13091 2 Pages 6 Hrs

Human Resource Planning Week 2 Assignment

Group 5

Esther Carnabuci, Peromonica Grant, Shelby Kaser, Tashina King

Ameillia Siemson

11/10/2020

Executive Summary

Rough Draft

STEP started as a small online company, built a presence on social media promoting and selling affordable eco-friendly products and services, including home decor, apparel, and everyday household supplies. STEP stands out from their competition because it provides consultant services teaching their clientele how to maintain an eco-friendly lifestyle while also allowing their employees to have up to 40 hours of volunteer work every other quarter that supports the overall cause. Over the last five years, STEP company has doubled in size going from 50 full-time employees (FTEs) to 150 FTEs. With the growth, customers also wanted to choose to order online and or propel their buying experience in a retail store. With a broad ask across the customer base, the company decided to open five satellite offices throughout the country. The added locations required additional headcount and a new HRM system moving away from excel spreadsheets and adding a strategic plan in place.

Table of Contents

Company Background p. #

HR Strategic Plan p. #

Staffing Strategy p. #

Total Rewards Strategy p. #

Training and Development Strategy p. #

Performance Management Strategy p. #

HRIS p. #

Conclusion p. #

References p. #

Appendix p. #

Work Breakdown Log p. #

Title of Paper

I.Company Background-Shelby Kaser

Our company, STEP, has a goal is to be one of the best eco-friendly companies to work for and to have one of the most remarkable company cultures in retail. STEP must build and maintain its reputation, and by doing so, STEP has been working to behave professionally and ethically. STEP’s priority is to remain eco-friendly and provide exceptional service to all their customers. They provide their customers with high quality eco-friendly products such as home décor, clothing, household needs, etc.

STEP wants to take care of its customers and the environment but, most importantly, its employees. Employees can be the greatest asset to a company, so it is essential to retain them and provide them with a comfortable work environment. STEP has tried to keep up with competitors, even during hard times with Covid-19, and show their employees that the company cares about them by raising their minimum wage to $14.50 an hour. This is the base wage for all hourly employees, with opportunity to grow. Also providING their fulltime employees with full insurance (vision, health, dental), while giving part-time employees access to their basic healthcare insurance. This was to provide their employees with a livable salary and access to insurance and keep up with competitor wages. STEP has learned from previous experience to utilize its human resource department and develop strategies like this to keep up with the competitive edge, create exceptional work environments, and provide customers with a superior shopping experience.

STEP’s use of HR strategies has helped them create an up and coming eco-friendly online retailer and soon to be brick and mortar retailer. HR at STEP sees and understands how the work environment and culture play a direct role in their business's success. With that being said, STEP is still a growing company and their HR team still needs work.

Mission, Vision, and Core Values - Esther

When analyzing the core and the fundamentals of Strategic Management, the logic is to pursue long term-goals and guidance for a corporation. The process helps us determine Strategic management evaluates the ecosystem and establishes strategies to achieve organizational goals (DeCenzo & Verlhurst, 2019). Comment by Tashina King:

A strategy is driven by a corporation's mission, which describes the reason it exists and what it is trying to accomplish (DeCenzo & Verlhurst, 2019). The mission forms the foundation for the organization's strategic goals for the future, planning, structure, and decisions about how goals will be met. Mission statements communicate that purpose to customers, the community, investors, employees, and suppliers (DeCenzo & Verlhurst, 2019). The mission statement is essential because it the basis that every decision in the organization should be produced. That said, the mission statement provides a short of the organization's purpose.

Our Mission: Strategically tackle Eco-Friendly products while educating and providing current and future customers with alternative options. Being cost effective enough, where making the switch isn’t breaking the bank and giving as part of our under-lining principles.

Core values are managerial principles about acceptable behavior. The culture is how organizational members demonstrate core values daily by treating each other and the public (DeCenzo & Verlhurst, 2019). According to mission statement.com, Target's mission statement is "To make Target the preferred shopping destination for their guests by delivering outstanding value, continuous innovation and exceptional guest experience by consistently fulfilling their" Expect More, Pay Less-brand promise (unknown, 2020). Target's vision statement is "Guided commitments to great value, the community, diversity, and the environment (unknown, 2020). The core values are deeply rooted in components of diversity and inclusion, great shopping experience, community involvement, and work ethics.

SWOT Analysis- Permonica/Esther

Competitive Analysis- Shelby Kaser

STEP, although it is a growing company, is known to be one of the more successful eco-friendly retailers. Like any retailer, STEP has competition to keep up with and out-perform. Some of the competitors of STEP include retailers such as Grove, Seven Generation, and a few other small retailers. Fosters also sees competition with online retailer Amazon. We are currently in the process of expanding into brick and mortar but have been put at a halt due to Covid-19. As of right now we remain strictly online retail, which has affected our competition. Comment by Tashina King:

STEP appeals to all customer incomes, providing high quality, eco-friendly products at a lower cost. We try to provide customers with an exceptional shopping experience online. We want our customers to feel comfortable with a friendly, easy, and less time-consuming experience online. STEP’s slogan is “A new lifestyle of eco friendly products and service”, meaning that they are trying to provide their customers with high quality eco-friendly products and exceptional service. They keep up with their competitors by being a company that is for the people and the environment, always trying to provide the best experience for their customer and a healthy and clean environment. Comment by Tashina King:

In the last decade, Amazon and online retail have become a booming market, bringing a new competitor to STEP’s table. Amazon offers free two-day or next-day shipping with low prices that makes shopping much more appealing to those who would rather skip the stores and buy online. To keep up with this competition, STEP has developed a thorough plan to build up their e-commerce platform. They have designed a way for customers to shop in the comforts and convenience of their home, while receiving the same exceptional customer service and affordable prices. Since Amazon has 2-day or sometimes the next day shipping, Fosters has also started developing locker pick up areas where the customer can order online and pick up there the next day. At the moment, this option is only available in the city where the warehouse is located but buy online-pick up at store will become available once we are able to expand to our brick and mortar stores. This will get the products to the customer quicker than Amazon, but still provide them with the convenience of not having to go into the store to shop. Comment by Tashina King:

Even with several retail competitors, STEP has been able to build and maintain their reputation as a successful up and coming eco-friendly retailer. They can credit a large portion of their success to their human resource team, as their strategies have helped them keep up with their competitors like Amazon, Grove and Seven Generation.

II.HR STRATEGIC PLAN

HRM C-Suite Rationale- Permonica

The C-Suite is the top executives in the organization whose titles tend to start with the letter C. These include titles such as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operating Officer (COO), Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), etc. They all make up the organization C-Suite. To make the company successful the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) pulls those who hold C-Suite titles together to work as a team. When HR is included in strategic planning the organization will see a lower turnover rate with higher interaction and better job performances from their employees. The CHRO needs to understand the culture as well the requirements of the organization and know the people that make up the organization. Getting feedback is a plus from the employees on management, coworkers, and performance because it will help the employees feel valued and heard, which will improve job satisfaction and lower turnover rates.

STEP creates culture and growth by offering open positions to internal employees first before hiring an outside candidate. We also monitor our employees progress and identify their talents within the organization to advance to other departments. Lastly employment engagement is very important because it helps increase revenue growth.

At STEP we make sure our employees know we expect excellent customer service at the date of hire. Our performance reviews, compensation, and other HR management programs are designed to help employee’s performances. STEP mission is to continue to provide eco-friendly products while educating our customers on how to be cost effective. We made this mission possible by the following strategies:

• Organizational culture- Employees are expected to create a memorable experience for their coworkers and teammates as well as the customers.

• Staffing- Hire employees and provide motivation by giving bonuses, time off, and provide team building to optimize the company’s productivity.

• Performance Appraisal- Evaluate the effectiveness and the productivity of employees for administrative and developmental purposes.

• Employee Retention- Providing salaries and benefits that are competitive and provide financial stability. Create a work life balance for employees so they do not feel overworked.

Revolution of Human Resources

Strategic Differentiation in Dutch Culture and HR Strategy

HR Metrics and Linkage to Strategy

III.Staffing Strategy

Core Competencies, KSAs- Permonica

Our company core competencies have unique abilities, products and services which makes us competitive in the market. Here are a few of our core competencies:

Great customer service- We provide excellent customer service. We stand behind our products and focus on customer satisfaction. Our customer service team is easily accessible to our online customers, and there is very little waiting for someone to chat with and we have a customer service number for those customers that like to speak with a live person. Someone is always available to assist our customers 24/7. We take pride in making sure our customers are happy and satisfied.

High Quality Security Firewalls- We have a great online base and quality software that we use to keep our website up to date and to make sure it is safe secure for our customers.

Successful Marketing- We have 5 satellite locations, but we market most of our business through social media platforms. Although we have competition we are continuing to expand, and our prices are competitive.

When looking for new hires we look for candidate’s personal core competencies that match our company goals such as strategic planning, excellent organizational skills, leadership and management skills, and excellent customer service skills.

Internal Controls- Policies put in place to safeguard the company’s assets, promote operational efficiency and insure reliable accounting records. These are done by separation of duties, hiring reliable personnel, audits and assigning roles and responsibilities.

We use competency to shape our KSA skills, which allows our employees to perform their work roles successfully.

All departments should be able to demonstrate the ability to organize and have considerable knowledge of their departments. To evaluate an employee's KSA's we will conduct a performance based assessment before hire and continue improvements by conducting monthly training. Our goal is to hire dependent employees who can bring their KSA’s to the organization. Not only should employees have technical skills, but they should also have interpersonal skills that provide the ability to work with others and generate outstanding customer service.

Job Analysis

Recruitment Channels

Selection Method

To be a successful company, HR needs to focus hard on their employee selection process. Employees are considered one of the greatest assets to a company, so making sure they have the best candidates can make a world of difference between failing or being successful. STEP has utilized and developed selection methods to help them to select candidates that will add to their culture and fulfill their mission to be a successful eco friendly company.

STEP has attempted to develop selection methods that are both efficient and fair to all candidates. STEP is a strong believer in diversity, and we practice diversity in all that we do, therefore, it is important for the company to allow equal opportunity to all. According to SHRM.com, practicing diversity in the workplaces can put your company at an advantage. To create a culture or diversity and inclusion, STEP has practiced selection strategies such as structured interviews, job knowledge tests, and even cognitive tests. These strategies are known to be less biased than other selection methods like demographic selections, or unstructured interviews. With the inconvenience of Covid-19, we have started utilizing online features for some of our selection methods.

Using methods like structured interviews, allows STEP to develop a process to follow that provides every candidate with the same set of questions to minimize the amount of bias that could occur during an interview. If all candidates are asked the same set of questions, this allows our HR team to select candidates based on their knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the job. With Covid-19, we have moved our usually in-person structured interviews to be completely online. We have two options, the first one is a structured interview that requires the candidate to record themselves and their answers. Once they make it past this first round, they may be asked to do a second or third interview, which will be via Skype or Zoom so they can still get the interpersonal experience of an interview. This method is a base for all job positions within our business, although not all positions will require multiple interviews. For example, a sales associate may only be required to do a recorded interview and a brief Zoom interview, while a management position may require the recorded interview as well as multiple Zoom interviews which may consist of panel interviews.

Having candidates perform job knowledge tests also allows STEP’s HR department and selection methods to remain unbiased, by making selections based on candidates test performance and knowledge rather than areas like appearance or demographics. Like the structure’s interviews, these job knowledge tests differ based on job hierarchy and roles. Another strategy that STEP uses for their candidate selection process is personality testing. Although it is not necessarily a tool that everyone enjoys having to use, it is a way for STEP’s HR team to make sure they are hiring candidates that will work well with their company culture. We, as a company, want to have employees that believe in our values and mission of being an eco-friendly business and providing customers with high quality products. These testing methods would be required at the end of the initial application submission. This gives us a chance to look over both the application, experience, and personality and job knowledge in one so that we can decide whether to move forward with the applicant.

These selection methods that STEP use are typically cost efficient and likable. For example, personality testing, cognitive testing, and job knowledge testing are considered low cost to develop and administer to candidates, while structure interviews tend to be more expensive but more effective to develop and administer to applicants (Pulakos, 2005, pg. 17). With Covid-19 putting a halt on our business expansion and requiring social distancing practices, having the option to utilize technology has helped STEP tremendously with their selection process. This not only allows them to social distance during the selection process, but also makes it more convenient for hiring managers.

Our company also provides the convenience of submitting applications online, both on the company webpage as well as sourcing sites such as Indeed.com and Linkedin.com. We still provide candidates with the opportunity to submit their paper resume in a drop box outside of our office. This follows the protocol for social distancing and gives people who may not have access to the internet or a computer the opportunity to apply. Having our main application process online reduces the amount of time and resources spent on the traditional application process.

The one thing that STEP wants to do is remain successful and continue to grow and expand their company into brick and mortar. By hiring candidates that fit their culture and values, STEP should be able to grow and remain a success. This is where the importance of company culture and values comes in. STEP has a strong set of values and tries to provide their employees with an exceptional culture. To maintain this, they need to be, but not overwhelmingly particular, with their selection process. STEP needs to be able to select candidates that they feel would add to their culture, while remaining unbiased and inclusive. By practicing these few selection methods, STEP will be able to continue growing their employees and company culture.

Diversity

STEP tries to maintain a well diverse and inclusive selection process as stated above, but for STEP to maintain this, they must also pay attention to their leadership. Managers and other leaders of STEP should be educated about diversity and inclusion and undergo extensive training that revolves around unconscious bias not only during the selection process, but also in the work environment to make sure all employees are treated fairly and appropriately.

Leadership teams at STEP should be educated on the unconscious bias of gender, race, religion, political view, sexuality, etc. so that they can realize and reverse situations where they may face these unconscious biases. This is especially important in the selection process, as unconscious bias could eliminate candidates for inappropriate reasons and miss the chance of having a candidate that could be a benefit to the company because of factors that are not and should not be important to the ability and potential of a candidate.

One way that STEP will maintain their diversity and inclusion mindset is by having a D&I council that works together to develop new ideas and procedures for areas including the selection process and retaining current employees. STEP wants this council to be as diverse as possible, having members from all walks of life and areas of work. This way they can grab ideas from a wide variety of people and create an unbiased atmosphere for all employees, current and future. STEP wants to avoid any type of legal or moral trouble regarding the lack of diversity and inclusion, and that is the importance of this council. To build and maintain a diverse and inclusive company culture for employees as well as customers.

References

Gurchiek, K. (2019, August 16). 6 Steps for Building an Inclusive Workplace. Retrieved November 13, 2020, from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/0418/pages/6-steps-for-building-an-inclusive-workplace.aspx

Knight, R. (2019, August 16). 7 Practical Ways to Reduce Bias in Your Hiring Process. Retrieved November 13, 2020, from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/7-practical-ways-to-reduce-bias-in-your-hiring-process.aspx

Pulakos, E. (2005). Selection Assessment Methods. Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/special-reports-and-expert-views/Documents/Selection-Assessment-Methods.pdf