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Problems at Build It Supplies
Three months ago, Dave joined NSW-based construction supplies wholesaler, Build It Supplies, as the new Sales Manager for Queensland to replace the previous sales manager, a highly experienced sales professional, who had left to join a larger firm. The company has a small HR department in Sydney but its role has been confined to managing the payroll and administration of personnel records. Recruitment and selection of key staff has largely been conducted by Build It Supplies’ management through personal contacts. Dave had previously been working for one of Build It Supplies’ competitors as a sales representative. Although he had no managerial experience, he knew the market well so the Build It Supplies manager that selected him thought he seemed a good choice for the job.
Build It Supplies has been in business for twenty years and sells construction products to large construction companies through to individual residential builders. There are plans to grow the Queensland market over the next five years and to establish several regional offices. Because of the industry, most of the staff are men, although there are several women in administrative and customer service functions. When Dave assumes his role as State Sales Manager he inherits a team of fifteen male sales representatives who report directly to him. There are also three full-time female administrative staff, and one female and two full-time male customer service officers, however they do not report directly to Dave. Many of the sales reps have experience in the construction industry and at least half have previously been a builder or some other trade, such as a plumber.
The sales reps have individual targets and remuneration for the sales reps is based on a combination of a modest wage and attractive bonus. The sales reps are paid a bonus based on their individual annual sales and each year at the Christmas lunch the bonuses are awarded and the individual amount each sales rep receives is disclosed to everyone. The purpose of this has been to celebrate achievement and encourage a high performance culture. The sales rep team members are all pretty good performers, however since Dave joined the company, sales have gone down. Dave believes this is due to a recent decline in construction in Brisbane, and thinks that in the New Year construction will pick up and so will sales. Dave isn’t looking forward to the looks on his sales reps faces though when they receive their annual bonus in a couple of weeks time, which for most of them will be the lowest in six years.
Dave is really worried about a few of his sales reps who have had very low sales recently and thinks it’s more than just the construction downturn. One sales rep, in particular, is Barry who was hired by the previous manager and was a personal friend of the previous manager. Dave has been keeping an eye on Barry since he got here. Barry does not always meet his sales targets, and is occasionally late to work. After 2 months Dave is convinced that Barry doesn't really understand the job, even though he is the oldest in age and one of the longest serving employees. His product knowledge is not always current and he appears incompetent at using a computer and the company’s internal software programs that all employees are expected to use. Although he has good relationships with his established clients, he seems unable to build new client relationships. Dave wonders why Barry cannot just get on with it, like the other sales representatives, and wonders if maybe he is too old for the job. Dave has been reluctant to talk to Barry about this until recently but now has had enough. He decides that Barry has to go! He tells Barry what he thinks of his performance in no uncertain terms and threatens him with dismissal if he does not improve. Barry resigns and departs the same day.
A year later things have not improved. Dave has personally head hunted a replacement for Barry and fired and replaced another member of the original sales team but the latest recruits are not performing any better than their predecessors and the team’s morale is sinking – along with their sales results! The all-Caucasian male sales reps are very competitive with each other, often “stealing” other sales reps’ customers. Over the past year Dave has been reprimanded several times for bullying and firing staff without good reason or sufficient evidence, landing the organisation in one case in expensive legal proceedings. The administrative and customer service officers have also been dissatisfied and don’t like the way Dave speaks to them. The female customer service officer, who had been studying marketing at TAFE part time, left after not being considered by Dave for an internal promotion to fill the sales rep position.
Dave’s boss finally calls him in and warns him that if he does not rebuild relationships with his team and improve their performance within the next two months he will have to leave. Frustrated and unable to see how he can improve the team’s performance, Dave decides to leave the organisation the same day, saying in his brief exit interview that he cannot cope with the stress and pressure.
Since Dave’s departure, Build It Supplies has found it difficult to fill the role of Sales Manager Queensland and a member of the sales team has to manage the role on a temporary basis. The organisation has decided it needs to find a permanent replacement for Dave and that it probably should try more orthodox recruitment and selection methods than it has in the past. The new Sales Manager will need to have the capacity to build a high performance culture and improve the morale of the team. Hoping to get it right this time, the HR department has put together the following information:
Main responsibilities
Manages sales of the company’s products and services within a defined geographic area. Ensures consistent, profitable growth in sales revenues through positive planning, deployment and management of sales personnel. Identifies objectives, strategies and action plans to improve short- and long-term sales and earnings.
Key Accountabilities / Duties
1. Collaborates with senior management and others in establishing and recommending the most realistic sales goals for the company.
2. Manages an assigned geographic sales area to maximize sales revenues and meet corporate objectives.
3. Performs sales activities on major accounts and negotiates sales price and discounts.
4. Establishes and manages effective programs to hire, compensate, coach, appraise and train sales personnel and sales support staff.
5. Accurately forecasts annual, quarterly and monthly revenue streams.
Selection Criteria
1. 10 years' relevant experience in sales and/or management.
2. Experience in preparing sales budgets and targets, analysing sales patterns and providing advice and feedback on effective sales strategies
3. Capacity to provide timely, accurate and insightful sales reports to senior management.
4. Demonstrated ability to provide leadership in a sales team and well-developed interpersonal skills.
5. Ability to handle stressful working conditions, short timeframes and demanding customers.
Compulsory Questions:
1. Identify and briefly explain the HRM concepts and practices that you consider would be relevant to the case above. Explain their relevance and how they can be applied to this case. (Hint: when answering this question do not limit your answer to just one or two key areas - draw on the knowledge you have obtained across the course )
2. If you were Dave, what should you have done over the period of time you were manager to help improve Barry’s performance and the performance of the team? (Hint: Your answer should demonstrate your breadth of understanding about HRM and the integration of its activities.)
3. Assuming that the description of the job (above) is accurate, explain how you would go about recruiting for the Sales Manager job. Discuss the selection technique/s you would recommend be used to choose the best applicant for this job and provide details (in terms of specific selection/assessment techniques) of how you would measure each applicant’s ability to meet each selection criterion.
Solution
Executive summary
The assignment is based on the case study i.e. Problems at Build it Supplies. As the things were changed when Dave joined the company as the new sales manager. Further, the assignment will help in understanding the significant practices and the concepts of human resource management which will be relevant to the case study. The measures will be given as being at the position of the sales manager how I will improve the performance of the team and the performance of the older member of the company i.e. Barry. Further, the recruitment process and the various techniques for the selection of new applicant as the sales manager in place of Dave will be given.
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Human Resource management concept and practices
Earlier, human resource management was called as the personnel management as he was interested in the activities of the one department. He was more interested with the regimen of humans. The functions of the department were, recruitment, selection, appraisal, reward, handling of grievance, etc. But now, HRM is defined as the procedure which recruits the human resource and mobilizes them in gaining the objectives and targets of the organization (Singh et al., 2012). Human resource management is more interested in the dimension of people in the management in which the preference is given to the recruitment, development, selection, motivation, etc. of the organization’s resources. These are the most significant functions of the management as it helps in increasing the competencies of the employees. As the performance of the company relies on the efficiency and effectiveness of the employees.
If we see the case study, then we can easily understand that the employees were not getting any training and development in order to improve their skills and expertise. The concept which the company of human resource management which the company was using was not relevant as they were only providing the rewards to the employees on an annual basis according to their achieved sales target. They were not getting any training and development to improve their effectiveness. Moreover, Dave was hiring new talent, and he was not giving a chance to the existing employees to occupy the vacant positions. This resulted as the discouragement in the employees, and they were leaving the organization. Dave was only firing the employees who were not giving desired sales target results without even understanding the main problem behind this. And because of the relationship of Dave and employees has impacted adversely. Dave became rude with the employees as well. Further, there was no equality as the team members of Dave were all male who were directly reporting to him. The company should have used the relevant concept of human resource management like the department of the human resource should be interested in the development of expertise and skills of the humans. The human resource should have identified the potential of the employees while recruiting new talent from the outside. The human resource department should have focused on the maintenance of the human resource in the company instead of only rewarding them (Ehnert et al., 2014). The motivation level was not too high in the employees as they were only getting rewards for the sales target which was also declining every year because the sales of the company were declining. It was important for the human resource department to encourage the employee in order to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.
The company didn’t use the adequate practices of human resource management in order to value the human resource and retain them. Further, the company should have used the good practices of human resource management as they are instrumental which helps in gaining the individual and company’s objectives and also encourages the productivity. The company should have used the integrated and strategic approach to the good practices of human resource management. The company should have developed the strategic connection and embodied programs of the human resource with an effective plan of human resource management. Further, the short term and long term needs of the human resource should have been projected with the help of a plan of manpower. Dave should have adopted the flexible styles in order to manage the employees effectively. The system of performance management should have been developed so that the employees should have achieved their organizational as well as individual goals with the continuous coaching and the on the job training methods. The competencies of the staff should have been encouraged in order to perform more effectively through the training and development programs. Further, the manpower planning should have been used in order to provide appropriate guidance to the employees regarding their career (Tarba et al., 2016). The company should have enhanced the service quality in order to develop the culture which will focus the customers, encouraged productivity, more initiatives taken by the employees and improved the public image.
Every business completely depends on its employees in achieving the success. The adequate practices of a human resource help in adding value to the company if they are maintained as the system of integration in the company. The practices of a human resource help in gaining sustainable competitive advantage. Further, the company i.e. Built it Supplies should have managed the environment of the human resource which should have encouraged them to give their best to the organization. As the technology keeps on advancing, it is very important to train the employees accordingly. Whereas the company was not providing any training to the employees instead, Dave was only terminating the employees and was hiring the new talent and believed that they would be capable enough to cope up with the advanced technology without any training and development programs.
Therefore, the company should have used the desired concept of human resource management and the best practices of human resource in order to maximize the productivity of the sales and in retaining and encouraging the existing employees to give effective and efficient results to the company.
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Place Your OrderMeasures to Improve the Performance of the Team and Barry
According to the case study, if I was at the place of Dave then I should have improved the results of the sales of the company by focusing on the employees. Dave forced Barry to leave the company because he believed that Barry is old enough to handle to new technology and give the productive results to the company. Whereas, if I was at his place, then I should have listened to his problem which he was facing in order to work efficiently. Then I should have decided to take the decision in order to solve the problem whether it was with regard to training or guidance but I should not have insulted him and forced him to leave.
Further, I should have taken various measures in order to improve the performance of Barry and the team, and the measures are as follows (Homburg et al., 2012):
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Being a manager, I should have developed the clear goals for the team so that they focus on achieving team goals rather than achieving individual goals. This should have helped the team members to rely on one another and improve their relationship.
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I should have created the code of conduct for the employees so that they should have been abiding to follow them and build trust towards the team. This should have helped the employees to improve their relations and give better productive results to the company.
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I should have given some authority to the employees so that they should have felt more engaged in the decision-making the process of the company. And this helped them in taking more initiatives to do the task.
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I should have conducted the personal interaction sessions with the employees in order to understand their problems and issues and based on this guidance should have been provided to them.
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I should have conducted periodic training and development programs so that the employees cope up with the new trends and technology of the competitive market. I should not have terminated any of the employees because of his less efficiency. The training and development programs should have helped the employee to know their potential and capabilities and maximize their strengths for the individual and company's benefit.
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I should have conducted activities of team building on a monthly basis in order to improve the relation of employees with me which should have helped in developing a strong relation and further improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the employees resulting to the productive results of the sale.
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I should have improved the technique of PA human resource management in order to improve and assess the performance of the employees. I should have used FFI in place of PA for the employees.
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I should have promoted the employees in order to fill the vacant positions instead of hiring the new talent for all the positions. And this should have been done by the human resource planning to check the KSA of the employees.
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I should have believed in equality and made the team with males and females both without any discrimination.
Therefore, the above given measures should have maximized the sales of the company by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of Barry and the other team members. I should not have insulted any employee or forced them to resign rather I should have helped them in solving their issues personally. Further, Dave should have taken his responsibility seriously as his approach was not even result oriented and people oriented. As Barry was very sincere and one of the oldest employees, he might be facing the problem to cope with the advanced technology and in order to solve the problem he just required training and little guidance which Dave should have provided to help him and improve his skills and expertise as per the needs of the company. Similarly, the employees required training to improve the efficiency and to increase their morale they also required internal hiring rather than only external hiring and because of this they felt discouraged and were forced to leave the organization for their benefit and to get better place to work in other company (Micevski et al., 2016). Moreover, females were given less preference as compared to males as there was discrimination in the company by Dave.
Recruitment and Selection Techniques for the Sales Manager Job
As it is assumed that the given description of the sales manager job is accurate, after Dave resigned the company. Further are the measures for recruiting the applicant for the sales manager by measuring their capabilities (Petty et al., 2015).
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The company should give the advertisement in the newspaper or post the job vacancy on the job portals like Monster.com. The option of job portals will be more economical for the company. The description should include all the details which the company wants to see in the next manager.
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The sourcing should be done on the job portals in order to get the desired applicant for the interview. The company can also use the salesladder.com which is the most desirable place to get the people for sale.
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The company should use the rules wizard in order to develop the automation which will configure the upcoming resumes and will be placed in the folder of outlook.
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As it is very difficult for the company to shortlist the candidate based on the little information given on the resume, the management team can use the assessment which is specifically for sales i.e. objective management express screen of groups. This will help in filtering the details and finding the accuracy around 90 percent and further helps in selecting the best applicant for the interview.
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The company can use the phone screen in order to shortlist the candidate for the interview as this will help in finding that they are suitable for the job or not according to the way of their talking.
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The below given are the recommended selection techniques for the applicants in order to get the most appropriate sales manager for the company which will help in maximizing the sales and improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the employees (Townley, B. 2014).
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The resumes of the applicants are screened further for the interview. And only some of them get the chance to give the interview for the final post. The company can screen the resumes based on the description for the sales manager.
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Further, the aptitude and cognitive tests can be conducted by the company in order to check the potential and the capability of the applicants before conducting the final interview. The tests can be taken to know their level of knowledge, thinking, and quality of leadership to lead the team efficiently.
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The company can then conduct the final interview for those who will clear the written tests. The face to face interview will help the management team to understand the person better. Further, the management should see that the person has the quality to take the risk and cope up with the failure by turning it into his/her strengths. The management should understand the psychology of the applicant by putting him in such situations in order to check that how he will handle the pressure and stress and how he will treat the employees.
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The company should check the background and references of the selected candidate adequately in order to cross check his past record and whatever details he have given are correct or not.
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Finally, the company will select the candidate for the post of the sales manager to improve the sales and target and to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the employees to get productive results.
Therefore, Built It Supplies should use the above given recommended selection techniques for the sales manager, and this will help the management team to measure the capabilities of the applicant according to the selection criterion. If the company uses the above-given measures, then there will be an improvement in the target of the sales of the company and moreover, the employees will improve their efficiency and effectiveness and will further give the desired output to the company.
References
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Ehnert, I., Harry, W., & Zink, K. J. (2014). Sustainability and HRM. In Sustainability and Human Resource Management (pp. 3-32). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
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Homburg, C., Artz, M., & Wieseke, J. (2012). Marketing performance measurement systems: does comprehensiveness really improve performance?. Journal of Marketing, 76(3), 56-77.
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Micevski, M., Dewsnap, B., Cadogan, J. W., Kadi?-Maglajli?, S., & Boso, N. (2016). Performance Implications of the Interplay Between Sales Intra-Functional Flexibility, Customer Orientation and Role Ambiguity. In Marketing Challenges in a Turbulent Business Environment (pp. 67-72). Springer International Publishing.
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Petty, R. J., Manroop, L., & Linton, S. (2015). Integration of Micro-Blogs into the Human Resource Management (HRM) Areas of Recruitment and Selection. Maximizing Commerce and Marketing Strategies through Micro-Blogging, Business Science Reference, Hershey, PA, 226-250.
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Singh, S., Darwish, T. K., Costa, A. C., & Anderson, N. (2012). Measuring HRM and organizational performance: concepts, issues, and framework. Management Decision, 50(4), 651-667.
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Tarba, S. Y., & Cooper, C. L. (2016). HRM practices in strategic partnerships.
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Townley, B. (2014). Selection and appraisal: reconstituting. New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals), 92.
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