CASE STUDY: GO FORWARD

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Table of content

I. Case summary……………………………………………......3
II. Identify and analyze problem……………………………......3
III. Problem solving and recommendations…………………….4
IV. The solution implementation and action plan……………...15
V. Conclusion……………………………………………………..16
VI. Preferences…………………………………………………....18

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 CASE STUDY: GO FORWARD

I. Case summary:

Go Forward is one of the country's biggest and fastest-growing computer

stores. The company currently operates 442 stores with plans to increase its
operations over the next two years. Go Forward wishes to enhance customer
service to develop a long-term partnership with customers that will favor both
the business and the customers.

The business is currently dealing with a high turnover rate. There is also a
deficiency of store-related personnel, especially store managers.
Occasionally, the organization is forced to recruit employees from outside
companies, which raises the expense. Yong Kim, an HR executive, has been
engaged by the company to assess the recruiting process and offer training to
store managers. Yong Kim is also expected to investigate the reasons for
employees leaving jobs at a faster pace, as well as the work requirements for
store managers, and create training modules accordingly.

II. Identify and analyze the problem:

The most important step of problem identifying is finding a root problem to

know what the status existing in Go Forward is facing. Because computer
service retailing is growing dramatically so that Go Forward is the fastest-
growing computer retailer in the US is reasonable. Nevertheless, the
challenge for Go Forward is higher, and the demand in the hiring process is
also higher indeed. According to the survey data, Go Forward is currently
hiring externally more than 60%, they also pay very high for the recruitment
firm to identify managerial candidates. What is more dangerous is that Go
Forward is facing a high turnover rate.

High external hiring rate. This is the first problem Go Forward is facing. While
the shortage of store managers is on the rise, the external hiring rate at such a
high number of 60% leads to other related problems. External recruitment
slows down the process of expanding the Go Forward business. With the

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demand for 70 store managers in just two years, this expectation deviates far
from reality. To achieve that number, Go Forward has to waste a lot of money
and time on recruitment firms and frequent advertisements. External
recruitment also affects the turnover rate. Introducing recruits into the
workforce without sufficient hiring procedures and training programs create
gaps between skills, knowledge, and corporate culture. This demotivates and
causes dissatisfaction among new employees and increases the turnover rate.

High turnover rate: In addition to high external recruitment, a high turnover

rate contributes to worsening the situation. Turnovers impede Go Forward to
expand its business and create costs and pressure on recruiting and training.

These major problems arise from a lack of efficient recruitment process,

training, and development planning. In recent years, the difficulty of recruiting
has worsened for every retailer. The competition of recruiting between them is
high, they also want the best and talented staff to build up their competitive
advantage. Hence, if Go Forward keeps losing their staff and employees, it
means that the cost they pay for the recruitment firm is nearly meaningless.
Thus, the two strategies: hiring effectively and training play an important role,
which needs to have a focus from Go Forward if they want to solve the current
problem. In recent years, the difficulty of recruiting has worsened for every
retailer. The competition of recruiting between them is high, they also want the
best and talented staff to build up their competitive advantage. Hence, if Go
Forward keeps losing their staff and employees, it means that the cost they
pay for the recruitment firm is nearly meaningless.

III. Problem solving and recommendation

After identifying problems in the previous section, in this part, solutions and
recommendations are suggested to solve the problems and the three requests
for Yong Kim.

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The first step to take to improve the hiring process is to understand the
position itself. A job analysis of the store manager position should be
conducted.

We defined job analysis as a systematic collection of job-related information,

including, in particular, specific tasks, duties, and responsibilities relating to a
job, and the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics required to
perform it (Bowin and Harvey, 2001). There are many approaches to job
analysis. The conventional approach is job-oriented. The job-oriented
approach mainly focuses on the job outcomes and factors facilitating these
outcomes. This approach’s goal is to provide basic requirements for store
managers to perform their tasks successfully. Thus, pursuing this approach,
Go Forward needs to form a clear job description of a store manager. The job
description contains information about store managers’ tasks and
responsibilities.

The following table are examples of essential retail store manager’s job
descriptions. (Zairis - The retail store managers' role: Evidence from Greece;
Indeed.com, CareerBuilder.vn)

Staff management - Recruiting, training, disciplining,

and firing staff
- Evaluating staff performance and
compensating
- Setting criteria for staff

Store operation - Customer service

- Identifying and resolving operation
problems
- Meeting objectives, profit goals
- Analyzing store performance
- Setting up daily store

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- Organizing promotion campaigns

and marketing events

Product management - Ordering, receiving, handling

damaged products
- Record sales and inventory
- Merchandise products, create
displays, create store/product
signage.

Planning and goal setting - Planning future objectives and

sales
- Planning campaign and marketing
events

Table 1

With information from Table 1, a job specification (skills, knowledge, and

competencies,...) for a store manager is inferred. First, professional
knowledge of the industry, products, and operation functions are vital to the
stores’ performance. In addition, to perform the above tasks, a store manager
needs a set of soft skills such as decision making, analytical and problem-
solving, effective verbal, listening communications and writing skills, etc. For
attitudes and characteristics, store managers need sound work ethics, great
perception, initiative, passion,...

Skills:

- Customer service
- People leadership
- Sales experience
- Sales leadership
- Resilience
- Organization
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- Communication

Key competencies of a successful Store Manager:

- Commercial Focus
- Leadership
- Managing Performance
- Operational Focus

For such demand for store managers, the decision of Go Forward to include
MBA or three years experience as a job requirement for store managers
selection is correct. An insight into MBA and its benefits supports the
statement.

An MBA (Master of Business Administration) is an internationally recognized

qualification in the field of training essential business and management skills.
The value of an MBA is not only confined to the business world but is also
useful to those pursuing a career in leadership, in all fields and professions,
even in politics.

Most MBA programs have core subjects such as accounting, economics,

marketing, and operations as well as elective courses that allow students to
pursue their passions or academic goals. Some institutions require MBA
applicants to complete an internship at a company/institution that can launch
their career opportunities right after completing the program.

The benefits of MBA course:

- Professional Knowledge:
 Organization Management
 Marketing Management
 Startup Management
 Logistics Management
 General Business Administration

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- Leadership management
- Soft skill:
 Critical thinking
 Strategic thinking
 Problem-solving
 Feedback & coaching
 Self-positioning
 Communication

Even though the MBA and years of experience are great requirements for the
job, our group recommends Go Forward to prefer more of the MBAs or
experiences that concentrate on the job-related field (managing, human
resources,...) and the retail industry.

Another alternative to external hiring is to recruit from within the corporation.

Internal recruiting is the process of filling vacancies within a business from its
existing workforce. There are many types of internal recruitment: Promotion,
transfer, temporary-to-permanent, employee referrals. The benefits of this
practice are significant and fit the context of Go Forward’s situation. First and
foremost, this practice drives costs down and also provides staff with higher
performance. A study by Matthew Bidwell in 2011 shows that “compared with
workers entering a job through simple promotion, the most common form of
internal mobility, external hires receive significantly lower performance
evaluations for their first two years in the job yet are initially paid around 18
percent more”. Internal employees already have experience and understand
corporate culture. Thus, they do not require much training and time to adapt.
Other advantages such as reducing job posting and screening costs also
exist. Implementing this practice as a part of the recruitment process is
recommended

The selection process is another crucial concern for recruitment. After

receiving the application form, Go Forward has to determine the most

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potential employees from the pool. As Mercer (1988) states, “the most direct,
cost-effective way to reduce turnover is probably to use valid, reliable
employment selection tests that pinpoint which applicants fit the model of the
long term, effective employee.”

The most common way of selection is the interview. The formula for a
successful interview includes the following steps:

1. Conduct a job analysis to determine what a person is expected to do in

the job.
2. Identify which of the above activities and/or duties are most critical to
success.
3. Identify the skills, knowledge, and abilities (KSAs) necessary to perform
those critical duties.
4. Develop questions that elicit information about the KSAs of interest. 5.
For each important SKA, create ‘anchors’ or targets by describing what
the requisite SKA would look like when presenting the appropriate
amount. (This provides a measure against which you can evaluate
candidates.)
5. Structure or pattern the interview so that the same questions are asked of
each candidate.
6. Evaluate the candidate after completing the interviews. Carefully
developed and conducted interviews can greatly enhance the ‘fit’
between the employee and the job resulting in reduced turnover rates.

On the other hand, Realistic Job Interviews (RJP) also prove themselves as
an effective practice that lowers the turnover rate. The approach is applied to
applicants in the selection process and is based on the premise that
applicants given a more realistic view of the job before organizational entry will
be less likely to harbor unrealistic expectations as employees. The RJP
communicates three things: (1) tasks the person would perform; (2) behavior
expected to fit into the organization (organizational behavior norms) and (3)

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company policies and procedures. RJPs can be accomplished through a

variety of techniques, including written descriptions. Tours of facilities,
videotape presentation, and question and answer sessions. The RJP can be
made to become part of the selection interview.

So a job-oriented approach to selection that Go Forward wishes to pursue

requires all the hiring process to align with the core job profile at the very initial
to final steps such as screening job application from the store manager,
primary interview with the Human Resource department. Go Forward should
design interview tests around the store management real activities to assets
and evaluate how well and quickly the candidates understand the job scope.
Go Forward could refer its desired candidates from other people based on the
scale of job accomplishment from his/her previous jobs.

However, our group suggests a worker-oriented approach as an addition to

the selection procedures. There are two sides to performing a job, the tasks
and the workers. As a retail store manager besides the technical skills to
perform the work tasks they also need a set of soft skills and characteristics to
be able to perform well. Therefore, a worker-oriented approach improves the
quality of new hires. To implement this, Go Forward should offer some real
casework activities test for store managers to assess if their customer
response is appropriate and/or fit with Go Forward company culture besides
only testing the capability to perform the job. Go Forward can do this implicit
or explicit to well address the customer-oriented attitude from store managers.
Go Forward has to take a second consideration towards applicant passion,
motivation, the skills of leading change, leading people, leading flexibility and
teamwork, collaboration.

In terms of training and development, it is the important factor that comes after
recruitment. A new hire before starting working must go through training to
understand what to do and how to do the job. The training program, thus, has
to be based on the job tasks. Previously from table 1, the 5 main tasks are the
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core of the training. A store manager should be able to manage the store’s
staff, take care of the store's daily operations, record and keep up with the
product inventory, and set plans. Overall, the training should cover both
functional, technical standards, and behavioral components.

Company values, systems, procedures, and legal requirements are frequently

included in the technical. This level of training typically involves company-
specific customer service, performance management, and commercial
effectiveness training. The ability to attract customers and clients is a skill that
a store manager must develop. Store managers must ensure that the store's
products and commodities meet all of the customer's requirements. They have
a significant function in the advertising department. A store manager
collaborates with the advertising manager to develop plans and policies for
attracting new customers to the firm. However, one of their principal
responsibilities is to decide how many items are on display, how many
products are in the store inventory, what the principal client requests are, and
so on. The ideal store manager should have great customer service and
interpersonal skills, as well as expertise in bookkeeping, analytical and
problem solving, decision making, good verbal and written communication,
listening, computer literacy, including the ability to handle a cash register,
computerized accounting, spreadsheet, and word processing applications,
and time management.

Functional training is required to develop store managers' ability to manage

their employees. The store manager has been entrusted with the essential
task of hiring efficient personnel. He or she is responsible for supervising and
participating in the recruitment process by conducting interviews with qualified
individuals. In bigger retail establishments, however, he or she may receive
assistance from a Human Resource expert with candidate screening and
other recruitment tasks. He or she also has the critical responsibility of
providing training and development to employees and marketers. Employees
require training and development in order to meet sales targets and provide
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the best possible service to customers. To inspire salesmen to perform their

tasks efficiently, store managers must increase employee motivation to
contribute. The store managers are responsible for both the wage and the
implementation of a promotional strategy to motivate the store's employees.
They are in charge of workplace scheduling. They must also participate in
team-building events that allow staff to bond and work as a team. Moreover,
they must cooperate with divisional heads to develop policies and initiatives
that are likely to succeed in his or her specific area.

Leadership styles, mentoring, delegating, inspiring teams, and managing

tough individuals and situations are all covered in behavioral training. This
training lesson should emphasize the importance of being truthful, trustworthy,
and fair. He or she must treat all stakeholders with respect and exhibit sound
work ethics. Furthermore, Go Forward may construct an ideas platform where
all store managers from all of the company's retail outlets may share ideas
and learn from one another. Go Forward should stimulate risk-taking and the
implementation of good ideas, particularly lean ideas, waste-reduction ideas,
and so on. The ultimate goal is for those good suggestions to be recognized
and implemented regularly, resulting in the business being in ideal locations.

Several training methods are recommended to implement the training

program:

1. Instructor-led training

Instructor-led training is the traditional type of employee training that occurs in

a classroom, with a teacher presenting the material. This can be a highly
effective method of employee training, especially for complex topics.
Instructors can answer specific employee questions or direct them to further
resources. They also allow for highly skilled instructors to match the training
level and style to the employees in the room.

2. eLearning

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eLearning, on the other hand, relies on online videos, tests, and courses to
deliver employee training. Employees can do their training right in the palm of
their hand with a smartphone or on their company computers.

It’s one of the easiest types of employee training to roll out to larger
populations, especially for employees who are remote or have high turnover
rates. With interactive games, tests, videos, activities, or even gamified
components, it can also go a long way towards keeping your employees
engaged with the training.

Of course, eLearning also has its challenges. Without a solid instructional

design strategy behind it, the graphics and visuals that make eLearning fun
can also make it gimmicky or quickly outdated. Keeping it up-to-date is also a
necessary best practice.

3. Simulation employee training

Simulation training is most often provided through a computer, augmented, or

virtual reality device. Despite the initial costs for producing that software or
technology, simulation training can be a necessary option for employees in
riskier or high-stakes fields. You’ll often see simulation training for pilots or
doctors, but it can be useful for other employees too.

This type of employee training is also highly effective and reliable, allowing
employees to progress consistently and at their own pace.

4. Hands-on training

Hands-on training includes any experiential training that’s focused on the

individual needs of the employee. It’s conducted directly on the job. Hands-on
training can help employees fit perfectly into their upcoming or current roles
while enhancing their current skills.

5. Coaching or mentoring

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Coaching or mentoring can share similar qualities to hands-on training, but in

this type of employee training, the focus is on the relationship between an
employee and a more experienced professional, such as their supervisor, a
coach, or a veteran employee.

The one-on-one mentoring style creates a relationship between employees

that carries far beyond training. It also allows the employee to ask questions
they may not feel comfortable asking in a classroom, instructor-led training.
This training method can be done in person or virtually, through online
coaching sessions.

6. Lecture-style training

Important for getting big chunks of information to a large employee population,

lecture-style training can be an invaluable resource for communicating
required information quickly.

7. Group discussions and activities

For the right group of employees, group discussions and activities can provide
the perfect training option. It allows multiple employees to train at once, in an
environment that better fits their current departments or groups. These
discussions and activities can be instructor-led or facilitated by online prompts
that are later reviewed by a supervisor.

This type of employee training is best used for challenges that require a
collaborative approach to complex issues. Find ideas for training activities
here.

8. Role-playing

Similar to group discussions, role-playing specifically asks employees to work

through one aspect of their jobs in a controlled scenario. They’ll be asked to
consider different points of view and think on their feet as they work through
the role-playing activity.
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Like other group activities, role-playing is highly effective but may be

unnecessary for simple, straightforward topics. It also requires more employee
time, potentially taking time away from an entire department while they’re
going through the training.

9. Management-specific activities

Management-specific activities are just that—employee training that’s focused

on the needs of managers. They may include simulations, brainstorming
activities, team-building exercises, role-playing, or focused eLearning on
management best practices.

While management training can include many different types of training, it’s
important to consider the additional needs of your managers separately from
the rest of your employee population. This ensures they have the foundation
they need to support the rest of their staff.

10. Case studies or other required reading

Finally, some employee training topics are readily accessible through required
readings. Case studies, in particular, can provide a quick way for employees
to learn about real workplace issues. Employees can read through these at
their own pace, or while working in a team-building session with other
employees.

Case studies are a great option for focused topics, but more complex topics
will likely require more advanced types of employee training.

IV. The solution implementation and action plan

The first step Go Forward must do is conduct a deep job analysis for the store
manager position. The job analysis should be consulted with HR
professionals, current employees in that position, and the district managers as
well. After that, Go Forward needs to form a job description, skills inventory,
core competencies for the position before hiring. The interviews and RJPs
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then are based on the job description, core competencies to draw questions,
tests to screen out candidates.

The implementation plan must focus on evaluation and timely control in order
to adapt and change as required. A measurement method can be beneficial.
Continue to monitor the recruiting program, such as if we spend less time than
before selecting store managers after designing and submitting very precise
work specifications; tracking of how the job profile is used, how much it is
processed, and how all employees feel about the job profile's usefulness. The
implementation plan should include specific concrete milestones that can be
reviewed and adjusted as required. The efficiency of Go Forward Human
Resources will be enhanced simply by doing so. Otherwise, the whole Human
Resource system would be unable to match and keep up with the company's
shift and update. To ensure that all new ideas can be executed effectively, Go
Forward will need to pay more attention to budget preparation and granted
funds. The training university must be updated to reflect recent legislative
changes, as well as new skills that must be integrated into the existing training
framework. To evaluate its effectiveness, the Go Forward University should
have a very rigorous measuring and assessing framework for all of its training
activities. For example, after conducting training, each course is given an
assessment form, and employees are surveyed on the course takeaways,
which can be used in their daily jobs.

V. Conclusion:

The difficulty of recruiting, educating, and developing employees is not a new

roadblock in any organization. Many businesses are facing stiff competition
not only in their commercial markets, but also in how to attract, grow, and
maintain their talent pools in order to achieve long-term goals. This talent
attraction rivalry or human resources war is particularly fierce in the rising and
emerging economy industries. The solutions to these problems are to build a
strong and long-lasting recruiting system and to establish a long-term working

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environment by applying both job-orientated and worker-orientated in which

employees can freely pursue their development. When you hire the right
people with the right knowledge and skill for the first time, the rest (process) is
almost smoother. Go Forward can achieve low staff turnover by establishing
ideal work specifications, valid and reliable employment selection tests which
can then be applied to all other facets of its human resources, such as
creating job vacancies, job-related hiring processes, performance appraisals,
and training programs, and job redesign. As part of Go Forward University,
the training and development tool should include technological, functional, and
behavioral training. This training aims to improve and develop the “round”
employee that can have the overview observation and wise decision making
to achieve Go Forward‟s strong growth shortly

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VI. References:

https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/retail-manager-skills

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/key-competencies-successful-store-manager-
matthew-goddard

https://www.edgepointlearning.com/blog/top-10-types-of-employee-training/

https://www.paycor.com/resource-center/articles/internal-recruiting-what-why-
how-and-when/

Zaire, “The retail store managers' role: Evidence from Greece”, International
Journal of Business Science & Applied Management, Vol.8 (2013)

Hart, Stachow, Farrell, and Reed, “Employer perceptions of skills gaps in

retail: issues and implications for UK retailers”, International Journal of Retail
& Distribution Management (2007)

Bidwell, “Paying More to Get Less: The Effects of External Hiring versus
Internal Mobility”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol.56 (2011)

Hom, P. W., Lee, T. W., Shaw, J. D., & Hausknecht, J. P. (2017). One
hundred years of employee turnover theory and research. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 102(3), 530–545. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000103

Bonn and Forbringer, “Reducing turnover in the hospitality industry: an

overview of recruitment, selection, and retention”,

International Journal of Hospitality Management, Volume 11 (1992), 47-63.

https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-4319(92)90035-T

Werbel, J.D. and Johnson, D.J. (2001), “The Use of Person–Group Fit for
Employment Selection: A Missing Link in Person-Environment Fit”, Hum.
Resour. Manage., Volume 40: 227-240. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.1013

Bolander, Pernilla, and Jörgen Sandberg. “How Employee Selection Decisions

Are Made in Practice.” Organization Studies 34, no. 3 (March 2013): 285–311.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840612464757.

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Zahra, S., Iram, A., & Naeem, H. (2014). Employee training and its effect on
employees’ job motivation and commitment: Developing and proposing a
conceptual model. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 16(9), 60-68.

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