Read Case #3 and evaluate the data (see appendix B) related to Tanglewood’s hist
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Question
Read Case #3 and evaluate the data (see appendix B) related to Tanglewood’s historical recruiting methods. Based on your review (you must review the data), what are the three specific things you would you do to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the recruiting operation?
Case Objectives
Recruiting is the first stage in which organizational plans for staffing come into contact with the labor market for employees. Before making any new recruiting effort, an organization needs to carefully consider the methods available and balance out the costs of each method with the organization’s needs.
The recruiting case provides an opportunity to see how staffing managers develop plans for recruiting efforts. You will develop a recruiting strategy and a recruiting guide for the store associate job. The case also demonstrates how you can use organizational data to determine what the best methods for recruiting are. Finally, you will have an opportunity to develop various forms of recruiting messages that will encourage individuals to apply for jobs as sales associates at Tanglewood.
Primary Concerns Regarding Recruiting
Like any retail organization, there is a constant need for new employees at Tanglewood because of turnover. In a typical year, approximately 50% of the sales associates will turnover. The process of recruiting is therefore of great concern for managers in the field. However, up to this point, the organization has not had any centralized method for recruiting new employees. As part of the consolidation across stores, Tanglewood is now encouraging a systematic review of their recruiting policies that will ultimately result in a better recruiting system for store associates.
Staffing services has made very few decisions regarding how recruiting should proceed. Each store has been encouraged to ensure that their recruiting methods attract a culturally and personally diverse group of applicants. Beyond this general directive from the corporate offices, however, there is not very much direction for stores regarding how they should be recruiting new store associates. Regional managers occasionally discuss ideas for how to recruit new employees, but as you will see, they have some very distinct methods for recruiting in practice.
Methods of Recruiting Available
There are five primary methods of recruiting store associates used at Tanglewood in Washington and Oregon. For additional information regarding these sources of recruiting check your textbook, where advantages and disadvantages of each method are described in greater detail. All of the specific strategies for recruiting are supplemented with mediabased and in-store solicitations for employment. The media-based strategy includes internet banner advertising, social media messages, and in-store signs informing patrons of potential job availability.
Applicant Initiated
The most traditional method for recruiting used by Tanglewood is through applicantinitiated processes. Job applications are completed through either the internet or an automated telephone process. This allows interested individuals to apply without actually having to go into the stores. Paper applications are still available at stores as well. Media expenses are a combination of initially setting up a contact with a media outlet, developing an advertisement, and
Referrals
Employees are encouraged to refer their friends to apply for work at Tanglewood as well. The referral process is enhanced by providing current employees with $100 for each friend they refer who is hired. Referral expenses are a combination of creating and maintaining records, the price of processing materials and interviews for each applicant, and the payment for each individual who is hired.
Kiosk
An alternative method of recruiting that minimizes processing costs is to have a computerized kiosk in the main entrance to the stores. The kiosks look somewhat like ATM machines, and feature a fully functioning keyboard and touch-screens. Unlike media advertisements and internet applications, the kiosks provide opportunities for applicants to also briefly interact with store employees after they complete their materials. Because the entire application process is completed electronically and scored automatically, there is no material cost, although there is still an initial processing and interview cost. Each kiosk costs approximately $40,000.
State Job Services
In urban markets with higher pools of availability of unemployed individuals, state job services have also been used occasionally to find new applicants. The employment service is provided with a set of qualifications required for work, and the employment services agency assists in providing initial screening and hiring recommendations. Training is partially subsidized through tax incentives. In areas which have less centralized population, the job service option is less feasible. Essentially, the cost of the job service is for creating and maintaining an initial contact, with other costs being roughly half of those for traditional media sites.
Staffing Agency
One method that has been explored recently is the use of an external staffing agency. Essentially, this is outsourcing the actual selection of candidates to StoreStaff, which is a large organization that specializes in locating workers for the retail industry. Many organizations use StoreStaff to find temporary employees, or provide trial employment to StoreStaff employees as part of a temporary-to-permanent arrangement, but for Tanglewood, individuals recruited through StoreStaff are directly hired as part of the core workforce. Because StoreStaff provides some training to their pool of candidates, they are less expensive to train, but the overhead costs of providing money to StoreStaff for locating and screening these candidates does make this method quite costly.
The Situation at Tanglewood – Four Regions, Four Recruitment Policies
As noted in the introduction, decision making for staffing activities has recently become centralized within the staffing services division. A major question that arises as a result of this consolidation is how to determine which HR policies should be left in the hands of each individual location, and how much should be taken over by corporate HR. The recruiting function is of particular interest since there is such wide dispersion in how individuals are recruited. Data is available from the divisions in the form of numerical estimates of costs per individual processed, employee retention, performance on a prehire work-sample test which is given to all employees, and some informal interview data.
Tanglewood Department stores were first established in the western area of Washington and then moved southwards into Oregon, then spread eastwards into the Rocky Mountain States. Many of the policies implemented in the Western Washington locations were applied directly in the Rocky Mountain States. However, because the initial expansion was less well-coordinated, there is substantial variety in the staffing policies being followed in the stores in Washington and Oregon.
Western Washington (Region 1)
It has historically been the largest and most profitable area, with a total of 25 stores in the region centered around Seattle. In fitting with the organization’s founding philosophy, the stores in Western Washington are run largely autonomously. The current head of the Western Washington division advocates a philosophy of individual autonomy and empowerment. Generally this division has been viewed as highly committed to the core corporate culture, although this passion for the mission has sometimes meant paying less attention to careful management of financial concerns. Because of its size and the large amounts of financial resources available, leadership of this division has been one of the most powerful positions within the organization.
Western Washington uses a variety of recruiting methods. The primary methods of recruiting are referrals from current employees. In the Seattle area, the division also makes heavy use of job services. Over time traditional media methods of recruiting have been reduced, but are still used occasionally. Finally, to fill in those positions that are not met with the other three methods, the kiosk method is used.
Eastern Washington (Region 2)
This was where the company began. The split of Washington into Eastern and Western divisions came early in the store’s history, but their physical proximity and high overlap between management across the areas has led to very similar management styles. The Eastern Washington division is approximately the same size as Western Washington, with 25 total stores. However, with the exception of the area around Spokane, the majority of this area is much more rural.
To a large extent, the Eastern Washington division pioneered all the policies used by Western Washington, although the overall policies have been tempered by geographical differences. The job service method has not been successfully implemented on a wide scale. Instead of using this method, this division uses more traditional media advertising.
Northern Oregon (Region 3)
Unlike Western Washington, there is a very different philosophy of operations in Northern Oregon. Northern Oregon has been run very “professionally” for years, with most decisions carefully weighed against their financial consequences. Administrative decision making is hierarchical, with specific tasks assigned at each level of the organization’s structure. The current top administrator for this area, Steven McDougal, has a reputation for being a technocrat, and has largely worked to maintain the system he inherited when he first took over five years ago. There are 18 stores in this region.
The recruiting methods of the Northern Oregon division fall into three major categories. The main methods are media and in-store kiosks. This division has also used staffing agencies lately. The division explicitly rejects the use of employee referrals, claiming that the use of signing bonuses leads to the hiring of unqualified individuals who are selected without sufficient qualifications due to favoritism.
Southern Oregon (Region 4)
Southern Oregon is unique among the areas within the Pacific Northwest in that it has remained relatively small, with only 16 stores in the division mostly concentrated in the Eugene area. However, there is also a growing push to increase concentration in Southern Oregon as a first step to establishing more stores in Northern California. This area is very innovative across the board in its human resources practices. The innovative character of Southern Oregon is reflected in their recruiting practices. They have relied primarily on a combination of staffing agencies, referrals, and kiosk advertising. All three of these methods were first tried in this region.
Quantitative data
Data are available from the four divisions of the organization on the number of individuals who applied for work, the number of individuals who are qualified for the position, the number who actually receive job offers and accept them, and the number of number of individuals who remain with the organization at the 6 and 12 month point after hire. Complete data on the recruiting metrics is contained in Appendix B.
Another Angle on Recruitment: Manager Focus Groups
As part of the information gathering process, large scale focus groups have been conducted with department managers. Tanglewood contacted a market research firm to conduct the focus groups, and Tanglewood provided a detailed summary of the major findings. While managers differed considerably in their perceptions of the effectiveness of the different methods, their core concerns were generally quite similar, and can be grouped into four major categories:
1. The most pressing concern for many managers is reducing employee turnover. Although Tanglewood has typical retention rates for a retail chain, the importance of culture and cooperation in the Tanglewood philosophy means that new employees often are not fully integrated into the company’s culture until several months have passed. In short, typical retail turnover is not acceptable for Tanglewood. This is seen as an especially dangerous situation as the company expands, since it threatens to undermine the unique elements of the company’s approach to retail.
2. There is an excessive lag between the initial contact between many applicants and the actual hiring decision, leading many qualified individuals to drop out of the process. A few managers have suggested that finding a way to concentrate on methods that do not have this problem would be beneficial. The issue of lags in initial contacts and hiring is discussed in your textbook.
3. The recruiting process is administratively cumbersome. Managers want to find ways to reduce the amount of time they have to spend with assessing new candidates. This was partially a point of contention between managers, because some argued that using more computerized applications would be a good idea, while others felt this might give applicants the wrong impression about the organization and its methods.
4. Many new hires without retail work experience do not recognize the importance of positive customer service for sales, and training is often does not solve the problem. Several managers noted that they had discharged new hires for providing inappropriate customer service. A particularly frequent problem is new employees becoming frustrated with customers and refusing to assist them or behaving in a hostile manner. Some managers specifically suggested that new employees needed a more realistic introduction to the difficulties of the customer service role. Other managers suggest that a more positive message would be helpful, since it will draw in more qualified individuals.
5. Many managers also report that they would like to see messages more specifically targeted to the types of people who are likely to fit in with the Tanglewood stores culture. Managers note several elements of the organization’s culture (which you read about in the introductory case) that they think should be part of the recruiting strategy.
appendix B data
??| ? Citrix Receiver W Topic: Week 4 Discussion Tanglewood_Casebook ? ? file:///Cyu t/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEdgeSwekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/Tanglewood-Casebook%208th%2 ? ? ?? Table 2.1 Estimated costs for recruiting methods Referrals Kiosk Job service Agency Applicant 20,000.00 $ 30,000.00 S 20,000.00 S 40,000.00$ 70,000 Fixed costs Cost of setup (per store) Variable costs Materials cost per applicant Processing cost per applicant Additional pre-hire costs 1.00 $ 15.00 $ 20.00 $ Orientation and training $ 2,000.00 $2,000.00 $ 2,000.00 $ $ $ $ 5.00 $ 30.00 $ 20.00 $200.00 $ 10.00 $ 30.00 5.00 $ 15.00 $ 10 30 20.00 1,000 1,000.00 Tanglewood Casebook to Accompany Staffing Organizations, 8e 23 9:05 AM O Type here to searchExplanation / Answer
Solution:
Recruiting is the first stage but before making any recruiting efforts, any organization needs to consider the methods availability. And balance out the costs of each method with the organization’s needs. In this case we will develop plans for recruiting efforts and recruiting guide for the position of store associate. Also we will demonstrate how we can use organizational data to determine what the best methods of recruiting are. Finally, we will develop various forms of recruiting messages that will encourage individuals to apply for jobs as sales associates at Tanglewood.
Recruiting guide for Store Associates
Position: Store Associate
Reports to: General Manager
Qualifications: All considered
Relevant labour market: Western Washington
Timeline: Continuous recruiting
Activities to undertake to source well qualified candidates:
Local and regional newspapers, radio, television
Post openings to company's employment website
Request employee referrals
Upload availability to Kiosk
Employ a staffing agency
State Job Service
Staff members involved: HR Managers, Department managers and Shift leaders
Budget: $2,000 – 6,000
Targets
Promotion from within is a very important aspect of Tanglewood. All employees start out as store associates. Therefore, Tanglewood must attract the top talent at the store associate level so they can promote them to higher level positions. The best candidates for Tanglewood to target are high school seniors and college freshman. So Tanglewood will be able to train and develop the talents and this will also promote loyalty because the employees will be loyal to the company if the company has supported them as they received their education. Tanglewood currently uses five different types of recruitment strategies in their staffing that will be explained in the next following paragraphs.
Tanglewood uses different media outlets to advertise their open positions. They use those outlets such as print, radio and television coupled with individuals filling out a standardized job application. Tanglewood has also placed Kiosks in their store for candidates to fill out the standardized application. These media outlets and Kiosks are seen by a variety of different people in different locations.
Tanglewood also uses referrals as a form of recruiting. Referrals art a more targeted approach to recruiting; the reason is employees are cautious of their own personal KSAO's so they generally refer those who have the adequate KSAO’s. This provides Tanglewood with a targeted approach to reach those with the proper KSAO’s.
The last two methods Tanglewood uses for recruiting are slate job services and staffing agencies. Although these methods different in cost and quality of candidates that they produce; but they both have the same premise. Tanglewood gives both agencies the KSAO's they are looking for, and then the agencies return candidates whom they believe they are qualified for the position. Since these agencies return only candidates who passes certain KSAO’s, this is targeted recruiting strategy for Tanglewood to use. By using these methods Tanglewood is able to ensure that all candidates have required KSAO’s to be successful in that position.
Appendix B
Western Washington (Region 1)
Media | Referrals | Kiosks | Job Services |
Applicants | 1430 | 3362 | 3114 | 4236 |
Hired | 204 | 1048 | 652 | 378 |
Total Costs | $719,280.00 | $2,606,240.00 | $2,413,574.00 | $712,720.00 |
Costs per hire | $3,525.88 | $2,486.87 | $3,701.80 |$1,885.50 |
Eastern Washington (Region 2)
Media | Referrals | Kiosks ||
Applicants | 4592 | 4046 | 2776 ||
Hired | 676 | 1016 | 444||
Total Costs | $1,799,200.00 | $2,565,760.00 | $1,982,936.00 ||
Costs per hire | $2,661.54 | $2,525.35 | $4,466.07 ||
Northern Oregon (Region 3)
Media | Referrals | Kiosks ||
Applicants | 2686 | 3896 | 1290 ||
Hired | 364 | 696 | 490||
Total Costs | $1,022,720.00 | $2,246,696.00 | $1,451,400.00 ||
Costs per hire | $2,809.67 | $3,228.01 | $2,962.04 ||
Southern Oregon (Region 4)
Media | Referrals | Kiosks ||
Applicants | 1384 | 2280 | 1143 ||
Hired | 396 | 346 | 392||
Total Costs | $1,054,880.00 | $1,409,600.00 | $1,245,120.00 ||
Costs per hire | $2,663.84 | $4,073.99 | $3,176.33 ||
Western Washington uses four different types of recruiting methods; media, referrals, kiosks, and job services to recruit. Referrals cost Western Washington a lot of money, but they are Western Washington’s most important method of recruiting. The first reason is because it is Western Washington’s number one source of hired applicants. The second is it has a very high percentage of applicants who are still with the company after one year. Since Tanglewood emphasizes promotion it is extremely important that they retain employees.
Eastern Washington uses three types of recruiting method; media, referrals, and kiosks to recruit. Also referrals are the best method of recruiting for Eastern Washington. In order to be considered a candidate an applicant must meet the basic qualifications of the position. If Eastern Washington can find a way to encourage their employees to refer only those who are qualified for the position, it will greatly strengthen the method of referral. Although it will cost Eastern Washington less money due to the fact that they will not have to look through a bunch of resumes of under qualified candidates saving them a lot of time. Referrals have a very high one year retention rate and also a very low cost for a one year survival compared to kiosks and media. If Eastern Washington is able to recruit more through referrals they will have more employees who they can retain for longer periods of time. This is important because Tanglewood's main recruiting strategy is to promote from within.
Northern Oregon also uses three types of recruiting methods; media, agencies, and kiosks. Kiosks and agencies both have the same average cost and good one year retention rates. However, Northern Oregon should get rid of the media method. This is because is it has a much smaller one year retention rate then the other methods. Also it is costing them the greatest amount of money out of all the methods and it is providing less hired applicants. Northern Oregon should consider implanting an employee referral program. Because it is working very well for other company regions, and could bring Northern Oregon a much larger of qualified applicants.
Southern Oregon uses three types of recruiting methods; referrals, kiosks, agencies. All three methods have a fairly consistent amount of applicants, hired employees and they have similar one year retention rates. All of these methods have similar costs as well. This means that Southern Oregon does a good job of mixing recruiting methods and attracting talent by different means. However, kiosks applicants cost almost the double per one year survival than both agencies and referrals. Therefore Southern Oregon should evaluate the kiosk method of recruiting. By reducing this cost Southern Oregon will save a lot of costs.
Northern Oregon Policies:
Northern Oregon would like to deflate the referral policy which could have a negative impact on Tanglewood’s new hires. Also, they should consider that the other regions would be impacted by this decision.
Metrics for recruiting methods:
Tanglewood’s top management has expressed concerns that cheapest way to hire is not always the best way to hire because they are committed to improving customer service quality (Heneman, 2012). Cost and retention are both important metrics to measure a recruiting method because they align with the company's bottom line. However, since the top management is concerned with employee skill and customer service in relation to recruiting it is important to measure recruiting methods by other metrics. One of the metrics that Tanglewood could use is employee job performance. If Tanglewood tracks which employees have high scores for customer service on job performance reviews and also tracks how these employees were recruited they will be able to use this metric. This will help Tanglewood's top managements concerns because they will be able to determine which recruiting methods lead to employees with the best customer service.
Realistic Recruiting Message
We at Tanglewood are looking to fill store associate positions and would like to point out the constructive and unconstructive areas. First you are applying for a lower-level position, with the possibility of advancement based on performance. Advancement takes time, so please keep this in mind when applying. You report daily to your shift leader and he/she will assist you with questions or concerns you may have. We offer competitive pay based on experience. In this position, keep in mind it can be high stress and the turnover rate can be as high as 50% a year. We make every attempt to maintain employee retention and reward accordingly.
Targeted Recruiting Message
College graduate looking for a new and exciting career? We at Tanglewood are looking for you. We are hiring for store associates with many opportunities for advancement. All employees will receive competitive pay, bonuses and can even elect to be involved in profit sharing and benefits. This may be just the opportunity that ate looking for, as you will be able to use all of your skills necessary to complete the job. By focusing high on your standard, you have the best opportunity for fast-tracking up the chain of command. If this sounds like you, we want you.
Many organizations are not sure of how the information will be processed by the possible job applicants. Organizations that are against realistic recruitment often are apprehensive about alarming potential candidates. By alarming potential candidates. The less likely they will be to apply which in turn creates less hires.
Tanglewood is a realistic organization and prides itself as such. Although in the different regions, each has its positives and negatives when it comes to the recruitment process. In each region managers voice their concerns when it comes to recruitment messages that are used, and a realistic recruitment method is better for Tanglewood as a whole. Tanglewood utilizes multiple recruitment styles, and each works well as it possess a strong number of applicants and highlights the key factors of what Tanglewood represents. After completion of this case study, Tanglewood has a well-designed recruitment structure.
Branded Recruiting Message
This type of message develops an image of “being a great place to work” or "employer of choice” (Heneman, 2012). By using this methods organization would be attracting top talents and give employees a good knowledge of company culture, also it will save them money. This method also attracts, talent because they have such a strong brand. If a company has a strong reputation then top talent is more likely to apply for positions at this company. This will allow the company to have a greater number of highly qualified applicants.
Conclusion
The above includes a recruitment guide for store associates this can also be used as a template for other roles at Tanglewood. It also includes an analysis of methods of Tanglewood’s recruitment and acknowledges them as either open or targeted recruitment strategies. The next section includes an analysis of Appendix B. The report also addresses the Northern Oregon Division's concerns about referral programs. It also addresses the concerns of Tanglewood top management about the recruitment method metrics. The last section discusses the pros and cons of the targeted, realistic and branded recruitment messages.
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