Recruitment and Selection - Sales Management
Recruitment and Selection - Sales Management
Recruitment and Selection - Sales Management
Chapter
Introduction
Recruitment is the process of locating and attracting job applicants. Recruiting and selecting a new sales force is an important aspect of the sales managers job. The basic objective of sales force planning is to balance supply and demand. This requires consideration of a wide range of variables, including (1) Market conditions such as increased competition in the form of new goods and services (2) Economic conditions, such as increased inflation or economic growth (3) Demographic conditions (4) Technological developments.
Cont.
Comparison of
Recruitment Sources
There are five main sources of recruitment: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Advertisements From inside the companys own staff Recruitment agencies Educational institutes Competitors and other industries
Selection Procedure
Selection, as the name implies, involves picking and hiring a few people from the total number of candidates applying for the sales job.
Selection is done by comparing the requirements of a job with the applicants qualifications.
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Interview Job offer
Reference check
Psychological testing
Application scrutiny
Hiring profile
B.
1.
C.
Some amount of monitoring to ensure uniform approach or application of the standards in the performance system. 2. Employee right to review and comment. 3. Employee signature to signify reading of review but not necessarily agreement with any rating. 4. Employee right of appeal if the system is oriented toward that. 5. Whether the system is numerical and traditional, or collaborative, some means to ensure specific and mutually agreed-upon goals. 6. Some statistical evaluation for adverse impact. Practical considerations: 1. Make sure the appraisals are actually done. 2. Try to ensure that the written text in the appraisal matches any numerical rating. 3. Use some form of review process to help ensure against arbitrary decisions. 4. Try as best as possible to ensure honest and candid appraisals so that, to the extent that the appraisal is set up to do this, it distinguishes between high and low performers. Cont.
I
D.
Most truly effective performance appraisal systems are characterized by the fact that those administering the performance appraisals are well trained. Instead of offering simple instructions to performance raters, organizations that want the most from their appraisal process usually implement training programs to correct a rater's common mistakes. A list of common mistakes is as follows: 1. Halo effect rating employees excellent in many categories when they excel only in one. 2. Leniency/stringency very low or high ratings instead of finding any category in which the employee is average. 3. Contrast effect evaluation an individual in relation to other employees performance instead of on job requirements. 4. Similar-to-me effect rating employees favorably because they mirror the rater's self-image. 5. Central tendency error putting every employee's performance in the middle of the rating scale.
If the emphasis is on communication, matching expectations between supervisor and subordinate, and mutual goal setting, then a collaborative approach aimed at helping employees develop and become more effective is Cont. preferable.
I
C.
A system incorporating both traditional and collaborative approaches may be desirable, but such systems require sophistication and considerable attention to design. Employers should be wary, as noted, of imposing more goals on a performance appraisal system than it can be expected to accomplish.
D.
Whatever system is used, a good measure of success is how those appraised and compensated perceive the accuracy and fairness of the
compensation.
Cont.
Problems with forced ranking approaches 1. With respect to discrimination issues, because forced raking presents the possibility that a satisfactorily-performing employee may nonetheless be ranked at the bottom and discharged as a result, the employer must be prepared to present a thorough explanation of the program, including its emphasis on comparative rather than actual job performance, in order to avoid findings of pretext and/or discriminatory intent.
2.
3.
To avoid disparate or adverse impact claims, the employer must ensure against disproportionate effect on employees in protected categories.
Such systems do not impose honesty in performance evaluations more often they artificially deflate ratings. Because employee performance is rated in comparison with performance of other employees, it may have little to do with actual job performance. Cont.
I
4.
Even if all employees are performing well, some will be ranked at the bottom, which may punish those organization that have recruited and trained well, but weeded out poor performers.
At the senior or executive-level, a company may not be accepting of the proposition that a certain proportion of employees are unworthy of retention. If a forced ranking system is pushed too many levels down from senior and executive level positions, the tendency may be to impose the forced lower ranking on employees in positions which are less crucial, so that ranking becomes more dependent of job than quality of performance. Forced ranking systems provide little allowance for market factors some positions are difficult to fill because the labour market includes few persons with necessary skills. An employee in such a position may be marginal performer, but hard to replace, so that a discharge based on forced ranking be an unwanted result.
5. 6.
7.
substitutes for job experience so that trained sales personnel achieve high
job performance levels faster. The overall efficiency of a companys personal selling operation is influenced by the state of relations with customers and prospects. The sales force plays a crucial role in moulding and maintaining these relations. Contrasted with inexperienced sales personnel, experienced sales personnel maintain better continuing relations and make better impressions on prospects. Sales training contributes by accelerating the process of learning through experience.
Cont.
Aim of Training Building Sales Training Programmes Identifying Initial Training Needs Training on Market Place Training in Handling the Competition
Training on Communication
Training on Negotiating Training Methods