recruitment and selection -sales management
TRANSCRIPT
Basics of Sales Management I
Chapter
4Recruitment and Selection
Dr. Fatima & Ms Nivedita
STC Gurgaon
Basics of Sales Management I
Cont….
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
manager’s 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.
Basics of Sales Management I
Variables Which Influence the Forecasting of Sales Force Requirements
Internal and External Sources
Market conditionsEconomic status Demographic conditions
Operational plan Technological
development
External Sources Analysis of sources
such as Competitors
Other industry sources Universities Colleges
Employment agencies Terminations
Internal Sources Analysis of current
workforce Abilities Skills Talents Promotions Transfers
Forecast of sales force needed
Numbers Work experience
Abilities
Comparison of
Forecast of External Supply of Sales Forces Numbers Work experience
Abilities
Forecast of Internal Supply of Sales Forces Numbers Work experience
Abilities
Reconciliation of any differences
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Preparing The Job Description And Specification
The sales manager should prepare the job description before recruiting the sales
force. The following factors should be included in any job description:
a. Title of the job
b. Duties and responsibilities
c. Reporting methods
d. Technical requirements
e. Territory to be covered
f. Degree of autonomy
Basics of Sales Management I
Jobber and Miller have described certain important qualities of salespeople.
Important Qualities
of Salespeople
Communication Skills Personality
Determination
Intelligence
Motivation/Self-motivationProduct Knowledge
Educational Background
Confidence
Appearance Resilience and tenacity Business Sense
Intergrity
Ambition
Acceptability/likeability Empathy
Initiative
Self-discipline Experience
Adaptability
Persuasiveness
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Basics of Sales Management I
Recruitment Sources
There are five main sources of recruitment:
1. Advertisements
2. From inside — the company’s own staff
3. Recruitment agencies
4. Educational institutes
5. Competitors and other industries
Basics of Sales Management I
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 applicant’s qualifications.
The following are
some common steps in any selection process: Job offer
Physical examination
Reference check
Psychological testing
Interview
Application scrutiny
Hiring profile1
2
3
4
5
6
7
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Legally Workable Performance AppraisalsA. A focus with respect to performance appraisal is the involvement of subjective judgments. In general, the courts have shown tolerance for subjectivity and performance appraisals, particularly when the positions involved are "upper level" jobs involving skills, attributes and abilities arguably not susceptible or at least less susceptible to objective measurement.B. Elements of a Successful Performance Appraisal System:
1. Clear instructions and training for performance raters.2. Performance-rater familiarity with the nature and importance of job duties on which employee is being rated and with the employee's actual performance.3. Use of an appraisal system that is as job-related and understandable as
possible.4. Precautions against improper bias by performance raters.5. Some additional level of review and signature beyond the performance
rater.
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1. 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.
C. 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.
Basics of Sales Management 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.
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Some Management ConsiderationsA. As noted, a major issue with performance appraisal systems is defining the goals of the system and matching goals with the right tools and techniques.
1. An emphasis on selection of employees for promotion or training and\or granting of compensation increases favors a traditional, quantitative appraisal with unilateral goal-setting by management.
a. Managers may be more comfortable with numerical or scale rankings.
b. Quantitative measures sometimes are easier to defend against legal challenges than qualitative appraisals.
B. 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 preferable.
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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 program.
A program that is seen as fair an personalized, regardless of sophistication, will
likely be motivational. A good first step in deciding whether changes are
needed in a performance appraisal system may be a survey of management and
employee attitudes about appraisal practices and compensation.
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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. To avoid disparate or adverse impact claims, the employer must ensure
against disproportionate effect on employees in protected categories.
3. 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.
Basics of Sales Management 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
Basics of Sales Management I
Cont….
Sales Force Training
The purpose of sales training is to achieve improved job performance. In the
absence of training, job performance improves with experience. Training
substitutes for job experience so that trained sales personnel achieve high
job performance levels faster.
The overall efficiency of a company’s 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.
Basics of Sales Management I
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