Recruiting Management - Assignment Example

Selecting successful salespeople has been one of industry's greatest challenges (Review of Business, 1990). A Newly appointed District Sales Manager (DSM) for Kellogg’s (Fortune 500 consumer goods company) is assigned the task to select 3 out of total 10 entry-level Sales Representative (SR) required from a placement centre of a university for final interview. The ideal candidate must possess focused approach towards goal attainment and takes initiative on his /her own. Have prompt and effective decision making skills and ability to efficiently prioritize his tasks as per importance (Ingram, LaForge, Avila, Schwepker & Williams, 2009).

Candidate must have excellent verbal and written communication skills and should be coercive. Candidate must take the initiative to take charge of their assigned territory, lead it with excellent leadership qualities and problem solving techniques while effectively working with the team and creatively utilizing resources towards achieving set targets. Further, the skill sets of the candidates shall match with the existing best sales representative of the company i.e. profiling. For employee selection a systematic approach to sales person selection shall be adopted which involves using selection tools such as, resumes, interviews and tests.

Semi Structured interview technique is to be adopted that will equip the DSM to ask structured questions pertaining to work, qualification and personality. DSM is advised to take proper notes of additional attributes or factor highlighting the personality being interviewed. Lastly the notes taken from the first interview of the candidates first impression and evaluation would also play a key role is identifying prompt trades of each to arrive at the final candidate list. Profiling and an outline interview technique are adopted to hire the best candidate that gives a clearer picture of how the candidate fits the company’s expectations (Johnson, Kurtz & Scheuing, 1994).

Sales Representative Selection Criteria The company requires adding sales representatives to the Kellogg’s sales force who are equipped with the right qualifications and attributes as per the job description. The first interview had already been conducted with notes taken on personality, appearance, attitude and communication skills. Interview will start with a semi structure interview pattern in which DSM will ask question that would help him to project the candidates profile against that of existing best sales representative of Kellogg’s.

The matching / profiling would be done based on the key attributes that are necessary to take on the role and its responsibilities as per the job description. The DSM will take notes of key behavior, attitude, skills demonstrated, initiative taken, problem solving done (past), last job experiences and its pros and cons also. Further, DSM will also provide the candidate with a past scenario faced by Kellogg’s that was resolved and ask for sales representative’s opinion over its resolution.

Further, semi structured interview shall be obtained with pre planned set of questions shall be asked according to the flow of conversation. The profiling, interview notes, problem solving ability test, profiling selection checklist and first interview notes shall be considered in the end to select 3 out of the 6 resumes forwarded and interviewed. Candidate Analysis and Selection Ranking The six candidates were interview based on the job description and profiling done and scores allotted (as shown in the table below) in a semi structured format with pre planned question in mixed format, asked in accordance with the situation and conversation flow.

Past case for Kellogg’s was discussed where initiative was required to solve various problems and analysis of the answer was noted down and incorporated in the checklist of each candidate. Furthermore the notes take during the initial interview were also considered and question were also asked regarding the personality trait or attribute that each candidate highlighted in their initial interview. Profiling table for selection of candidates is as follows: KELLOGG’s BEST Ernest Swift George Brown Jack Bernard Rochelle Biden Mary Ellison Anna Wise Dress & appearance 5 5 5 5 5 3 3 Conduct 4 3 4 5 5 3 5 Personality 5 4 5 5 3 3 5 Interactive skills 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 Verbal ability 5 5 4 5 4 4 5 Initiative 5 5 4 5 3 4 4 Creativity 5 5 4 4 3 4 4 Stability 5 3 4 4 2 3 3 Experience 5 5 3 5 3 5 4 Problem solving 5 4 2 4 3 3 4 Persuasive-ness 5 4 2 3 3 4 4 Mental aptitude for the position 5 4 3 3 3 4 4 Leadership 5 5 3 4 3 3 4 Team Player 5 5 4 3 4 4 4 Motivation 5 4 5 5 3 4 4 Interest in company 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 Qualification to adaptability match 5 5 3 5 4 4 4 Score 84 76 65 74 59 63 70 Key Notes Best Sales Rep.

if Kellogg‘s Confident, qualified and relevant experience. Qualified, enthusias-tic, team player. Relevant past experience, initiator yet nervous. Lacks creativity, profession-nal attitude. Late, past working experience applicable, motivated. Strong communication and listening skills. Straight answers / poorly written resume Key: Rating criteria being 5 to 1 where 5 being the highest and 1 lowest. 5 (Excellent), 4 (very good), 3(fair), 2(average), 1(poor) Candidate #1: Ernest Swift Ernest Swift is a well groomed sales person well familiar with the field and its dynamics.

He has an ambitious personality that aspires for managerial role and would be a charismatic leader if the confidence matched his capabilities, which is true, with proper direction and progress he is a likely candidate for a managerial post some day. His confidence is the key to his performance and achievements that he has bagged. His personality traits are strong and allow him to be persuasive and dominant. He is going to be an excellent sales representative with less training requirement and would easily take on the initiative to lead his assigned territory and is expected to exceed the set targets.

His skill set profiling makes him very close to the existing best sales representative of the company. He is also qualified to do the job and has relevant experience in the field. Assuming his strong personality he is expected to hold good client reach and would be able to add new customers in the sales pipeline as well. His dominant personality can make his team members feel threatened but this can be resolved by clear delegation of work and responsibilities, further he has proven to part of winning team that makes him a team player.

He has a winning streak when it comes to sales job and resume shows exceeding expectations of former employees and recognition & rewards. Further, his leadership capabilities, experience in related field, initiative taking skills, technical skills make him a perfect fit for the job description. His resume indicates he has done inventory management & control and validation to his communication skills is also mentioned. When tested for his problem solving skill upon given a past scenario at Kellogg’s he demonstrated analytical and focused approached keeping in mind available resources and came up with an effective solution that was very much near the actual resolution adopted in the past.

Overall this candidate can prove to a good asset in the future and can be counted as one of the best Kellogg’s Sales Representatives. Candidate #2: Jack Bernard Jack Bernard is another candidate who scored amongst the highest on the profiling checklist only two points lower than the first candidate. His early arrival for interview indicates his motivation and enthusiasm to work for the company as well his punctuality. His energy level during the interview suggested that he is an enthusiastic person and an avid team player willing to play the lead.

His greeting manners and ability to take initiation in conversations mark him amongst the doers list. His previous work experiences are related to the job description needed for a consumer goods salesperson. Through his career objective he seems like an ambitious person that would eagerly take on the leadership role for progress in hierarchy. Resume indicates target and above target achievement which is a good indication of his sales skill. His nervousness at the initial interview can be neglected since the trait does not match with his initiative and controlling conversation ability, assuming his fidgeting was related to seat uncomfortably.

His resume indicates him being winner of numerous sports and extracurricular achievements which are indicative of his motivating, enthusiastic winning streak and team playing skills. His problem solving skills were tested in the same manner as the first candidate and he provided a solution that required long term implementation however was cost effective. Jack Bernard can prove to be a valuable asset in the sales force of Kellogg’s provided he proves himself on the grounds of tackling sales customer patiently which seems to be his weakness, his patience and customer service skill need to be tested in the final interview.

Candidate #3: Anna Wise Had it not been for her grooming, just on time arrival for interview and poorly written resume she would have been the first choice amongst the three candidates. Anna Wise showed extreme professionalism and conduct throughout her interview. Her personality and professionalism made her stood out amongst the rest. She presented a confident and comfortable posture with clear and focused state of mind. She showed good conversation as well as attentive listening skills throughout.

She answered the entire interview questions in comprehensive yet focused answers that indicated her approach and qualification. She demonstrated the ability to work calmly and effectively under pressure which is a key element in a sales job especially during quarter ends when sales targets are being met at war footing. She also showed courteous manners at the end of the interview and expressed her gratitude which also leaves a positive impact of the candidate’s personality. She has shown good academic achievements along with active participation in extracurricular activities indicating her team sportsmanship and leading capabilities.

She has been Vice President of Communication in a university fraternity related to sales and marketing which justifies her excellent conversation and communication skills. Her marketing background would assist her in better understanding of the product and management of the territory. Further her teaching experience enables her to prepare and present data in a presentable and professional manner. This trait will assist her in better understanding of the product and its market and adapt to it with ease.

Her lack of specific sales related experience will make her a likely candidate for training and development initially. She can be tested on the grounds of real life scenario and her interpretation and problem solving related to sales issue which can be comprehended and tested to check her flare for sales whether she can adapt business concept into sales filed. Further, her final interview can be specific to sales and her understanding and adaptability to this area of business, which is recommended since from other traits she is a suitable candidate for the position. . References Ingram N.

Thomas, LaForge, Raymond W., Avila, Ramon A., Schwepker Jr., Charles H. and Williams, Michael R. (2009). Sales Management: Analysis and Decision Making. USA: M.E. Sharpe Inc. Johnson, Eugene M., Kurtz, David L. & Scheuing, Eberhard E. (1994). Sales Management. Singapore: McGraw-Hill. Review of Business (1990). Selecting that successful salesperson. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/8900576.html