Mercado’s HR strategy is: ‘to provide improved capability to become the best retail HR function and make Mercado a great place to work’. New HR processes were introduced in 2007 which meant that many of the functions involved in recruitment and selection were centralized in the ‘HR Shared Service Centre’.

Previously, there were issues with in-store recruitment processes because staff were dealing with a large number of CVs and application forms and this was time consuming and expensive. The number of applications at peak recruitment times, for example before Christmas, could be overwhelming, and this made them difficult to track on the old system. It was also recognized that the application screening process was not always robust, as department managers sometimes had to interview candidates who were not really suitable and this was not the best use of their time. Problems also existed in keeping up with the applicants’ references. Eddie Pitt, the Grocery Manager in the Fenwick store raised the subject regularly in the weekly meeting of department managers.

I am wasting so much of my time seeing people who just don’t have what it takes to work here. I am not a HR Manager and I’ve got bigger priorities than looking at application forms and preparing for interviews that turn out to be a waste of my time and theirs. Some of them have no common sense and no interest in working for the company. We need to get more colleagues who have a real desire to work with us and who are going to help our customers.

Now, applications are made online only and not on paper. This means that stores no longer accept or receive paper application forms and do not write advertisements to display in-store. Application forms are no longer scored manually. Offer letters and contracts are produced centrally.

For the company, this is an attempt to have a consistent recruitment brand and experience for applicants. It is hoped that ‘prospect pools’ for specialist and hard to recruit roles can be developed and thereby assist HR planning and induction training. The centralized system will also facilitate the production of management information, for example, recruitment reports and statistics.

The process begins with the store identifying the need to recruit; then it seeks authority to do this. The store then loads vacancy details onto the system, including interview slots and pay. Applicants browse the corporate web site then apply for a specific vacancy and do a test. The vacancy automatically closes when a predetermined number of applicants have been successfully screened. The system then forwards the applicant to HR shared services, who arrange interviews directly with the applicants and then confirm the details. Eddie Pitt likes the new system so far, but it has taken a bit of time for him to learn how to put his vacancies on the website. ‘I am more confident now that I have put three vacancies on. I had help and coaching from the store HR manager at first, but I did the last one by myself.’

From the store’s perspective, it holds interviews at agreed times and returns notes to shared services, though the store ranks applicants and makes the decision.

Eddie’s colleague, the Bakery Manager, Jenny Jackson, was a bit unsure about setting aside interview times on a computer system. Her experience of her first interview arrangements has been positive.

I was a bit cynical about how it would work when you are dealing with people a couple of hundred miles away. I thought I would prefer to keep the old system. The applicants turned up for my interviews and seemed to know a bit about the job and the company. I had to plan my time to fit in the interview but it was worth it. It is hard to find qualified bakers, so if this is going to help get people more quickly, then it will be a good thing.

HR Shared Services makes a verbal offer, then sends out a contract and invitation to induction. It also sends for references when necessary. It means that department managers have to ensure that their department has the right skills and should plan ahead with vacancy requirements. They are also responsible for making sure that interviews take place at the planned time. An additional function for stores is that they can contact a ‘prospect pool’, or those applicants who have expressed a desire to work in specific skilled roles, like bakery, then advise them to apply online.

They can also identify applicants with the ‘on hold’ status who were successful but who were not offered a role. Stores can contact them and arrange a meeting to discuss a new vacancy. Jenny Jackson offered a job to a baker who was ‘on hold’ because he was second choice at the Paisley store. This saved me so much time. I was able to get an offer made and start the new baker within a week. Peter was well impressed by how quickly we got him started – he decided to come to us and turn down another job that he has been waiting to hear from for three weeks. A key objective is to improve the applicant’s experience. The applicant browses the site for suitable opportunities.

Those wishing to apply then create a user account. If there are no suitable vacancies, they can register interest in certain roles. In order to comply with the Equality Act, applicants with special needs are referred directly from the website to Shared Services for assistance with their application.

Applicants normally apply online for vacancies and enter their details. They then complete a job-specific screening test online. If successful, they are contacted by Shared Services to arrange an interview, then attend the interview.

The challenges of implementing this change to existing practice from the store’s perspective have been about communicating the change to all relevant staff (including customer service staff, who can provide some information to applicants in-store), training people who are directly involved in the process on the new system, and providing ongoing coaching support. Jean is a Customer Service Adviser. In the past, she kept a supply of application forms at the desk, but now she has to refer all those who enquire to the company website.

At first, I felt that I could not really help people asking about jobs, but the briefing I was at in the store explained the new system to me. I now understand what they have to do and I know where to get more help advice for them if they need it.

This e-recruitment strategy is being monitored closely to determine its effectiveness from the point of view of the organization. Measures are being taken of, for instance, the number of candidates registered, calls received and average call handling time at the Shared Service Centre, offers made, percentage of references processed, and average time taken to fill a vacancy from advert to verbal offer.

While the experiences in one branch have been positive, the pilot study in another small store has highlighted some issues. There are only five user names and passwords allocated to staff and this means that not all managers can be authorized to use the system. Inevitably, there are problems of uploading vacancies, arranging interviews and making appointments.

It is too early to assess the impact on candidates, but there have been some success stories like Peter. Managers are still adapting to the new approach. Eddie Jackson is keeping an open mind, but his experience so far is that the system is ‘letting me concentrate on managing the people I have already – and spending less time on interviewing people who don’t want to be part of Mercado’

Question

1 What do you think were the main drivers for the company to develop its e-recruitment strategy?
2 Is e-recruitment appropriate for all types of vacancies in a retail store?
3 What are the advantages of this approach?
4 What are the disadvantages?
5 Which other methods would you suggest?
6 How would you design a research project to evaluate the effectiveness of this example of e-recruitment from the point of view of the applicant?
7 To what extent has this new strategy ‘improved capability to become the best retail HR function. . . and make Mercado a great place to work’?
8 The head of HR shared services has also suggested screening applicants through looking at their pages on social networking sites (where applicants have these). If you were a manager in Mercado would you recommend taking up this suggestion? What are the reasons for your decision?