Job Analysis and Selection for IntraClean - Essay Example

Job Analysis and Selection for IntraClean, Inc. Job Analysis Because IntraClean, Inc. has merged with EnviroTech it is important to take a look at the requirements for this new position in the marketplace. The challenge for these two companies as they come together is the fact that they have two different philosophies when it comes to sales. IntraClean, Inc. is used to being an aggressive sales force and they are more interested in making the sale than they are in working with the customer. The sales team from EnviroTech has the philosophy of building relationships with their customers so they can have a better chance at long term sales. These two philosophies are coming together in the merger and they are adopting a new sales strategy -- a solutions based selling strategy. This particular process will be more difficult for IntraClean, Inc. employees because it will seem more foreign to them. Another reason why this will be a challenge is because IntraClean, Inc. has only sold cleaning products and they are now moving into the market to sell cleaning solutions to organizations in the healthcare industry. This means that they all sales staff will not only need to have sales skills but they will need to have people skills. In looking for people to add to the team some of the qualities we are looking for include: 1. They have some people skills already. 2. They are terrific sales people and are at the top of their game in sales. 3. They have critical thinking skills and the ability to think on their feet. 4. They can hit the ground running with minimal training. 5. They are open to new ideas and easy to work with in a team. 6. They have an interest and a drive in sales. With this information in mind it is important to also understand that at least a few members of the team should already be versed in solution based selling. This will be tremendously helpful to those who have no background in this area. We are going after a different market which will also require a different skill. If we have people already trained in this method of selling we will be able to effect our bottom line more quickly and move forward into this new field. In fact, it could mean that we have acquired a database of companies that are already available to us depending on the people we choose. It would also be helpful to have people who are already versed in OSHA standards since this is going to be a part of what we need to understand in this new venture. Workforce Planning System Any good planning system will start with HR and keep them involved in the entire process. HR will collect and distribute the various credentials of the people we want to hire so that a committee can take a look and decide which people are most competent to fit the bill. We will develop a checklist at our managers level to describe the qualities we are looking for and what we need. This checklist will be used to assist HR in sorting through the hundreds of applications they may receive. We will be looking for gaps in our current workforce. In other words, to bring together good quality people we have to understand what we already have going for us. In any merger there will be old hires, new hires and some people will be let go. This is the nature of the beast so to speak in sales and any other corporate structure. It would be a good idea for us to develop a written planning guide that could serve as a handbook as we develop this process. It would also be a good idea to do some sort of assessment that takes into consideration employee evaluations from managers and information from companies that we have sold to in the past. This information would give us a good understanding of where we are now and what we need to improve; we can then hire the people who will help us improve. Some of the new hires may show that they have this type of assessment in their file already. We need an objective way to hire people that does not discriminate but insures that we have the right people for the job. This is another reason why an assessment might work. New hires are also going to need some information and we may have to create a liaison between management and the new hires. In the past IntraClean, Inc. has not had a good reputation for keeping everyone informed which has lead to rumors and resentment from their workers. Hopefully a liaison would be able to bring the information needed to all employees on a regular basis. Finally our plan should include some type of training on transition. Transition can be a healthy situation but at the same time if not handled well it can be a very difficult to bring two different philosophies together and make it work properly. William Bridges talks about this in his book "Transitions" and there are companies that specialize in helping groups get through transition. A smooth transition should be a strong focus for our planning. Selection Method Currently we have about five applications that need to be considered but this is not a large enough pool to choose from. We will ask HR to do a larger search because we need to add diversity into our company. In the past, we have had mostly young people in the sales force and we need to bring in a diversity of people who are older, from different ethnic backgrounds and who have shown themselves to be great in sales. The team we are looking for should be able to work together and share ideas. With some diversity we will be able to connect with different groups as well as with a variety of ideas. We have already set up a hiring committee that will involve three interviews. We expect that these hires will go through the first interview with HR, the next one with our hiring committee and finally one with the CEO or the manager that they will be working under. Getting feedback form each group will insure that we have chosen wisely and it will make sure that we have a fit in each individual we hire. The advantages of this type of hiring process is that we can give the potential employee the knowledge they need to make a decision about the company. They will see us at several different levels. It also insures that we get a clear picture of them and how they may fit into our environment. If we include all the necessary employees that will be working with these individuals, we will have an opportunity to pull together a stronger team. The disadvantage of this method is that we still will not be totally sure that the individual is a fit because when an individual is trying out for a job they can be very different than when they are on the job. This could cause a bit of confusion at first. Also, if we use scenarios, some people may not do the scenario well, but they would make a good sales person anyway. We will also have to make sure that everyone is assessing the same criteria because it could be to our disadvantage to have several different ways of looking at people. Employees Chosen The IntraClean, Inc. merger with EnviroTech is very important and the employees we hire must have the grit and the motivation to work in this company. With this in mind, we choose the following people: Susan Burnt -- although Susan is near retirement she is a delightful person to work with according to her supervisors before now. She has been with IntraClean a long time and she will be very good in helping with the transition. She already has the understanding that she needs to build rapport with customers so they will come back to the company each time they need something. Susan presented a very vibrant, motivated and fun person in the interview and she will be a strong mentor for the group. Tom Gonzalez -- Tom has earned his way into sales because it is clear that he understood early that customers needed to be worked with directly. He is not afraid of people and he has shown to be very reliable in keeping long-term relationships. We felt we could rely on him to continue this tradition on our team. Eric Borden -- of all the hires we looked at Eric was the most delightful. Although everyone was personable, Eric has shown us that sales comes naturally to him. He was interesting to talk to because he has so much knowledge in the fields of sanitation and cleaning. We need him to be a leader in our company as he has done in the past for EnviroTech. Ving Hsu -- Ving was chosen for his ability to bring people in quickly. He showed us how easy it is for him to talk to people and he is very comfortable in front of a group. We suspect that he will continue to train other employees as he has done in the past and we will encourage this role. Read More