Selection

Selection

One of the selection methods used in Mark and Spencer’s is assessment centres. An assessment centre is a method for assessing aptitude and performance; applied to group of participants by trained assessors using various aptitude diagnostic processes in order to obtain information about applicants’ abilities or development potential. This is a process being increasingly used by organisations to assess staff, either as part of the recruitment process or for internal development and promotion. [http://www.psychometric-success.com/assessment-centers/acfaq-what-is.htm]

One of the selection methods used in Mark and Spencer’s is assessment centres. An assessment centre is a method for assessing aptitude and performance; applied to group of participants by trained assessors using various aptitude diagnostic processes in order to obtain information about applicants’ abilities or development potential. This is a process being increasingly used by organisations to assess staff, either as part of the recruitment process or for internal development and promotion. [http://www.psychometric-success.com/assessment-centers/acfaq-what-is.htm]

Marks and Spencer’s find it quite straight forward to use assessment centres because they usually get a lot of candidates applying for the different jobs available at the same time and they are also able to see which candidates are actually ideal for the job. Using assessment centres has several advantages; one being that it takes less time and money, for the reason that if Mark and Spencer were to employ candidates without knowing if they are suitable for the job or not the business make face a lot of problems. On the other hand it makes them long because Mark and Spencer will need to provide useful training.

As well as assessment centres having advantages they also have downfalls as well. One being that not every candidate would be suitable for the job as this is time wasting because it takes a long time to run, and is also expensive.

The second selection method which Mark and Spencer uses are online application schemes. This allows potential candidates to apply for jobs using online application forms. If the candidates are thought to be ideal for the role then Mark and Spencer will start to consider them further for the role. There’s a variety of advantages for this method one being that it allows Mark and Spencer to save less time rather than going through paper applications. The ideal candidates are contacted, whereas the candidates that are not successful will receive an email detailing the reason why they weren't successful. 

The third selection method that Tesco uses is a one on one interview, where the interviewer will ask the potential employer questions to see if they are suitable for the role. They will give the employers a role play, where they will have to act out that they are in the store. The manager pretends to be a customer that comes in to the store and is asking for help from one of the colleagues. This type of role play shows the managers how the potential will act under pressure.

 Almost every employer includes a face to face interview as part of the selection process. Face to face interview is one of the most used and popular type of method that businesses use today. [Introducing Human Resource Management - Margaret Foot and Caroline Hook]  

Before I started working in Marks and Spencer, I received an interview. In the interview I had to take part in a role play where I had to pretend that I was working in the store and an annoyed customer needed help. This was effective for the reason that I had a sense of idea what was expected of me.  The interview was one on one. At the end of the role play, they told me to complete a form and I had to state if I thought that the role play was successful or not.

 The only recommendation that I can offer to Mark and Spencer’s are they should change the questions they ask in the role plays for the reason that any of the unsuccessful candidates are easily able to tell friends and family who may be having the interview. As this won’t show they are capable because they have received the questions elsewhere.

  In conclusion every business has their own selection method when recruiting future employees. Some selection processes may not be successful as another business. It is important that every business ensures that their selection process is efficient and allows them to pick a the right people for their roles they may have in the workplace.

References

Introducing Human Resource Management -Fith Edition- Margaret Foot and Caroline Hook

http://www.psychometric-success.com/assessment-centers/acfaq-what-is.htm

http://www.psychometric-success.com/assessment-centers/acfaq-what-is.htm

Reward

[Organizational Behavior and Change - Joseph W.Weiss]

Individuals generally value the rewards they receive in organizations in relation to their own motivation and satisfaction.  Reward systems must be diverse to accommodate different and changing employee needs.

[http://www.asda.jobs/why-join/benefits_and_rewards.html] ASDA has a variety of ways of rewarding their employees. They offer a competitive package as ASDA believes in rewarding their colleagues. ASDA provides their employees with discounts where they are able to purchase products in store for cheaper prices. They are able to recieve up to 20% off all items including in their family stores like WalMart.They also have a discretionary bonus scheme which is designed to recognize and reward employees for their valued contribution throughout the bonus year.

They also give their employees the opportunity to start planning for their future by allowing them to sign up for a pension. What is beneficial for the colleagues because ASDA contributes towards their pension.

ASDA try and promote equity and fairness by giving all colleagues the same amount of discounts. The mangers may get a much better reward for the reason that they are in a higher ranking than the employees who might just work on the shop floor. The managers at ASDA treat all their employers the same. This is beneficial for the employees because they won’t feel like anybody in the same league is better than them.

For

Chief Executives communicate to other important people in the business to ensure that the business doesn’t go downfall and also it will allow them to take over just in case the business becomes unsuccessful. They also take on a tremendous amount of stress and hold a lot of responsibility for the business; they always make important decisions; which good could be good or bad. Most chief executives for businesses have been with the company for a long times and has helped to make sure that the business has been successful.

Against

In some cases if the business fails or has underperformed, it wouldn’t be fair that they should receive a bonus when the business has failed. It will also affect a business for the reason that if the business has made a loss it wouldn’t be beneficial for the business if they start to pay for chief executives more.

 

Power and Conflict at Work

Conflict

Conflict is an integral part of organization life. The reason why conflict occurs is for the reason that disagreements arises as well as incompatibilities between different individual, or within groups and entire organizations. [Organizational Behavior and Change – Joseph W.Weiss]

Conflict is a struggle between two or more people forces that creates a tension that must be resolved but in some cases, it doesn’t usually get resolved.

[http://aliscot.com/ensenanza/1302/conflict.htm]

There are a variety of different reasons why conflict may occur, they can simply be;  

·         Interdependence Conflicts

·         Differences in Style

·         Differences in Background or Gender

·         Differences in Leadership

·         Personality Clashes

Whilst I was working at Marks and Spencers I faced a variety of conflict within the workplace. One prime example I had of the conflict I faced was some of my colleague’s style for completing a job. I was tend to be the sort of person who was task oriented and would like the task to be completed as soon as possible whereas some of my other colleagues liked to complete tasks in a specific way which was usually time consuming. As a result we were not able to complete the task set.  The way the team try to overcome the problem that kept occurring we were all allocated tasks that we had to complete individually and the managers usually timed how long each person would take.  Therefore the managers wee able to see who exactly was delaying the team to complete the tasks allocated.

In organizations there are at least five types of conflict: structural, intrapersonal, interpersonal and intergroup and interorganizational. Structural conflicts take place because of cross-functional departmental differences over goals, rewards, and line and staff activities.

At Mark and Spencers’ one common conflict we used to face was the conflict between the food hall and shop floor where all the clothes were. We used to have customers who used to pay and return items of clothing as well as food on the shop floor for the clothes. Although this wasn’t the main issue, it was then the food hall responsibility to ensure that all the food that had been returned were in correct place at the right time. In the store I used to work in, the staff who were responsible for this never used to handle all the food stock on time which was irritating. On some days the staff that worked in the clothes section had to bring all the food stock to the food hall at the end of the day which was again time consuming.

Sources of Power

Legitimate power is an agreement among organizational members that people in certain roles can request certain behaviours of others.  Legitimate power depends on more than job descriptions it also depends on mutual agreement from those expected to abide by this authority.  An employee’s manager power to make them work overtime will partly depend on their agreement to this power.  An example of this is a supervisor subordinate relationship, where the supervisor (say in the military) is of a higher rank (legitimately more powerful). However, that supervisor in that same relationship may or may not have referent power, if the subordinate does not respect his authority. 

Reward power is derived from the person’s ability to control the allocation of reward valued by others and to remove negative sanctions for example negative reinforcement. Managers have formal authority that will give them the power to distribute rewards such as pay, promotions, time off all over the organisation. An example of reward power is when employees work hard for the reason that they know they are going to get paid. So they try and complete tasks to the best of their ability.

There are a variety of strategies in which organisations can use to overcome conflicts at work. Different organisations can look at different areas of a business to think of a way to reduce conflict within the work place.

For example organisations can design different types of objectives keeping the needs of the employees in mind as this will be beneficial for the employees. The first approach that a business can use to reduce conflict within the company is ensuring that all communication is done effectively for the reason that this is one of the reasons why conflicts arise within a business.  They can also provide suggestion boxes where employees can leave their suggestions on how to decrease conflicts in the business.

Another strategy a business can use is by having appraisal interviews, where managers are able to recognize their achievements and inform them where they may have been lacking

References

http://aliscot.com/ensenanza/1302/conflict.htm

Organizational Behavior and Change – Joseph W.Weiss

Mullins J, (2010) Management & Organisational Behaviour. 9^th ed. Essex: Laurie

Teamworking

A working group is a set of individuals who are aware of each other, interact with one another and have a sense that they are a group (Schein, 1988)
As part of my work experience with Field Fisher House, I completed various training courses ranging in subject areas from ways to work with employees and coaching them on how to improve, to creating my own individual development plan fostering my current and future growth. I took the initiative to plan and implement our big events. My internship with Field Fisher Houses made my experiences all inclusive as it gave me the opportunity to be one of the central components of such a large company and I was able to truly understand the impact of the political and legal systems on this industry's competitive environment.

Tuckman’s teamwork theory is one of the most well known out of all the theories regarding teamwork. It is known as a basis for effective team building and leadership.  Tuckman suggests that teams grow through clearly defined stages, from their creation as group of individuals, to consistent, task focused teams.  [www.the-happy-manager.com/teamwork-theory.html]

Tuckman's theory focuses on the way in which a team tackles a task from the initial formation of the team through to the completion of the project. Tuckman believes there are four stages in team development.

·         Forming

In this part of the stage of becoming a group, the team was assembled and each task was allocated. In the early stages the team members were behaving independently and although not all the team members knew each other well enough to unconditionally trust one another. In the beginning stage, most of our time was spent planning, collecting information and bonding.

·         Storming

As time went on the team started to address the task suggesting a range of different ideas. Some of the team members were competing for dominance with their ideas; fortunately this was managed well when it came to the team members putting their ideas across. If the team didn’t manage this properly this may have been destructive for the team. In some cases the relationships between the team members will be made or broken and may never recover. This happened in the group, when two members of the group had a disagreement about a minor problem. This led to these two individuals not communicating effectively which caused tension within the whole group. Tuckman said that some teams usually get stuck in the storming phase due to the team members not coming to any sort of agreement. This carries its own set of problems. It is essential that a team has strong facilitative leadership in this phase.

·         Norming

After the storming stage, the group entered the norming stage. In this stage, the team was harmonious and there were hardly any disagreements between the team members. The team members started to agree on the rules and values in which we operated.  The team as a whole started to trust each other and started to appreciate and accept each others contribution to the group. At this stage as I was the team leader I took a step back and allowed the other team members who wasn’t so confident to take more responsibility. The only problem we had at this stage is that the team became complacent and started to lose track of the initial aim of the assignment.

·         Performing

According to Tuckaman’s theory occasionally some teams are not able to reach this stage for the reason that all the other stages were not done effectively. At this stage despite all of the arguments the team was able to come together and hand in our piece of work.  All the ideas that were discussed were put into the work. In this stage the team had a certain amount of group maturity and started to get to get along with each other more.  [www.teambuilding.co.uk/Forming_Storming_Norming_Performing.html]

 According to the Times Top 100 companies to work for,Beaverbrooks scored well in all areas of employee engagement and particularly shined in their Giving Something Back and Fair Deal categories, ranking second overall in these two areas. Workers are happy with their pay and benefits (a 75% positive score), think the company is doing its bit for the local community (78%) and don't believe its support of worthy causes is driven by a desire for good publicity (75%, the highest score for this question).

The Lancashire-based firm's 782 staff is entitled on an annual basis to two days' charity work in office hours to do good deeds such as helping pensioners with their shopping and lending a hand at the local hospice. The company also donates 20% of pre-tax profits to charity and sponsors a 10-kilometre fun run in Blackpool as well as a bike ride which raised in excess of £100,000 every year for charitable organizations. The staff doesn’t just like working there; they love it and are proud of it, too, winning Beaverbrooks positive scores of 84% and 87% respectively.

Senior members of staff regularly visit the 66 stores and any employee can contact them by email or phone. There are celebration nights for top performing teams and last year the firm stumped up an average of £100 for each member of staff to have fun at party nights and meals out. Beaverbooks people say they have fun with their colleagues (86%) and feel a strong sense of family in their team (80%).

Benefits include a minimum of 25 days' holiday a year, a return to work bonus for new mums, dental insurance and life assurance.

Managing director Mark Adlestone gets a 90% score for staff having a great deal of faith in him and workers say there are plenty of opportunities to learn and grow, earning the firm a 72% positive result. Both are top scores

[http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/article7030215.ece]

According to the Times Top 100 companies to work for, I have decided to review Nandos and Beaverbrooks the Jewelers where it has been evident that teamwork has been identified as a major contributory factor to their success. I decided to review Nandos for the reason that from the article it is evident that the employees that have worked for Nandos have ranked it a good company to work for.  According to the article, Nandos achieved the 2^nd ranking for good leadership in the business. They also became 3^rd place in fair deal. The managers and the employees at  the workplace believe in each other which are the key motivator in the company. The employees at Nandos say they love working for the company and gave a positive score of 80% and agreed that there is a strong sense of family in the teams.

[http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/best_100_tables/]

The employees at Nandos say they love working for the company and gave a positive score of 80% and agreed that there is a strong sense of family in the team and believe that the managers care about all the employees well being.  The employees are able to communicate to their managers effectively and are able to put their views and opinions across.

Recruitment

 

A screenshot of the website

 Monster Worldwide is the parent company of Monster.com, the premier global online employment solution for people seeking jobs and the employers who need great people, tools and practices.  The website is really accessible. It shows you where you exactly need to click to browse for jobs, there is a lot of information that you can obtain. 





Along the side, you are able to narrow down your search to find what you are looking for much easier. This is beneficial for the reason that, it saves a lot of time for people to look for their jobs. It is also good for the reason that you are able to search for jobs in different sectors in a business. So it will only show what exact job your looking  for.

Online recruitment is now a standard part of the recruitment process for many companies and organizations.

Online recruitment, e-recruitment, or web based recruitment is the use of online technology or the internet to attract candidates and aid the recruitment process. For most recruiters this usually means using one's own company website, a third-party job site or job board, a CV database or search engine marketing as part of the recruitment process.

The advantages of online recruitment

Cost effective
Putting a job vacancy a company website doesn’t costs much while putting one on a job board usually only costs a couple of hundred pounds. When a business considers that a recruitment consultant fee for a candidate could be anything up to 20% of the first year's salary, and that advertising in a national newspaper can cost thousands, they can immediately see the cost savings possible with online recruitment.

 

·          Online recruitment is quick
A job vacancy can be put on a job site in the morning, the first applications arrive by lunchtime, and a candidate interviewed by the end of the day. Of course, it isn't always like this. It isn't even often like this. But the fact that such things do happen so quickly gives an indication of just how quick recruiting online can be.

Online recruitment gives you a better chance of success 

The success of a vacancy advertisement depends on people happening upon the ad on a particular page in a particular issue. Online recruitment is different. A job vacancy advertisement on a job board or website is there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for as long as a business desires. Candidates can come back to it again and again. From office administrator to Financial Director: they are all online.

  

Online recruitment gives you a bigger audience 

Many people new to online recruitment think that using job sites is only effective if you are looking for young net-savvy Facebook-type people. Research consistently shows that the average age of candidates using job sites is around 35 years old. And the trend is up. Online recruitment is now a standard part of most people's job hunting no matter what level or age.

  

Online recruitment is easy 

Posting a job on your own site is straightforward enough. Most job sites and CV databases are very user-friendly and you don't need to have an in-depth knowledge of IT to post a vacancy advertisement. Usually, all you need is your job description, a bit of time and a credit card. And, if you have any problems the job board sales team to help you. 

The disadvantages of online recruitment   

It won't always work 

Not every job vacancy you post can or will be filled online. There will always be difficult-to-fill jobs that can only be filled by recruitment consultants. However, most companies tend to hire for pretty standard job roles so this is seldom an issue. And with more and more job seekers choosing the internet to look for jobs, and more and more job sites and job boards specialising in ever more diverse areas, those difficult-to-fill jobs are becoming fewer and fewer

Online recruitment offers clear advantages over traditional recruitments methods. At the same time, however, one must be cognisant of the disadvantages inherent in online recruitment if only to avoid the pitfalls that they may produce.