The Task

You are required to develop and justify a strategic recruitment and selection process/plan (2000 word report) for a specific position. Information about the position and the hiring organisation is provided below,

Through your report you should, therefore, demonstrate that you can:

Identify and describe the theoretical concepts and processes of strategic recruitment and selection;

Interpret and analyse research in a critical manner; and

Justify your rationale for applying the theoretical concepts and processes of HRM practice.

Required tables must be completed and included within your report. We go through how to complete these tables in the workshops. Further information is also provided in the videos included in the Support Materials for Written Report module below. The required tables do not contribute to your word count.

Download the required tables (also available in the Course Study Guide).

Background

As the HR Manager for OzStyle4U, you have been asked to generate a report document, which will support the effective and equitable employment of a suitable staff person in the role of Store Manager - Hobart. In particular, you are required to develop a strategic recruitment and selection plan to guide OzStyle4U.

The Queensland company - OZStyle4U - requires an effective recruitment and selection process for the employment of its first Store Manager in its Tasmanian ‘flagship' store scheduled to open in Hobart in 12 weeks' time. This is a full-time, ongoing position with career development opportunities.

External recruitment is necessary, as no internal candidates have been found suitable or available for the position; and it is desirable to have the new manager commence within 9 weeks, if possible. The aim is to allow the new appointee to receive a full induction into theorganisation, and to participate in the recruitment of new store staff. The position description is below.

While OzStyle4U has a succession management plan in place, there are no internal candidates suitable for the position and therefore external recruitment is necessary. OzStyle4U's recruitment is undertaken in-house by the HR Manager; therefore, external recruitment agencies are not used.

Assessment task

In your role as HR Manager for OzStyle4U, you have been requested to provide a report that describes and justifies the process of a strategic recruitment and selection plan for the hiring of the Store Manager - Hobart.
To complete your report, you will need to

draw on theories and concepts presented in the prescribed readings, as well as research literature on recruitment and selection processes.
You must incorporate a minimum of 8 refereed/peer-reviewed journal articles dated 2000 or later throughout your report to provide an academic justification for your argument (you may include more than this if you want to).

Magazines, websites and internet sources are not to be used. Information on how to search for, identify and use this type of literature, as well as details on how to plan and write your report, is included in the Research and Writing for Business Students (2009EHR) module below.

It is important to use refereed/peer reviewed journal articles as they (i) provide a theoretical framework to understand information, (ii) test assumptions and observations made about people and processes, and (iii) are a reliable and validated source of accurate information.

In developing a strategic recruitment and selection plan, you should consider the following:

Please note that a number of table templates have been provided and are available to download - Download the required tables (also available in the Course Study Guide). Templates are available for most of the required sections, and it is a requirement that these tables be filled out and included in your report. Most of these tables or a similar table can be found in your textbook, so you can use these examples to guide how you can fill out the tables.

Additional information for report preparation

Pre-recruitment

Identify the business strategy from the background and other information provided about the organisation. Once you have identified the business strategy, the next step is to identify the staffing implications associated with such a strategy, and explain how the staffing implications support the identified business strategies. Don't forget to justify and explain your choices.

Develop a job requirements matrix.

There is an example of a job requirements matrix in the readings (see reading 4, from page 150). The tasks in the job requirements matrix should be derived from the responsibilities/tasks in the position description. It is important that suitable KSAOs/competencies be listed for each of the tasks.

Propose an ‘employment value proposition' that the organisation would be willing and able to offer to attract an adequate number of high quality applicants. This should be generally consistent with what you consider is the organisation's business, HR/Staffing strategy and brand as an ‘Employer of Choice', as well as specifically reflect the results of a job rewards analysis for the position.

Recruitment

Develop a sourcing effectiveness analysis for the specified. The proposed plan must include an appropriate sourcing approach and range of recruitment methods to attract potential candidates. There are useful tables to help with developing a sourcing effectiveness analysis (See self-help video and resources on completing the required tables for the written report).

Develop recruitment communication/advertisement plan of approximately 200 words. The plan should include the key elements of information the company will communicate to prospective applicants. These words can be encased within a table, and so will not count towards the overall word limit.

Selection

Outline and justify an assessment plan based on a job requirements matrix of the key accountabilities and person specification for the position. The plan must include the selection criteria (characteristics) of the position, a number of assessment methods (predictors), and the sequence and weighting for each assessment method. There is an example of an assessment plan for an accountant (see reading 8, click on assessment plan and then Table 9).

It is a requirement that one of your assessmet methods be a panel interview. As part of this requirement, you also need to develop at least two structured interview questions, indicate the selection criteria/characteristic that each question will address, and develop a suggested answer and rating for each question.