful”

Thomas H. Patten

The SMART plans and objectives of the telecommunication organization should be

first understood. (SMART is the acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic

and Time bound)

Out of the 8M‟s only „Man‟ makes things to function all other resources (the 8M‟s

are man, machinery, material, minutes, methods, money, and market) makes things

possible hence the tasks and activities of the organization should match with the recruited

employees. When we are forecasting the future man power needs the following must be

considered,

Demand for the particular telecommunication service – if it‟s increasing

rapidly with the time it is better to recruit comparatively more recruits

The strategic plans and objectives of the organization – venturing into new

market segments, integration of new technologies etc.

Change of methodologies in service – this might reduce the necessity of

labor in major quantities for an example using automatic answering

machines will reduce man power need

Leave, resignations, retirements and deaths

Other PESTEEL factors – (the acronym is for Political. Economical,

Social, Technological, Ecological, Ethical and Legal environment)

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The next step that we‟ll have to follow is to assess the current man power supply,

only through that we‟ll be able to understand the gap between supply and demand of sales

force.

There are many methods of forecasting future man power needs which will give

us an idea about the number of new recruits that we‟ll need.

Delphi technique – a forecast done based on available information by a

specialist team.

Expert estimating- is not that much accurate, in this method the forecasting

is done by the departmental heads for the particular departments.

Informal forecasting- just like the name implies the forecast is done

informally without proper information.

Trend projection- is a method of calculating the man power using ratios.

Example: - if you need 10 employees to produce 10 garments then you will

need 20 employees to produce 20 garments.

Unit demand forecasting- the managers of each unit should study the area

under him and submit the human power need based on that.

There are problems in Human Resource planning such as,

Inaccuracy in forecasting causing a huge wastage of money and time

Time and cost direct and indirect

Uncertainty about the performance of the new employees

Inadequate support of the top management

Resistance by the current employees due to wrong concepts

We must try to overcome these shortcomings in human resource planning process.

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HR Planning

Identifying the HR requirement/

Job vacancies

Job analysis (Job description and Job

specification)

Decision to recruit

Choose the resources and

methods to recruitment

Implement the recruitment

program

Evaluate the recruitment

program

The Recruitment process

The primary recruitment process has mainly 07 steps

Figure: - Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) Sri Lanka CCHRM study pack 2010

The objectives of recruiting and selection are as follows,

Determine the future needs of the organization, what our main needs are

Meet the companies legal and social obligations and responsibilities

Reduce the number of under/over qualified salespeople

To have a fixed cost, that is avoiding the recruitment of salespeople who

don‟t have the temperament to become a sales person

To evaluate recruiting sources and techniques used

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The HR planning process was discussed above in detail; after the planning

process the job vacancy identification should take place. This should be done in the right

time and in right number to avoid surpluses or deficits of employees.

Subsequently the Job Description (JD) and the Job Specification (JS) should be

prepared. JS is also known as the Personal Specification. The JD and the JS together is

known as the job analysis.

A Job description includes information about the particular job such as,

Authority

Delegated work

Hazards

Job title

Location

Materials

Relationships

Responsibility

Summary of duties

Tools, equipment and other machinery to be used

The job specification specifies about the qualities which the job holder should

possess such as,

Adaptability

Age

Attitudes

Education

Emotional character

Empathy

Experience

Health condition

Motivational factors

Personality

Qualifications

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Skills

Training

The recruitment could be done internally or externally, since the Telecommunication

firm is a new one the optimum method is to move towards external recruitment. External

recruitment has both the negative and positive sides.

Advantages Disadvantages

Wider options Time consuming

Newest members Expensive

New employees with new and

innovative ideas

The performance not meeting the

expected level

Advertising brings publicity to the

company

Frustration among comparatively

old employees

Better image for the company Might not fit to the culture of the

organization

Some of the external recruitment methods are as follows,

Media (Television, Radio, Magazines, Newspapers etc.) which has the “AIDA”

effect (AIDA is the acronym for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action)

“Head Hunting”

Interviewing

Contractors

Job agencies

Job fairs

Educational institutes

Implementing the recruitment program is the next step; this requires a lot of

planning and time.

Alas the evaluation of the recruitment program could be done. Things to be

considered are,

Cost effectiveness

Validity

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Suitability

Number of applications received

Applications which were at least within the relevant frame

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The selection process

“Selection is the process of choosing the most suitable applicant/candidate for a

job from among the available applicants”

M. Berry, Lilly, „Employee Selection‟, 1st Edition, 2003

Accuracy in selection process is very important due to three reasons,

i. Costs involved in the whole process will be a waste if proper selection is

not made

ii. Performance of the company rely largely on these revenue producers

hence only suitable people should be chosen

iii. Legal implications might arise if the legislations are not complied with,

Example :- Equal Employment Legislation

The job of preparing the tests for selection should be done by the Human

resource specialists of the organization, but the sales manager also has the responsibility to

get involved since the Sales managers are the ones who best knows about the profile of the

expected recruit.

If psychological tests are used be sure that you follow the International standards.

The tests should meet the Job analysis profile and these tests should not anticipate the

desired response from the candidate and alas the selection should not be based solely on

the selection tests.

We have clearly elaborated on how to conduct this selection procedure with

minimum defects.

i. Screening and short listing of the application forms: - eliminating the

applicants who have not at least got the minimum requirements. The

application forms should be prepared in a manner which will question the

applicants about their organizing capabilities, planning, personal

leadership, persuasiveness, initiative, communication abilities etc. most of

these above qualities will be scrutinized in the coming steps.

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ii. Presenting the data in tabulated form or in software made for this

purpose: - easier to compare, clearer to understand and accurate.

iii. Preliminary interview: - here the interviewer must elucidate to the

applicant about what is expected from him/her, the remuneration and

rewards provided etc. actually a wholesome picture of sales person should

be given. The interview must be a short one because some applicants give

up at this stage (around 15 to 20 minutes)

iv. Employment tests to measure various aspects of the applicants related to

the job will help the interviewers to recruit the most competent applicants.

There are various tests some of them are mentioned below, (the tests

mentioned in bold are the tests that we are planning to have)

a. Aptitude tests- measures the physical capability to perform

b. Psychomotor test- measure the strength of the coordination of the

body

c. Job knowledge and proficiency tests

d. Interest test- to ensure that the applicant is truly interested in

the field

e. IQ and General knowledge tests

f. Intelligence tests- measure the cognitive ability

g. Test of Motor and Physical abilities- measures,

Finger dexterity

Manual dexterity

Speed of arm movement

Reaction time

h. Situational tests- scrutinize the behavior in certain situations

i. Achievement tests- knowledge based

j. Personality tests- things like values, emotions, self confidence,

judgment, submission etc. are measured

k. Polygraph tests- tests the truthfulness of the answers given by the

applicant

l. Graphology- analysis of hand writing

v. Diagnostic interview is the next step; this will be the last interview in our

selection procedure. A number of types of interviews are there some of-

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them are mentioned below, (the methods mentioned in bold are given

priority since they are more accurate)

a. Formal and Structured interviews / Directive interviews: - these

interviews have a specific set of questions which have been

prepared early.

b. Unstructured interviews / Nondirective interviews: - just as the

name implies there are no previously prepared set of questions.

c. Stress interviews: - observes how the applicant behaves under

stressed situations

d. Group interview method: - single interviewer with a group of

applicants

e. Panel interviews: - a panel of interviewers are going to interview a

single applicant

f. In-depth interviews: -questions inside questions a question will

be questioned many times to find reasons and clarifications for a

particular behavior or an answer also known as leading questions

g. Situational type of interviews: - the way the applicant behaves in

a particular situation is observed

vi. Reference checking: - only for the selected applicants to reduce costs

vii. Medical examination: - the sales force people have to physically work to

a certain extent because this is not a sole white collar job hence this is a

must according to our purview

viii. Final selection: - selecting the most appropriate applicants out of the pool,

the decision should be attained by the Sales Manager and by the Human

Resource Manager together

ix. Job offering interview: -

a. Offering the interview

b. Explaining and elucidating the responsibilities of a sales person

c. Clearing doubts

d. Mentioning the terms and conditions of the employment etc.

x. Contract of employment: - similar to an agreement is signed alas

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Placement and Induction process

“The determination of the job to which an accepted candidate is to be assigned

and his/her assignment to that job”

Paul Pagers and Charles A. Myers

The job placement process is planned to be held for one and a half months, the new

recruits will be given the choice to work with the experienced sales people to gain more

practical knowledge.

The induction procedure will enable the new recruits to perform as much as the

experienced employees. The induction process consists of 2 main levels,

01. General induction- giving a picture of the organization as a whole.

02. Job Training- giving a picture about the responsibilities and duties of the

sales force employees.

Sales force socialization is a concept similar to induction,

“The process by which sales people acquire the knowledge, skills & values

essential to perform their jobs”

Ingram, LaForge, Avila, Schwepker Jr., Williams; Sales Management 6th

Edition

After all the above it‟s good to do an evaluation of the whole process. This could

be done with the help of the line managers, team members and if there are any leavers, exit

interviews could be done. The evaluation should be done immediately after the process.

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Sales Person

External Customers

Oneself

Sales Manager

Team Members

Internal Customers

Performance Evaluation of the sales force

“Performance management is the systematic evaluation of an individual in an

organization with respect to his/her performance on the job and to see the potential

for development”

Rao, T. V., Performance Management & Appraisal systems, 1st Edition, 2004

Performance of a person mainly depends on 03 factors, namely the ability to

perform, motivation and the environment.

Why to have a Performance Evaluation?

To improve the communication between the sales force and the management

To motivate the employees

To identify higher performers and provide them opportunities for career growth

To help employees to set goals

To give them an idea about what is expected from them

For better HR planning

Improve performance of the employees

To identify poor performers and collect enough evidence to support the termination

To ensure that remunerations and other resources are distribute in a fair manner

Identifying training needs

There are two main performance evaluation approaches,

I. Performance Appraisal

II. 360-Degree Feedback System

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Both the above methods have pros and cons, the best method is the 360-Degree

feedback but since the telecommunication company is a new one it would be hard to

practice this method hence Performance Appraisal is the most practical approach.

How to conduct the Performance Appraisal procedure?

Planning of the Appraisal

• The appraiser should give the appraisee clear information about the, tasks responsibilities , expected minimum standards,, performance level etc. simply all the facts about a sales person

Progress Review

• During the stipulated period check the performance standards of the new recruits, make corrections if neccessary. this is essential to keep the sales force on track and to reduce employee turnover

Assesing the performance

• The main task at this level is the completion of the Appraisal form which would be used in the next level also comparison of the performance of the employees against the set standards should be done

Appraisal Meeting

• The most important aspect is that clear and open the discussion should be between the appraiser & appraisee some of the important facts to follow are mentioned below

• The Appraisal form should be properly filled

• Select a free time for both parties

• Avoid disturbances

• The appraiser should be rational

• Put the appraisee at ease

• Have to be unbias talk the truth squarely

• If the appraisee is not talking that much scrutinize his/her behavior

• Avoid arguments

• Let the appraisee speak openly listen well with empathy

• Discuss about the future plans

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Several dimensions of the recruits develop and grow due to this, they include

mainly 02 perspectives namely the behavioral based and outcome based.

Behavioral based

Behavior of the salesperson will develop they will be more customer

oriented and they will value their customers not just for Rupees and cents

Professional development relates to the development of the employees in

their professionalism that is their performance level grows.

Outcome based

Results shown by the sales force increase

Profitability of the sales force increase

The main characteristics that the performance appraisal should have are,

Comparability

Job relatedness – the process should suit the job as well as the whole

company

Practicality – the purpose for doing this should be understood by both the

parties and this should be implemented in a reasonable time

Reliability – the results should be stable and frank

Standardization – the criteria should meet the standards

Usefulness – the criteria should have the ability to pin point the training

needs and deficits of performances clearly

Validity – accuracy of the information is essential

Other methods used in Performance evaluation are,

Checklist methods/Graphic rating

Ranking methods

Objective setting method

Behaviorally Anchored Scales (BARS)

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Incentive schemes for the better performance

Job satisfaction is essential to motivate employees to perform effectively and

efficiently. Other than the basic minimum salary it is better to provide incentives to the

sales people. An Incentive can be defined as,

“Incentive is a stimulus or a reason for producing action. Almost all of the

human motivations can serve as an incentive”

-Earnest Ditcher

The main aim of providing an incentive is to fill the gap between the willingness to

work and capacity to work. The main objectives are,

Increase productivity and performance level

Motivate employees

Create job satisfaction

Reduce employee turnover and absenteeism

Reduce grievances

Both financial and Non-financial incentives have pros and cons hence the best

strategy is to amalgamate them both to a certain extent and practice it.

Advantages of financial incentives Advantages of non-financial incentives

Money frequently motivate people Some do not get motivated by money

Job security Fulfillment of psychological and esteem

needs

Tangible Useful in long term goal achievements

Incentives

Financial Non- Financial

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The most suitable types of financial incentives are,

Target incentives – for covering targets

Commission on sales

Bonus

The most suitable non-financial incentives are,

Rewards

Recognition

Praise

Special training

Allowing to make decisions

Ranking

The incentive scheme should be carried on in the individual basis because the sales

people carry business for themselves and it is easier to observe individual performance. It

is also a more accurate and consistent with standards and demands. Sales people can

understand their faults and correct them in order to be more effective.

Essentials

Economically suits the firm

Attractive

Motivational

Flexible

Simple

Just & equitable

Stable

Attainable standards

Proper grievance handling procedures etc.

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List of references

Byers & Rue

Earnest Ditcher

Eden borough, Robert, Assessment Methods in Recruitment, Selection &

Performance, 1st Edition, 2006

Ingram, LaForge, Avila, Schwepker Jr., Williams; Sales Management 6th

Edition

Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) Sri Lanka CCHRM study pack 2010

M. Berry, Lilly, Employee Selection, 1st Edition, 2003

Maitland, Lain, Manpower planning and recruiting, 1st Edition, 2005

Paul Pagers and Charles A. Myers

Rao, T. V., Performance Management & Appraisal systems, 1st Edition, 2004

Thomas H. Patten

Turner, Paul, HR Forecasting and planning, 1st Edition, 2002

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