Tanglewood Case Study 3

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Tanglewood Case Study 3

Megan Purdy
HRM 594
Keller Graduate School of Management
Dr. Carden
May 28, 2014

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Recruitment Guide
Position: Store Associate
Reports To: Shift Leader and Department Manager
Qualifications: Prefer to have some background in customer service or retail, no specific list of
minimal educational background required
Relevant Labor Market: Pacific Northwest; Oregon and Washington
Timeline: This is a continuous recruiting effort with no set timeline; however the ideal process
from initial contact with the applicant to the final hiring decision would ideally be within a
months time.
Activities to undertake to source well qualified candidates: Use of media, such as regional
newspaper advertisements, online job postings on both public websites as well as the company
website, kiosks in the stores, job services groups and staffing agencies,
Staff Members Involved: HR Recruiting Manager, Assistant Store Manager, Department
Manager
Budget: Between $1000 and $3000

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In looking to the best targets or applicants for the position of store associate, it would be
ideal to recruit individuals with some prior background, knowledge or experience in the
customer service or retail fields. One of the big complaints from our management is that new
hires often get flustered or angry in their role as a customer service/store associate with dealing
with difficult customers or when they are unsure of things. We would like to be able to find
candidates with prior knowledge or that are willing to learn and train in these areas. It is found
that having some background or experience is extremely beneficial to both the associate and to
Tanglewood. Even finding candidates that are familiar with the Tanglewood organization or are
coming from another retail organization would be ideal.
Using media outlets would tend to be more an open recruiting method in that anyone
would be able to apply for open positions. Kiosks in the stores would also be included in the
open recruiting, allowing applicants to apply without having to have an internet connection. By
using an open recruiting approach, Tanglewood is opening wide the door to a great variety of
potential candidates and not really trying to pinpoint those candidates that may have the best
match to KSAO requirements. Using open recruitment allows Tanglewood to be fair in their
recruitment and hiring and also keeps them in line with the EEO/AA laws and selecting from a
diverse candidate pool. By choosing a more targeted recruiting approach, Tanglewood is setting
themselves up to attract a more specific type of candidate. To use a targeted approach, media
sources can still be used, but changing and specifying the requirements listed. Another way to
use the targeted recruitment approach would be to use a staffing agency and targeting particular
group, such as those in the retail or customer service field. However, since Tanglewood plans on
using an ongoing recruiting process, I believe it might be in their best interest to use a

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combination of both open and targeted recruiting methods, in that they can still encourage all
applications with media and website postings, while still trying to specifically reach out to
specific groups or types of candidates through referrals and staffing agencies or job service
groups.
In Western Washington, it seems that using basic media sources and job services groups
as a means of recruiting attract the most candidates, with the job service groups also producing a
large number of candidates. However, the referral system actually yields the largest number of
candidates to be hires as well as the highest qualification percentage. The job service group
provides the highest retention percentage, but the referrals system of recruiting actually results in
the lowest cost per hire out of the four different methods used.
Eastern Washington received a high number of applicants from their media sources as
well with referrals and kiosks falling in behind. However, their largest number of candidates and
hires once again comes from the referrals system that they received, as well as referrals also
providing the highest retention rate. The referral hires proved to be the lowest in cost per hire as
well as having the highest retention percentage of employees after both the 6 month and 1 year
mark.
Northern Oregon is the region that has chosen not to use a referral program as they
believe that it results in hiring unqualified candidates due to favoritism. They instead have
focused on using media sources, kiosks and staffing agencies for their recruiting. The larger
number of both applicants and candidates come from an open recruiting method, the kiosk, but
the highest retention percentage of employees comes from their targeted recruitment efforts and

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use of staffing agencies. Using staffing agencies is a more costly method for Tanglewood in that
it has the highest cost per hire rate as well as fixed cost, but can be justified with the 6 month and
1 year retention percentages at 106% and 96%. These are the best retention percentage rates of
all four regions.
Southern Oregon is the smallest region of the four and does not use any type of media
sources in their recruiting methods, but instead relies on referrals, kiosks and staffing agencies
for the applicant and candidate pools. The in store kiosks have brought in the highest number of
applicants and candidates, but the referrals have produced the largest number of retained hires.
As far as retention of employees, again using a targeted approach through a staffing agency has
given the highest retention rate. The kiosks also have the highest cost per hire rate as well as the
lowest retention rate.
Northern Oregons suggestion to not use referrals carries validation to some extent.
When using referrals during the selection and hiring process, some applicants may feel that there
is favoritism being shown if candidates are hired based on who they know. It also possible in the
process to overlook skills, knowledge, or requirements that may be lacking if they are referred by
an employee and being hired based on that alone. This could lead to problems down the road
once the shift leader or department manager realizes that there is inadequate training or
knowledge from the person they hired based on a referral. Referrals can also serve a positive
purpose in the hiring process as well. When receiving an application with a referral from a
current employee or someone associated with or from within the company, you can get an
understanding of the type of person the applicant is from the recommendations given. You can

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find out about their personality and work ethic and whether or not they would potentially be a
good fit with the organization.
Aside from the cost per hire and the retention of employees being measures used for
employee performance, there are others that can be used as well. The source of where the hire
came from can be used to better understand where they are attaining their quality employees
from and what areas they should be focusing on during their recruiting process, particularly
recruiting employees with customer service or retail background as that was a concern of the
managers. Looking at the performance and the equality of the hire is another measure to be
used. Keeping track of the employees performance during the first year can be beneficial in
determining areas of training that may need improvement. This can be done through
performance evaluations or reviews and one on one meetings. This leads to using input from
managers as another measure. Manager feedback will be helpful in determining the quality of
the hire from reviews and evaluations. Besides manager reviews, it would be helpful to hear
from the employees themselves as well. The employee can give input as to whether or not they
are satisfied with the job and if they feel they are being trained or integrated positively. One of
the other concerns of the managers was the high turnover rate, but by using a variety of
measures, especially getting feedback from the new hires themselves. They can find ways to
reduce the turnover by listening to the needs and feedback of the employees. They can use this
to help integrate the employees better as well as give them their own feedback to help the
employee. (6 Good Metrics, 2008)

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By using a targeted recruiting message, we will better be able to face head on the
concerns that a large number of our managers have, in that they want to spend less time having to
go through the assessment phase as well as finding candidates that meet the requirements
necessary. By targeting employees with previous retail and customer service experience, that
narrows down the applicant pool. By using staffing agencies, that will take a lot of the work of
assessing applicants away by having them narrow down and send qualified candidates. .
(Henemen, Staffing Organizations, 2009)
A realistic recruiting message will give all applicants a fair change and may bring in
some very qualified candidates as well. By using a realistic message, we can state very plainly
what the expectations are of the store associate and what we would ideally like as far as
requirements to be met. We will be able to share the positives of Tanglewood, like its family
attitude and the practice of promoting from within, as well as the negative, the high turnover and
how we plan to overcome it. (Henemen, Staffing Organizations, 2009)
In a branded message, we can use the history and the reputation of Tanglewood and the
positive attributes that we are known for such as the leadership, the family atmosphere and
support system, the inside promotions and make ourselves seem like an employer of choice.
This would be a great way to recruit employees from our customer base, since they are already
familiar with the brand and what we stand for as a company. . (Henemen, Staffing
Organizations, 2009)
Overall, there are a number of ways to overcome the concerns that management has in
the recruiting process. There needs to be a willingness to use both an open and targeted

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recruiting method to bring in a quality candidate pool and to learn from the other regions as far
as what is working for each of them and build on that. It needs to be kept in mind that we are all
working together as one company and even though we are separate stores, we can take advice
and guidance from each other to make sure that we are recruiting associates that are going to
continue to build on the great reputation that Tanglewood already has.

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References

Heneman III, H. G. & Judge, T.A. (2009). Staffing organizations (7th Ed.). Middleton, WI:
McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Kammeyer-Mueller, John, (2012), Tanglewood Casebook for use with Staffing Organizations (7th
Ed.). Mendota House, Inc.

Lowisz, Stephen, (2008, July 7). 6 Good Metrics. http://www.ere.net/2008/07/07/6-good-metrics/