Recruiting and Selection - Research Paper Example

Recruiting and Selection A case study of Best Buy Section I: of Labor Best Buy is a global retailer and corporate company having two major groups of people that work at its global outlets; the first group of people has career in Retail, Services and Distribution sectors and the second group of people has career in the corporate sector. The number of people work in Retail, Services and Distribution sectors is more than 140,000 which includes positions of technicians, customer specialists, managers of store and managers of distribution.

In spite of large number of employees already employed in these sectors, there is a huge need for labor in their stores due to its immense growth. The diversity and global nature of Best Buy business has created huge opportunities of careers in their Retail, Corporate, Best Buy Mobile, Geek Squad Services, Distribution/Logistics and Brands & Global businesses. As an example, Figure 1 lists the career opportunities available in the Retail sector: - (Best Buy, 2011)Figure 1: Career Opportunities in Retail sector (Best Buy, 2011) In the corporate sector as well, the opportunities are quite huge because of the dynamic policies and multi-dimensional growth in which large number of businesses are carried out by the company.

This is evident from the leading brands of Best Buy as shown in Figure 2 which includes Audio Visions, The Car Phone Warehouse, Five Star Appliance, Future Shop, Geek Squad, Magnolia Home Theatre, Pacific Sales, Best Buy Mobile and Best Buy for Business.Figure 2: Leading Brands of Best Buy (Best Buy, 2011) The career opportunities available in the corporate sector as listed in Figure 3 are also very huge and diversified. Figure 3: Career Opportunities in Corporate sector (Best Buy, 2011)Section II: Recruiting Methods Best Buy is an advanced information technology company in which the entire process of recruitment is computerized.

The job opportunities in different careers are posted on their website http://www.bestbuy-jobs.com where all the positions for which opportunities exist are listed with a powerful search option. This is also evident from Figure 1 and Figure 2 above which tells the types of designations for which positions are currently available. An intended candidate is offered a complete list of job description and on selection of the desired position and option for submission of bio-data and job application is offered.

The process of selection is based on recruitment policies which are discussed in section III. (Best Buy, 2011) Another important method of recruitment is Third Party Labor. In this method, through a web portal, there is a list of Third Party Preferred Labor Providers who have approval for providing labor in the Best Buy stores. (Best Buy, 2011) The other methods that are offered include opportunities for students and entry level positions, hourly workers specially for working mothers, jobs by location and job by their stores and brands.

Recruiting method precedes selection as is evident from Figure 4 which gives the comparison and sequence of the two processes. (Best Buy, 2011)Figure 4: Comparison of Recruitment and Selection (Management Study Guid, 2011) Section III: Recruiting Policies Best Bay is an equal employment opportunity (EEO) company and policies included in EEO by them are produced in Figure 5. The Affirmative Action program is related with equal employment opportunities for qualified disabled people and veterans.

(Best Buy, 2011)Figure 5: Policy description of Equal Employment Opportunity as Best Buy (Best Buy, 2011)Section IV: Recent Changes in Labor NeedsThe Sustainability Report of Best Bay for the fiscal year 2011 shows the rate of retention and turnover as shown in Figure 6. The retention percentage is the number of people remained in employment during the year. The turnover percentage is the number of people who had ended employment during the year. The turnover percentage of 35% for the year 2011 as compared to 37% for the year 2010 indicates needs of 2% additional people for replacement.

On the other hand retention percentage indicates reduction of 1% from previous year which means better employment policy and lesser needs of recruitment compared to last year. (Best Buy, 2011)The report further says that the percentage of female and minority group employees for USA in the entire enterprise as shown in Figure 7 was 31% for the year 2011 compared to 32% of 2010. This indicates a reduction of one percent female and minority group employees. (Best Buy, 2011) Figure 6: Rate of Retention and Turnover of Best Bay employees (Best Buy, 2011) Figure 7: Change in female & minority group employees in USA (Best Buy, 2011)Section V: Recruiting Sources internal and externalThe main internal recruiting source is the web portal of Best Buy where all the career opportunities are listed.

Access to the entire world public is allowed for viewing and applying. The main external recruiting source is the Third Party Preferred Labor Providers provide labors for all the Best Bay stores. (Best Buy, 2011)Another important role of employment attraction and retention is played by the policy of “Inspired Workplace” through which incentives and programs are provided to make the employees healthy, happy and grow professionally. (Best Buy, 2011)Section VI: Selection ProcessSelection process begins after expiry of a job’s deadline.

Applications of all the candidates who applied are then accumulated and studied. The first process is the filtering of applicants; all those candidates who do not meet the criteria of the job are eliminated. There are two ways of doing it. One way is to have a computerized program that matches value of each fields of the application form with a set standard. Another way is to check the application manually and decide whether a candidate has fulfilled the job requirements. Candidates who qualify are separated with those who disqualify.

Disqualified candidates are sent regret letter while qualified candidates are evaluated and assessed. The process of assessment and evaluation include reports of references, verification of credentials, personal interviews, written tests and medical interviews. Evaluation and assessment process produces ranking which determines the relative position of each candidate in a list of top to bottom employees. The top most candidates are then offered the job on the basis of merit and equal employment opportunity.

(VU Handouts, 2005)The selection at Best Buy is done by Human Resource Department for internal sources and Third Party Preferred Labor Providers for external sources. The operational activities of Best Buy are global and multi-dimensional and therefore the selection process is also decentralized based on the laws and needs of a country or region. (Best Buy, 2011)Section VII: Desired Elements The elements desired from an employee are based on the basis of needs of a job for example for an auto technician the core element is skills and qualification of auto mechanics.

However there are some broad categories which are prominent parameters for selection on merit and each of these parameters should be modified and made more specific on the basis of job description (VU Handouts, 2005)Age: The age of candidate at the time of appointment which helps to calculate the length of service an employee can give to the organizationLocation: The location determines the proximity of employee’s residence to the place of work. It gives information about his travel time and cost for coming to job and going back home.

It also gives information about his environmental and adaptation practices.Skills: This is the most important part of a job; what skills set candidate posses?Education: Academic qualification of the candidate and the highest degree he achieved?Professional Qualification: Any additional education in any other professions besides main academic education.Experience: Any previous experience for the same job or any other jobs.Desired Salary: Amount of earnings a candidate expects from the job or what minimum amount he would need to accept the job offer.

References: Names and contact information of at least two honorable people who could be contacted for opinion about his deeds and past performance.I.Q. level: The level of intelligence, ability to think, ponder and react.Languages: Is the English second language? What are other languages that a candidate knows?I.T. Skills: Does the candidate have sufficient knowledge, experience and skills about personal computers and other common electronic devices used as medium of communication?ReferencesBest Buy, (2011).

Career Center Home, Best Buy, Retrieved from http://www.bestbuy-jobs.com/Best Buy, (2011). Our World Connected, Fiscal 2011 Sustainability Report, Best Buy, U.K. Retrieved from http://sustainability.bby.com/wp-content/themes/bby/inc/report-2011/BBY%20Fiscal%202011%20Sustainability%20Report.pdfManagement Study Guide, (2011). Difference between Recruitment and Selection, Webcraft 2008, Retrieved from http://managementstudyguide.com/difference-between-recruitment-selection.htmVU Handouts. (2005).

MGT501 Human Resource Management. In (pp. 001-199). Lahore: Virtual University of Pakistan.