Case Scenario

Paradiz is a six-year-old company in Singapore with about 300 sales executives that

promote and sell various club and lifestyle memberships. It has a high turnover every

year with the majority from new hires whose two-year contracts are not renewed due

to poor performance. As Paradiz has a policy to pay market-rate compensation,

commission and benefits, the new HR director suspects the problem lies with the

recruitment and selection processes. No validation study has been conducted on the

selection system.

1. Job description of a sales executive:

a. Role and responsibilities:

i. To make cold calls, follow-up calls, attend events, and be deployed at

clubs and resorts to meet and engage with clients.

ii. To connect with clients and understand their lifestyle needs.

iii. To promote and sell club and lifestyle memberships that cater to clients'

needs.

iv. To promptly attend to queries and de-escalate complaints from clients.

v. To carry out the processing of sales and related admin work.

b. Requirements:

i. At least a Diploma or A-level certificate; a university degree is

preferred.

ii. Working experience in sales or customer service is preferred.

iii. Possess good communication and interpersonal skills.

iv. Willing to work overtime and shifts, including weekends and public

holidays.

2. An applicant must fill up an application form that asks for his/her name, gender, age,

photograph, educational qualification, work experience, criminal record (if any), and

contact details. Applicants are screened and prioritised for interview.

3. The interviewer panel is made up of a team manager, a senior sales executive, and a

HR specialist. The only instruction is to assess the candidates' (a) ability to speak and

communicate their thoughts well, (b) high energy level, (c) likeability, and (d)

willingness to work hard. Immediately after the interview, the interviewers discuss their

assessments to arrive at an overall score: (1) very weak, (2) weak, (3) average, (4) good,

and (5) very good. At the end of all the interviews, those who scored (5) and (4) are hired. If there are still vacancies, those who scored (3) with higher educational

qualification are considered.

4. The HR director analysed some data from the last two years (see results in the table

below).

Dimensions (1) Job applicants (2) Applicants (3) Applicants interviewed hired Numbers 280 140 70 Gender 66% female 85% female 85% female Average age 35 25 30 Degree holder 50% 70% 50% Note: There is no association between gender, age and educational level of the job applicants