CHAPTER 12: MANAGING WORKFORCE FLOW Chern's asks you to develop an onboarding and socialization strategy for its newly hired sales associates. Using Table 12-1 as a guide, write a report recommending ap- propriate onboarding and socialization strategies, and explain why you are making each recommendation. Chern's recently completed a turnover analysis for sales associates at different performance levels and found that functional turnover begins at a performance level that currently covers the lowest-performing 15 percent of its sales associates. It also dis- covered that the top-performing 10 percent of its sales associates are responsible for 20 percent of the company's sales. Unfortunately, the turnover rate of its top performers is almost twice the turnover rate of its low performers. Ann and Ryan ask you to develop a retention plan for the company's top performers. Because they have developed good relationships with customers, sales associates who have been with the store more than 18 months tend to be the highest performers. Recall that in their exit interviews many sales associates who resigned say they are leaving Chern's because they believed they lacked promotional opportunities. Quite a few other top performers would have liked to continue working for Chern's but could not adequately balance their school and family demands because their work hours as sales associates were fixed. The third most common reason top performers gave for leaving Chern's was the lack of training and development opportunities. The company recently conducted an employee engagement survey, which reinforced the fact that employees found these three issues the most pressing. However, the company's sales associates also reported being satisfied with their pay and benefits and very satisfied with the company culture and the support they receive from their department managers.Chern's has been growing steadily, but its conservative financial goals also create a need to be prepared for unexpected changes in its environment. Chern's believes that the economy is likely to stay strong, fueling its expansion strategy. However, the company wants to be prepared in the event that the economy cools and the demand for its products declines. Although Chern's tries to protect its employees, it recognizes that in the event of an economic downturn, it will need to downsize its sales force to control costs. Chern's asks you to recommend a downsizing strategy if it needs to quickly reduce its number of sales associates by 15 percent. Assignment a. Write a report recommending appropriate onboarding and socialization strategies for new Chern's sales associates and explain why you are making each recommendation. b. Develop a retention plan for the company's top performing sales associates. c. Identify a downsizing strategy to reduce the number of sales associates by 15 percent