Task 2

Tesco Letnany provides a great shopping experience to the city dwellers. Families spend their time together while shopping in Tesco, eat meals in the nearby malls, and children enjoy play areas allocated by the malls and supermarkets. In the Tesco Letnany outlet, customers get specially crafted patisseries, handmade flower baskets, fashion clothing, and advice sessions on using technology products. Also, Letnany has a legacy of history and heritage that gives the town a unique position on the Czech map. To improve its services, the Tesco Letnany has decided to appoint a Store Manager. The following is an account of the preparation for selecting the store’s manager. 

Preparing for the Job Interview of Stores Manager at Tesco

The interview is a serious process in the human resource management process. The decision in the job interview has a far-reaching effect on the organizations (Chandor, Hargie & Crute 2017). Preparation for an interview is inevitable and a systematic approach to interviews is an important selection tool. The purpose of interviewing candidates for the job of Store Manager is to determine the suitability of the candidate for the job, assess the character and interpersonal communication skills, and gather clues that would predict the candidate can do the job. The preparation made to interview the candidates is described below.

Review of the job description is completed:  ‘Job descriptions are an important source of information about the responsibilities and roles of a job. The interviewers need to understand the job requirements clearly. Based on the job description the interviewers can plan their probing questions.

Sufficient time is allocated for the interview: Specific time and location is decided for the interview and the schedules are sent to the candidates so that they can attend the interview without wasting their time waiting. The contact numbers and call letters are sent to the candidates to identify themselves and present for the interview.  Being organized and applying time management projects a positive image of the organization. 

Resumes are read:  Each resume is carefully reviewed and the important points in the resume are marked for probing during the interview. The resume gives a tentative picture of a job candidate and the interviewers can quickly move into vital aspects of the candidate rather than spend time exploring the candidate’s background 

Specific questions are written down: Based on the review of the job description, person specification and resumes received, the interviewers may write down the questions to be asked to the candidates. Every question must have a purpose and should lead to the decision about determining the suitability of the candidate.

Taking part in the Interview process

The preparation for interviewing the candidates for the job of store manager has equipped us with imagery of the candidates, a set of questions to be asked, and the purpose of a job interview.  Interviews are a dynamic process and the interviewers must be highly observant during the interview and must conduct the interview in a non-intimidating manner. There are some important points to be remembered while doing an interview. Some of the important disciplines followed during the interview are described below. 

Just before the Interview

Make the Candidates relax: For some candidates, Interviewing can be stressful, and it is not the purpose of the interview to challenge the candidates. Receive the candidates with warmth, greeting, and a smile. Make sure the candidates are relaxed and ask casual questions, to begin with. Do not judge the candidates based on their first impressions, it is difficult to know a person from first impressions. Many high performers do not give great impressions first, they just perform.  The interview is to identify the great performing candidates; not great looking candidates.

 During the Interview

It is not necessary that an interview must begin with questions. The interviewers may tell something about the job and something relevant to the candidates. This information can help the candidates to orient their answers and give authentic responses.  The interviewers may improvise their questions if some questions are not effective in gathering the required information. Build the questions based on the responses given by the candidate. An interview must not appear like a quizzing session.   

Listening is the key to interviewing. Allow the candidates to talk more and the interviewers must listen more (Marquart2016). Talk only if it is needed. The general rule followed by experienced interviewers is that 80 percent of the time during an interview the candidate must talk. The interviewers need to take notes because it is difficult to remember the points after the interview is over. Without interrupting the flow of the interview, the interviewers must take down notes about the candidates.

When the interview is nearing its end, the interviewers may invite candidates to ask questions. The candidates’ questions provide clues to their orientations and can give several information about the candidates that were not covered in the interview questions. All interviews must be within the regulations set by the legal authorities. For example, it is not permissible to ask “when are you going to have children?” It is always safe to ask questions related to the job only and avoid questions that are too personal. The interviewers must discuss the legality of the questions before they are included in their list. 

A resume cannot give a complete picture of a person. Only through interviews, the intangible aspects of a candidate can be known. Interviews provide an opportunity to assess a candidate in behavioral terms (Ryan&Ployhart2014). 

After the Interview

When an interview come to a close let the candidates know when they will know about the decision and keep the promises. Communicate the decision to the candidates who attended the interview promptly. If a candidate is not suitable for the job, communicate it and end the interview on a positive note.  

After the completion of the interviews, discuss among the interviewers about their observations about the candidates, compare the notes and reach a decision. Each interviewer must provide evidence and observation to back up their conclusion, and if any viewpoint cannot be substantiated it must be discarded. At the end of an interview, the interviewers need to create a positive image of the organization. The interview process is a reflection of the values practiced by a company and all interviewees must be dealt with respect and dignity. 

Evaluation of Interview process

The preparation for the interview of the candidates for the job of Stores manager at Tesco was completed at least fifteen days before the scheduled interview. Soon after the preparations were completed, the call letters for the interview were sent to the candidates. About ninety percent of the candidates confirmed their participation. The secretary assisting the interviewers called the confirmed candidates and reminded them about the schedule of the interview. Hundred percent of the candidates who confirmed their participation arrived at the interview location before the allocated time. This indicates that candidates are considering a career in Tesco as valuable and the candidates are motivated to take up the job (Walsh 2015). The receptionist reported to the interviewers that some of the candidates have visited the Tesco outlets and researched the job and the functioning of the Stores. She gathered this information when she overheard the conversations among the candidates.      

All candidates who reported for the interview presented their call letters and proof of identity to the receptionist. Most of the candidates were in their late thirties and had several years of experience in Stores management. The candidates who attended the interview were relaxed and responded to the questions of the interviewers with maturity.  The candidates who attended the interview were capable managers and it was a challenge for the interviewers to select the most suitable candidate. On the question related to the qualities of a store manager, one of the candidates replied that a Store Manager needs stamina all day as they are likely to be on their feet during the job. Second, critical skills of planning and organizing the daily activities in the store are important for a Store’s manager. . Third, the ability to drive the staff to perform with time management is another important skill. Finally, quick decision-making and cost control are important for a store manager, as the stock of the company is the major capital of the organization.  When interviewers asked the candidate, you know for sure the skills needed for a store’s manager; how you can substantiate you have these skills. The candidate replied that day in and day out he is doing the job and every minute he has to make the decisions. Another candidate gave a solution to the problems faced by Tesco in inventory control. Every candidate who attended the interview has something unique to contribute to the organization. But selecting the most suitable one was challenging. 

The interviewers reviewed the job description and the person specification many times as they are not able to decide on the most suitable candidate. The value of the recruitment documents became evident in the current situation. At last, one of the interviewers was able to identify a candidate based on the responses he made to the interview questions. He was able to offer a solution to reduce the cycle time of products needed at Tesco outlets. It exactly matched the current requirements of the organization. 

The interviewers handed over their decision to the HR managers along with the report of other candidates. It is the responsibility of the HR division to take further action. The experience of attending the interview session was a thrilling and memorable one. 

Evaluation of experience in planning and participating in the recruitment and selection process

Participating in a recruitment and selection process is a valuable one for those who are planning a career in HR management (Nobrega2014). The importance of manpower planning, job evaluation, organizational structure, design, etc. was highlighted. The job of creating a recruitment ad is very challenging as it requires creativity and imagination to appeal to the candidates. As the medium of announcement changes the content and style of recruitment ad also changes. Cost control and budgeting are important parts of recruitment. 

Writing job descriptions and person specification is a critical activity in recruitment and selection. It is these two vital documents that determine the success of acquiring human resources. Without these two documents, recruitment and selection of candidates cannot be completed. The information for the job description and person specification comes from the job analysis report and the organizational design of the company.

Reading and analyzing the resumes of different candidates is another interesting activity that helped in the selection process. Though resumes are not the final determiner of the selection of candidates, it gives much information about the prospective candidates. An unprepared panel of interviewers can land the selection process into trouble. Developing questions for interviews are based on the job description, person specification and the resumes received. Several questions were made and the panel discussed the suitability of each question. The criteria used to select questions were based on the job description, person specification, the purpose of the job, and the situation at Tesco, the general trend of the resumes, the legality of the questions, and the utility of the question in determining the candidate. 

The interview process is very critical and vital as it decides the organizational success in the future. Mistakes made in selection can have far-reaching consequences. The interview process was very exciting as the candidates who attended the interview were smart and capable. One of the interviewers was able to break the impasse with his observation and suggestion. The recruitment and selection process for the job of Stores Manager at Tesco was successful i.e. the organization can acquire a competent employee.  

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