Recruitment and Selection of Direct Sales Representative - Example

HRM Critique and Recommendations HRM Critique and Recommendations SUMMARY OF JOB ANALYSIS Job The Job targeted is Direct Sales representative at NU Skin Company Ltd. The position of a direct sales person is under the department of sales and marketing. The department is made up of 56 individuals and is led by three departmental heads each leading a particular region of the country. The direct sales representative is the lowest position in the department with other positions like supervisors in place. Job description The company deals with supply and sales of electronic devices and home appliances like washing machines, microwaves, iron boxes, TVs, Laptops among other products. The company has 17 stores in major cities in the country. At the stores, clients have the freedom to walk in and choose the kind of product they want. Apart from that, the company offers delivery services to clients who are either far from the stores or too busy to make it to the stores. They are allowed to make orders and deliveries are made within a minimum three hours depending on the urgency from the client. Orders for home delivery are made through direct phone calls or through the online store which works 24 hours. Job Specifications The job requires that the sales representatives meet current and potential customers to boost sales of the company. As a sales representative, the employee is required to do a couple of duties which include; a. Market products from the company to clients b. Inform clients of new products. c. Inform clients of benefits associated with particular brands d. Handle queries and complaints from clients HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES Recruitment and selection of Direct Sales Representative An advertisement was made on their online website concerning new Sales representative among other openings in the company. The qualifications were as follows, Minimum university diploma in Sales and marketing Two year working experience at a similar place Good communication skills. Holder of a driving license Certificate in Information Technology The interviews were held at the companys head office. All the interviewees were expected at the venue by 8am of that morning. The interviewing panel was made up of four people. They were all of male gender. On arrival, the interviewees were asked to register their names and hand over all their documents and credentials to the secretary. The interview did not start until 12 noon. Half the number of the attendants had given up and asked for their documents and left. During the interview session, the panel informed the remaining individuals that the first interview had already happen and that was on test of patience. The people who left had already failed the first test. At that point, 20 people had remained. All the remaining interviewees were taken for the job. Including some who did not have the minimum qualifications stated from the advertisement. All the qualified interviewees were asked to report to work the following day for orientation and training. The recruitment process was inefficient and lacked professionalism. Communication made about arrival time was not kept by the company. There was a challenge with communication with interviewees who arrived for the interview. Most did not understand what they were supposed to do. The test on patience was also unfair. Every person had their plans and that did not include waiting for 5 hours to an interview that you are likely to fail. The recruiting policy in the company is clearly a fail. There are chances that they have been losing more qualified and competent employees over years. The other aspect of taking in new employees without much attention to their minimum qualification is not a good move. Because the panel was made up of all male personnel, this might have intimidated some of the female interviewee and does not portray a good impression to the potential new employees. According to Yeung (2010), interviews should be prompt and timely by both the interviewee and the interviewing panel. Orientation and socialization of the new employees Orientation gives a new employee a chance and opportunity to understand very vital information concerning the new company. Lawson (2006) says following day, the new employees were all taken to the HR department for official enrolment into the company. There was the signing of the contract and short briefing on the companys norms and policies. This in total happened within an hour. Next the new employees were taken to the companys social hall where they were to be introduced to departmental heads. Each of the new employees was asked to stand and introduce themselves to the rest of the team. The employees were then introduced to their departmental heads and supervisors. A session of introduction to the function of the company was done. The new employees were introduced to all the operations from the top management to the messenger. This enabled the employees understand the vastness of the work in the company. There was also a question and answer session that aimed at clarifying on untracked issues. This session was also used to test whether the new employees have understood everything that is required of them. Every employee was asked to mention one thing they thought was unique about the companys operations. After the briefing, the employees were taken to the diner for lunch. At the diner, the new employees met the rest of the employees. They were introduced momentarily and they were warmly welcomed. They were allowed to interact and socialize with the rest of employees. That afternoon, there was a session of team building activates. They all aimed at building the bond between the new employees and the management team. The orientation was fairly done. The HRM department seemed to take this part of orientation more serious. The signing of contract and the letter of offer might have been more casual. There were cases were the new employees will be given wrong documents to sign. There were also issues with the details of the contact which needed to clarify. Training and Development There was definitely a need to train the new employees in order to understand what they would expect in the field. As sales representatives, there was great need to be equipped with previous information and experiences. This would guide the new employees on the way about. The training was done by the supervisors with little introduction from the HR department. The new employees were given guide books that entailed full information about how they are supposed to work. Lists of all available products in the company were issued to each employee. The list showed detailed information about each product including their prices and offers available. Jackson, Schuller, & Werner, (2011) says that training new employees ensure that the company is up to date with competitiveness in the market. The training was not effectively done to prepare the new employees. As new employee information concerning your work is vital. All necessary equipment and tools of work should be made available to the employee to ensure that the employee effectively performs. The training done by the supervisors lacked details on how deliveries are done, the persons concerned with the deliveries and also most importantly how to take orders for deliveries. Health and Safety A sales representative, it means most of the time the job will be done in the field. Going to meet new clients, marketing services and products can be tiring and this might affect the employee in the delivery and their performance. The company did not have any safety and health policy that would ensure the employees are safe in their work and that their health is secure. During the signing of the contract, the new employees expected to sign in to medical cover or insurance as employees of the company. The company does not have any scheme that facilitates this. Measures to ensure safety have not been set too. During the whole period of orientation and training, we did not identify a single fire extinguisher or signs directing people in an event of emergency like fire. Healthy people make a healthy nation. If the health of employees is not taken care of, the company is basically unhealthy and preparing for a downfall. The safety of employees and their health should be priority number one. The government might be giving Medicare but as an employer, there is obligation to at least ensure safety of the employees in the company. Labor relations/Union-management relations. During the signing of contract and the letter of offer, the employees were not informed about any unions that they are allowed to join. The only instruction based on this was that after three months of work, the employee would qualify for registration into the labor union. This gave the employee doubt of whether they were really employees of the company. The only union that the company recognized is National Employees trust which has not been active and in the past faced massive withdrawal of members due to claims of ineffectiveness. Other members had complained that the union was an organization set up by employees to fulfil the policy set by the government. In real sense the union worked for the employer. According to Department of Labor,United States;Us Dept of Labor; Bureau Of Labor Statistics (2004) argues that unions play an important role in ensuring employee benefits and that of the employer are protected. Unions are important in ensuring that the rights of the employee are protected and that the employer does not take advantage and manipulate the employee. The industrial and labor policies set by the government require that every employee becomes a member of at least one union. The fact that the new employees at Nu Skin were not enrolled or registered immediately to the union brings an aspect of doubt on how well the company relates to its employees. The HRM department has full responsibility to secure its employees but this case was different Nu Skin. Recommendations Recruitment The method used for recruitment is very important. It ensures that a company gets the best personal in their team. This procedure should be very serious and held at high level of professionalism. The recruitment done at Nu Skin did not show any aspect of professionalism or seriousness. As a matter of fact it looked like a joke when the new employees were told that they had gotten the job. They had to wait until the contract has been signed for them to believe that they were officially new employees. The company should come up with a well planned strategy that will see proper and planned interviews are done. Time keeping is a key factor in interviews. How you act during the interview can easily be translated to the new employee. If you do not keep time, the new employees will never take time keeping serious after they get the job. A well trained team should be used to carry out the interviews. One other important factor is that the interviewing panel should be diversified in terms of gender and age. Working with one gender only might intimidate and threat the opposite gender. This might affect how individuals act during an interview. The company should not also compromise the job qualification as this will affect the efficiency at work. Working with an under qualified personal might cost the company a lot. Orientation and socialization The orientation done at Nu skin was more of staff end year party than orientation. They capitalized on socialization more than doing orientation to the new employees. A more planned and organized system should be put in place. The orientation should also be done by a neutral facilitator other than members of the management who might be biased in giving information. In as much as the new employees are members of the rest of the team, orientation should not majorly be used to create bond between these employees. According to Jackson (2012) orientation is the building block of a new employee’s social life in a company. Training and development Training prepares a new employee for the new job. A well informed and experienced person should do the training. Best approach to this is making a field training where the new employee does the new job with a person who is already in the field. The new employee gets the chance to observe and learn from the other experienced employee. Training in form of class might not be as effective in real life situation. A more practical approach should therefore be deployed here. Churchill & Frankiewicz (2006) argues that, training of new employees is an important aspect of human resource management. The new employees have to be introduced to the culture of the institution. Labor relations/Union-management relations According to Twomey (2009) articuates that labor relations apply to employees and all employees that meet appropriate jurisdiction are subject to federal labor laws and policies. Ensuring that your employee feels secure builds their confidence in whatever they do. The new employees in Nu Skin were not secure because they were not members of any union. The company should also consider working with multiple unions where employees have the freedom to join any that they please other than have a single option. The company should also encourage its employees to form their own unions and welfare organizations. This will help in rebuilding the company-employee relationship which evidently is not at its best at the moment. Health and Safety Nu Skin has not considered the fact that accidents and emergencies can occur when least expected. There are no measures against these predicaments. The HRM department has a role to play in ensuring that the employees are safe at their job. The company should set up a new department that will deal with safety at workplace. This department will be on the lookout of any threat to employee safety. Medical cover schemes should be introduced. This can be achieved by working with medical institutions and hospitals or private companies that provide medical insurance. The company should also buy an ambulance that will be ready in case of accidents and emergencies. As a show of concern, a clinic should be set up within the premises where employees with minor health issues can go to for check up. The set up of fire extinguishers and signs for emergency exits is equally important. In an event of an emergency like fire, employees will be able to control the situation effectively before the fire fighters arrive. Incorporation of the New HRM system The recommendations above are aimed at making sure that the company and its employees are effective. Among all the necessary steps, recruitment and selection is the first step in making transformation to the company. If the company decided to work with the above recommendations, it means that they will be able to get more qualified and experienced employees. In as much as these employees are qualified, their orientation is equally important. Lloyd (2002) says new employee needs every chance to adjust quickly and successfully to their new job. The companies with proper functional orientation system will facilitate this transition. A well planned orientation will bring the new employees up to date to the companies operation and also get a chance to learn about the company policies and culture. This is important because it gives the employees a sense of belonging and attachment to the company. Failure to do this will see new employees work while considering other options and openings from other companies. Therefore orientation is very vital in building employee loyalty to the company. After orientation, training of the new employees needs to be done. This should be done diligently. Training is necessary even to the most qualified and experienced people. This is because every company has different approach to handling and tacking customer needs. The training will ensure that the new employee get a full picture of how to go about in their work. The training should be done on two levels. The first is the theory part where an employee is equipped with information and the second part where the employee works with another employee who is more experienced and conversant with the job. This will create a perfect transition to the new job. According to univ & Louvain, (2002) individual training for new employees goes beyond instructions. Practical work training gives the new employee perfect transition. In addition, ensuring that the new employees have been registered to a union will improve their delivery at work. Unions play a key role not just in protecting the employee interest but also where it matters the interests of the employer. By registering the new employees to the unions will make sure that the interests of the employee and the employer have been secured. This in return will improve the relationship between the three parties; employer, employee and the union. Magoon & Aubin (2006) unionized an also nonunionized companies have to abide with state laws concerning rights of their employees. Productivity of the company is so much depended on teh health and safety of the employees. If the employees are not safe at workplace then chances are high that they will fail to attain the objectives and goals set by each department. If the HRM introduces the new changes and specifically on Health and Safety, the psychological and mental worry and fear from the employees will have been reduced. When one is not sure about their health, they tend to have divided attention to the extremes and extend of how far they are willing to push themselves in terms of body performance. Safety measures like the ambulances and fire extinguishers will give the employees confidence in whatever they do. SUMMARY The Human Resource Management plays a very instrumental role in ensuring that the employees of a company are as effective as possible at their work. In most companies, the management and the employees are usually on opposite sides, sides of “them against us”. This greatly affects the productivity of the company. Every member of a company plays an important role and they should be commended for that. The human resource department as a watchdog should ensure that the employees and the management of the company are not in crisis or cold war against each other. In as much as the HRM oversees the employees, the department should as well put the interest of the company in consideration. In efforts to ensure that the productivity of the employees is at level best, the management through the HRM has to ensure that the employee engagement is effective in the company. Employee engagement helps in creating as sense of ownership and belonging to the company. This in return will make the employee work hard to attain the set goals and objectives. Employee engagement also makes the employees feel appreciated and that what they do is recognized. This gives them motivation to do more. The HRM has the responsibility to ensure that this happens. This can be done by regularly updating the employees on the company positions concerning different issues, through team building activities, through such projects like employee of the month and generally rewarding best performing employees with bonuses. Nu Skin is a great company but the HRM has not been effective in their work. The HR department has not failed to moderate and facilitate smooth transition of new employees. As a matter of fact, the HRM does not seem to understand their role in the company. The supervisors who were used to do the training are not part of the HRM. The training should be a priority of the human resource. In the case of Nu Skin, the HRM left this job for other members of the company. Strict policies help come up with better structures for each department. Recruiting qualified and experienced staff for each department is very important. This includes even the HR department. If the HR department consists of unqualified and inexperienced individuals, this is likely to reflect back to all the other departments as the HR plays an important role in recruiting and selection of new employees. The HRM has the overall responsibility to ensure that the health and safety of their employees has not been violated. Measures should be put in order to ensure that the working environment is safe and secure. Measures like use of fire extinguisher and setting up emergency exits are important and can be used to save lives. In addition to that, the health of the employees should be a priority. Medical cover should be mandatory to all employees. There are companies that provide medical covers not only to the employees but also their family members. Nu Skin should come up with a medical cover for all its employees and ensure that safety in the workplace has also been implemented. References Department of Labor,United States;Us Dept of Labor; Bureau Of Labor Statistics. (2004). Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2004-2005. Baton Rouge, LA: Claitors Law Books and Publishing. Jackson, McCarthy. (2012). Workplace and Sociology, New York, NY: Cengage Learning. Churchill, C., & Frankiewicz, C. (2006). Making Microfinance Work: Managing for Improved Performance. Oxford: International Labour Organization. Jackson, S., Schuller, R. S., & Werner, S. (2011). Managing Human Resources. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Lawson, K. (2006). New Employee Orientation Training. NewYork,NY: Routledge. Lloyd, K. L. (2002). Be the Boss Your Employees Deserve. New Jersey: Career Press. Magoon, L. M., & Aubin, D. d. (2006). 50 Plus One Tips When Hiring & Firing Employees. Evanston, Illinois: Encouragement Press, LLC. Twomey, D. (2009). Labor and Employment Law: Text & Cases. New York,NY: Cengage Learning. Univ, P., & Louvain, D. (2002). Collective Bargaining and Employment in Europe. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Yeung, R. (2010). Successful Interviewing and Recruitment. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Read More