Operational Plan and Recruitment Strategy, Physical Resources and Operational Performance - Coursework Example

Manage Operational Plan Table of Contents Assessment Development of Operational Plan and Recruitment Strategy 4 Part 4 Key Actions 6 KPI Chart 9Sample Approval Letter 11 Part 2 11 Recruitment Strategy 11 Strategy Incorporated For the Recruitment Process 12 Sourcing of Candidates 12 Job Description 12 Offer Letter for the Post of Retail Assistant and Graphic Designer 14 Training & Development 15 Assessment 2: Acquiring Physical Resources and Monitor and Review Operational Performance 16 Part 1 16 Analysis of Physical Resources 16 Part 2 20 Summary of Operational Plan 20 Review of Performance 20 Deliverables Specification 20 Consultation Strategy 21 Performance Template 23 Meeting Minutes 24 Assessment 3: Making Recommendations and Coaching Plans 25 Part 1 25 Introduction 25 Identification of the Areas of Non-Performance 25 Recommendations for Non-Performance Area 26 Conclusion 27 Part 2 27 Coaching Need 27 Development of Coaching Plan 27 Evaluation Form 28 References 31 Assessment 1: Development of Operational Plan and Recruitment Strategy Part 1 This study intends to delineate an operational plan for an organisation and the recruitment strategy required for administering the action plan being prepared by the organisation. This study further discusses the objective of the organisation along with the strategy required to complete the entire plan. Furthermore, the study will focus on the key actions that are required to be undertaken with a motive to implement the plan. In this regard, the study also intends to discuss the application of the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and the contingency plan that frame important parts to implement the plan accordingly. The study further supports the discussion by depicting the strategy of acquiring physical resources required for monitoring the operational plan. After the completion of monitoring, recommendations along with coaching plans will be entailed to complete the entire operational process (Business Insider, Inc, 2014). The Office Assistant, the concerned organisation is determined to be a retail store that primarily deals with the sales of the office products along with services within Australia. In this regard, the company further entails 25 stores operating within Australia. The Office Assistant’s key products have been described as the office supplies, electrical equipment, office furniture and ink along with toner needs among others. Apart from the list of differentiated products that is mentioned above, the company also provides a differentiated range of services as well. The list of services being mentioned comprises photocopying, printing, equipment hiring and packaging services amidst others. The objective of the concerned organisation is mainly to expand its service components within the next twelve months. With more focus, the prior aim of the company is essentially to upgrade the sales of the products along with the services around by 10% by the month of June 2015. In order to fulfil this particular objective, the company will require an operational plan. In order to expand its business in diversified fields, the company needs to promote additional products and services. With the growing competition within the retail sector, it is necessary for The Office Assistant to promote latest and new products along with services to the customers. The senior managers have been involved with a focus to develop a strategic plan with a motive to increase the sales by 10% of the stores. In order to increase the sales of the stores, it is necessary to provide the customers with an extended range of products along with advanced services. Correspondingly, the extensive offering of latest product range will entail a new version of the graphic designs that are available. Furthermore, the other services involve acquiring additional printers along with photocopiers and the delivery van. The presence of delivery van within the retail store will ease the entire operational process of delivering the products. This will further assist the organisation in accelerating the sales of the company. In order to incorporate new products and techniques within the store, it has to be more spacious. For executing these strategies, the current setup of the organisation is required to be changed. It is necessary to entirely reorganise the present furniture and the fixture within the store. On close analysis, it has been ascertained that the present staff are not adequate to mitigate the problems underlying with a motive of sales acceleration. Therefore, multi-skilled and efficient staffs are required. The staff being searched for must endure technical knowledge as well as they must be able to handle the customers’ efficiently (Lead Light Technologies, 2000). Key Actions The key actions being undertaken with a prospect to complete the operational plan include various stages as mentioned hereunder: Deliverables: The key deliverables include developing marketing mix strategies, motivating employees and managing investments and accounts among others. Persons Responsible: The dedicated persons required to prepare the operational plan will include the entire senior management team to design an operational plan for the retail store. Apart from the entire senior management, the store managers will also be included in order to have a better understanding of the resources required for increasing the sales of the concerned retail store. Timeline: Acquiring of New resources - 30 days Reorganisation of fixtures and fittings - 7 days Sourcing of candidates - 14 days Accessing the candidates -2 days Training of the new employees - 7 days Budget: Considering the budget being involved, the investment will be planned with a motive of cost effectiveness. The monetary allocation will be distributed in acquiring of new technology, new van and recruiting new staff. Resource Requirements: In order to increase the sales of the retail stores by 10%, various resources are required. In order to accelerate the services of graphic design, instruments are required that include computers, software and stationaries. Apart from these, the other resources required encompass printer, delivery van and photocopier among others that also frame the resource requirements. On the other hand, a number of furniture and fixtures are required for reorganising the entire internal set up of the retail store. Apart from the entire above resource requirement, adequate staffs need to be recruited. Contingency plans are usually demonstrated by considering the risks associated with the operational plan and the identification of available mitigation policies. In this regard, within the operational plan, the key risk involved is unavailability of the required capital. This can be well explained that acquiring of adequate capital is always not possible. In order to mitigate this particular risk, loan facility must be kept open. Furthermore, loss of resources can be undertaken within the context of natural as well as accidental loss. In case of the resources during transportation, there are chances of accidental loss. Consequently, it is better to make a coverage plan in accordance with the accidental loss. Apart from these risks, there are other risks as well for which appropriate capital and resources must be made available. In accordance with the outcome of the operational plan, it can be well ascertained that if all the operations are undertaken well and are organized appropriately then the designed goal of increasing sales by 10% within the period of June 2014 can be achieved. KPI Chart Strategic Goals Operational Goals Goal Focus KPI Reasons/Barriers Department Deliverables Budget/Resource Requirement KPI Due To increase the sales of The Office Assistant by 10% To increase the brand awareness To increase customer satisfaction To motivate the employees To maintain proper expenses Number of Sales Inadequate availability of capital and accidental loss Marketing To develop proper marketing mix strategies AU$250000 Sales Quarterly Customer Service Supporting large number customers Maintaining interaction with the vendors and clients Number of Complaints Annually Human Resource and Finance Providing training to the employees Evaluating the performance of employees Motivating employees by various monetary and no-monetary rewards Employee Satisfaction Monthly To accelerate customer satisfaction Accelerate the profitability Frequent changes in the tastes and preferences of the customers Finance and Marketing Maintaining proper accounts Managing the investments Profitability Annually Sample Approval Letter To, Date: The Operations Head, Subject: Approval of the Operational Plan The management is pleased to inform that an approval has been given to the operational plan being framed by the Supervisors of The Office Assistant retail store. The entire operational plan has been scrutinised to derive appropriate judgement. The entire plan seems to be economical and valid. Therefore, management has approved to start the operational plan related activities accordingly. Regards, Signature: Part 2 Recruitment Strategy In accordance with the recruitment strategy, it can be ascertained that various requirements have been identified. The requirement of the resources, type of employment i.e. casual or permanent, full time or the part time workers and technical skills required to handle operations pertaining to the retail store. Besides training, a well-defined pay structure is also required to deal with the operational requirements (Business Insider, Inc, 2014). Strategy Incorporated For the Recruitment Process In keeping with the recruitment strategies, it will include sourcing of candidates, induction of the new trainees along with the assessing of the selected candidates. Considering the recruiting process, it will incorporate job description, a list of sample interview questions and an offer letter for the final appointment of the candidate (Docstoc, 2013). Sourcing of Candidates With a view to source candidates, various advertisement processes need to be implemented. In case of external advertisement, the details will be provided in the Job vacancy column. Apart from this, the information related to job vacancy will be broadcasted on radio. The internal recruitment process will include selection amidst the present employees. The detailed job description for the advertisement purpose is given hereunder: Job Description Job vacancy for the post of Retail Assistant and Graphic Designer: Number of Candidates required 10 approximately Full Time/ Part Time Both Full Time and Part Time are required Type of Candidate Both permanent and Casual Start Date 1st February 2014 The Tenure of the entire employment On-going Skills Required for the post Customer Service Communication Numeracy Knowledge of the office products and the services Graphic Design Training Requirements Training will be provided for gaining knowledge of products and services Qualification Required Formal Graphic Design for 4 FTE Pay Grade Retail Assistant: $14-$20 per hour (for casual employees, it will be plus 25% loading) Graphic Designer: $22-$25 Per hour (for casual employees, it will be plus 25% loading) Additional Information Please visit the company website for any further minute details In order to maintain equality amidst the people within the society, it is necessary to provide an opportunity to the people suffering from any kind of disability. In order to help in doing their work, certain changes will be required within the internal operations of the organisation. Assessing the prospective candidates will be based upon the interview questions that have been mentioned hereunder: Sample Questionnaire for the Interview Session? Q1. Tell me about the previous work experiences as a retail sales person? Q2. What do you know about the products and services that this company offers? Q3. What are your strengths and weaknesses during the formal communication with the customers? Q4. Would you be available to work for the additional shift? Q5. How will you handle the mechanism of graphic printing? On the basis of the interview questions, the entire selection process will depend. After the question and answer session, the candidates will be accessed on the basis of the personal interview round. After the entire selection process is completed, the selected candidates will be provided with the offer letter mentioned below. Offer Letter for the Post of Retail Assistant and Graphic Designer Name and Address Date Dear Mr/Miss/Mrs/Ms. (Name). Congratulations! We are immensely pleased to inform you that you have been selected for the post of …………………. The position that we are offering you is ………. at the mentioned salary of…….. (salary/hour) for a month. The position requires reporting to (Title and name of the supervisor). Your scheduled working hour will be from … to …. The other mentioned company policies and procedures have been given in the enclosure provided below. Sincerely, Name Position Training & Development Training Process will include an inductive session to train the new entrants and to provide them the internal information of the company. This entire training process will be conducted in the given period of five days. After the training session, a test will be conducted to judge the knowledge of the selected employees. Assessment 2: Acquiring Physical Resources and Monitor and Review Operational Performance Part 1 Analysis of Physical Resources The resources are the basis of organisational abilities and are useful for gaining competitive edge. The resources of an organisation can be classified into two categories namely physical resources and intangibles. The physical resources encompass extensive variety of operational assets, having physical ability to provide proper business approach. The physical resources comprise premise, machinery or equipment and raw materials or stocks. On the other hand, intangible resources comprise goodwill, organisational reputation, brand image and intellectual property (Kachru, 2005). In order to achieve the business objectives, two categories of physical resources are required namely machinery or equipment and stocks. The key equipment required for the business includes office computer, desk and chair, registers, delivery van, store colour photocopies, colour printer, staff room fridge, table and chairs. The value of the equipment is subjected to expected life, condition and abilities. The economic worth of such resources can enhance considerably with limited investments if appropriate and opportune activities are taken. On the other hand, stock involves investment of working capital and is required to be organised properly. There are two main acquisition methods which can be used by The Office Assistant in order to acquire such resources one method is to purchase or to hire/lease (Kachru, 2005). Purchase Purchasing is a good option in case there is high capital. This method allows using an asset over fixed period in return of steady payments. This method also lets to select the equipment as required and usually makes the organisation responsible for the maintenance of the asset. However, the selected purchasing method can have an impact on the cash flow of the organisation (Aghimien, 2008). Lease Lease is the other option for The Office Assistant in order to acquire the resources. Unlike purchasing, leasing denotes that the organisation does not possess any resources. There are essentially three types of leasing that can be used by The Office Assistant namely finance leasing, operating leasing and contact hire. The leasing method should be selected by matching the requirement of the business (Jones, 2000). Finance Leasing: Finance leasing is a long run lease over expected life of equipment, principally three years or above three years. After that expected life, the equipment can be sold or scrapped. In finance leasing, the leasing company recovers the complete expenses of the equipment along with the extra charges based on the duration of lease. In this method, although the organisation does not own the resource, still it would be liable for preserving and insuring them. Furthermore, with long funding lease, the organisation can claim capital allowance (Jones, 2000). Operating Lease: Operating lease is the other popular method for acquisition of resources. This method is beneficial when the equipment’s are not required for entire working life. In such circumstance, the leasing organisation would take the resource back and would also be liable for maintenance and protection of the resources (Jones, 2000). Contact Hire: Contact hire method is essentially used for resources such as vehicles where the leasing organisation takes certain liabilities for the management such as repairing, servicing and maintaining. Learner Name Organisation The Office Assistant Resource Current method of acquisition Recommended method of acquisition Comment as to why no changes is recommended or why you recommend a change in the acquisition method Assessor Comments Office Computer Purchase Operating Lease The reason for such changes is that acquiring office computers through only purchasing would be financially unwise as it would enhance the risk on the organisation Office desk and chair Purchase Purchase Purchasing is appropriate for acquiring office desk and chair because these are long run assets and cannot be changed frequently Office stationery Purchase Purchase The method of purchase can be termed as appropriate as there is a plan for a major overhaul of the present set up Registers Finance Lease Financial Lease No change is required in the acquisition plan of registers as it has certain expected life and can change with the development of technology Delivery van Finance Lease Contract Hire The acquisition plan for delivery plan would be changed to contract hire method because it would help to minimise the responsibility of the organisation towards maintenance, repairing and servicing. Store colour photocopies × 5 Operating Lease Operating Lease Operating lease method would be appropriate for this resource because it is frequently changed with introduction of new technology Store colour printer × 5 Operating Lease Operating Lease Similar to colour photocopies, the technology of colour printer also changes frequently with changes in technology. Staff room fridge Rent Rent Rent will be suitable for acquiring fridge as it will facilitate to change the resource when new technology appears Staff room table and ten chairs Rent Purchase Since table and chairs are long run resource and cannot be changed frequently, it would be beneficial for the organisation to purchase them Store stock Purchase Purchase The store stock will be acquired through purchasing method because it would help to gain ownership on such resources Part 2 Summary of Operational Plan In order to accomplish the business goals to enhance the sales of The Office Assistant, the operational plan will comprise acquisition of new resources, sourcing candidates, training employees and evaluating the performance. Review of Performance The final phase of operational plan comprises monitoring and reviewing the performance. Monitoring is specially used in order to define regular observation regarding the performance against business objectives. There are two strategies which can be used in order to monitor and review the performance namely continuous or periodic reviews. Periodic review method would be used through appraising the performance (Camillus, 1986). Deliverables Specification In order to measure the performance of different departments, the following KPIs will be used. Marketing: The key deliverables of marketing department of The Office Assistant will be to develop proper marketing mix strategies. The KPI of reviewing the performance of marketing department is to evaluate the increase in the number of generated sales. It would be reviewed on a quarterly basis. Customer Service: The key deliverables of customer service include providing support to maximum number of customers having various requirements. Furthermore, customer service department will also maintain proper interaction between key clients as well as the vendors. The KPI for monitoring the performance of customer service department is to evaluate the number of complaints in a particular year. Human Resource: The deliverables of the human resource department of the organisation include providing training to the employees, evaluating the performance and motivating the employees. The KPI for monitoring the performance of the organisation is to measure the level of employee satisfaction on a monthly basis. Finance: The key deliverable of the finance department of The Office Assistant is to maintain proper financial accounts and to manage the investments on various spending activities. The KPI for evaluating the performance of finance department is to evaluate the profitability of the organisation annually. Consultation Strategy Effective consultation provides an organisation with a better understanding and a sense of proposition regarding the customers and the market. It also encourages the operational activities and procedures. The objective of the consultation strategy is to ensure that The Office Assistant understands the requirements of the customers and their expectations and accordingly provides products and services to them. Thus, The Office Assistant will use consultation approach with the key members in order to inform them regarding the development of business strategies and priorities, improvement of operational plans and progression of operational issues. The Office Assistant will strive to make sure that the consultation reflects the operational plan. As a part of consultation strategy, invitation will be given through meeting minutes (Warwick District Council, 2003). Performance Template Objective Strategy Performance Indicator Budget Timeline Responsibility Progress To expand the services Recruiting employees Increase in the number of services AU$1500 17th February 2015 Human Resource Department and Customer Service Department Ongoing To acquire additional resources Acquisition strategy Increase in sales AU$250000 2nd March 2014 Entire senior management Completed To reorganise the store Utilisation of resources Availability of space 22nd March 2014 Operational manager Completed To enhance the skill and knowledge of employees Training and development Increase in skills AU$1000 28th March 2014 Human Resource Department Ongoing To increase sales by 10% Marketing mix strategies Increase in sales 30th June 2015 Marketing Department Ongoing Meeting Minutes Time: 100 minutes Meeting Purpose: Consultation on Operational Plan Date: 22nd February 2014 Time: 5.00 pm Attendance: Senior management team and store managers Apologies: Financial manager Issue Action to be taken When Who Increase the sales Enhance the resources Within 1 year Entire senior management Increase in service sales Recruit and train human resources Within 1 month Human resource management Assessment 3: Making Recommendations and Coaching Plans Part 1 Introduction Non-performing area signifies such aspects where a company fails to act according to the planned expectations. In order to make the operational plan effective and fulfil the organisational objectives, it is vital for The Office Assistant to recognise these non-performing areas and accordingly develop strategies to improve them. Identification of non-performing areas would also help The Office Assistant to enhance the performance with respect to increased sales along with offering quality services. Identification of the Areas of Non-Performance There are three areas of non-performance that have been identified in the business. The first area is failure to deal with the customers’ complaints. In the evaluation, it can be observed that the employees are ineffective to manage the various objections given by the customers. The second area of non-performance is ineffective management of stock. The Office Assistant has faced the issue of holding excessive inventory. As a result, the organisation has faced increased expenses due to obsolescence of stock and increased storage expenses. Furthermore, excessive stock also signifies that increased amount of money has been tied up and cannot be used in other areas of business. The third area of non-performance is poor sales in service. The Office Assistant faced low level of sales in the key service areas i.e. packaging, printing and photocopying. Recommendations for Non-Performance Area Failure to Deal with Customer Complaints: There are two reasons for employee non-performance in the area of customer complaint handling. The first reason is that employees were unable to understand what they are expected to do and the second reason is that the company was unable to set clear objectives for the employees. Thus, it is recommended that the management needs to identify the hindrances of performance and accordingly develop training methods according to meet the particular improvement requirements. Ineffective Management of Stock: Ineffective inventory level has resulted in poor management of expenses and has a negative impact on the financial health of the company as well. Thus, in order to enhance the management of stock, it is recommended that The Office Assistant should minimise the dependency on sourcing, instead there is a need to determine optimal frequency for selling and ordering products. By weighting every aspect of sales and operations, The Office Assistant can ensure that the right products are available at right time. Low Level of Sales: In order to enhance the sales of its services, The Office Assistant needs to enhance the brand image of the business. Furthermore, the organisation is required to concentrate on more benefits and expand the service deliverables for attracting more customers. Conclusion It is the objective of The Office Assistant to enhance the business, but in order to do so; the aforementioned non-performing areas must be dealt with. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that in order to enhance the sales and reduce the non-performing employees, there is a need to motivate them. Finding right people and properly coaching them are also useful for The Office Assistant to accomplish sales growth in a planned timeframe. Part 2 Coaching Need The employees of The Office Assistant have been found to constantly fail the performance expectations with respect to accurateness and timeliness of services. Irrespective of providing training on the procedures of working and having good teamwork ability, the failure to fulfil the expectations has resulted in the requirement towards developing good coaching plan (Hann & Mortimer, 1992). Development of Coaching Plan In order to make the development of a coaching plan, first there is a need to identify the coaching requirements. In this context, it can be stated that the coaching requirements comprise developing the ability of employees to enhance quality of customer service (Corporate Executive Board, 2006). The following figure demonstrates the coaching plan for The Office Assistant to enhance the performance of employees. Suggested Activity Time Brainstorming 1st week Problem solving ability 2nd week Establishment of service accompaniment 3rd week Service initiative practices 5th and 6th week Learning session 7th week Evaluation Form The effectiveness of coaching needs to be evaluated in order to judge if the plan set out is effective or not. The following template has been used in order to evaluate one individual after delivering the coaching. Learner Name Coach Name Coaching Skills Yes/No Comments Introduction Introduced self and qualifications Introduced the purpose of the coaching session (clear objective determined) Explained learning process Yes Yes No Proper description of the learning procedure is required for reducing any confusion during coaching Demonstration Presented in a logical order Delivery method appropriate to the subject Content relevant to the achievement of the objective Content matched to the learner’s level of skill and experience Learner’s interest levels maintained Yes Yes Yes Yes No In order to maintain the interest of the employees, several motivators should be provided. Practice Learner given appropriate time to practice Provided tips throughout the practice phase Yes Yes Feedback Relevant and meaningful feedback provided Encouragement provided No No A feedback form is required in order to evaluate the opinions of the employees regarding the coaching method. Timing Session delivered in required timeframe Yes Vocal/Language Tone varied and interesting to listen to Pace – too fast/too slow? Used appropriate language/grammar Yes Too fast Yes The communication pace required to be moderated for better understanding of the learning aspects. Enhancing the speech pace through practicing would be beneficial for the coaching. Body Language Maintained eye contact Use gestures to emphasise key points Avoided distracting mannerisms Looked comfortable and in control Yes Yes Yes Yes Resources Used resources effectively to assist with the learning and understanding Used notes appropriately Yes Yes General Comments: References Aghimien, P., 2008. Purchase vs. Acquisition Methods of Business Combinations. Indiana University South Bend. [Online] Available at: http://www.aabri.com/OC09manuscripts/OC09106.pdf [Accessed February 21, 2014]. Business Insider, Inc, 2014. 10 Creative Recruiting Strategies to Hire Great People. Strategy. [Online] Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/10-creative-recruiting-strategies-for-finding-great-hires-2010-2?IR=T [Accessed February 21, 2014]. Camillus, J. C., 1986. Strategic Planning and Management Control: Systems for Survival and Success. Lexington Books. Corporate Executive Board, 2006. Coaching Takes Planning: Laying the Groundwork for Successful Coaching Efforts. Learning and Development Roundtable. [Online] Available at: http://ucsfhr.ucsf.edu/files/LDR_Coaching_Takes_Planning_Toolkit.pdf [Accessed February 21, 2014]. Docstoc, 2013. Job Description Format – Pdf. Documents. [Online] Available at: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/9350298/JOB-DESCRIPTION-FORMAT---PDF [Accessed February 21, 2014] Hann, J. & Mortimer, B., 1992. Strategic Planning and Performance Evaluation for Operational Policing. Criminal Justice Planning and Coordination, pp. 158-179. Jones, B. L., 2000. Leasing As an Option for Acquiring Assets. University of Wisconsin. [Online] Available at: http://cdp.wisc.edu/pdf/leasevbuy.pdf [Accessed February 21, 2014]. Kachru, U., 2005. Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases. Excel Books India. Lead Light Technologies, 2000. The KPI S-M-A-R-T Rule. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.lltcorp.com/content/kpi-s-m-r-t-rule [Accessed February 21, 2014]. Warwick District Council, 2003. Consultation Strategy. NR. [Online] Available at: http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/F04EC9D7-155B-44FD-83F7-3DE09D1C35DB/0/ConsultationStrategy.pdf [Accessed February 21, 2014]. Read More