Why two out of five salesperson have resigned within six months of joining the company/” asked marketing director to the sales manager, Sunil Kumar of Swish flow Ltd. “I think, there is something wrong with our staffing process, “responded Sunil Kumar, without knowing the real reasons for the turnover of sales people. Swish flow Ltd started manufacturing and marketing consumer durables like fans and water purifiers for household consumers commercial firms in 1993. The sales and marketing office was located in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India. Swish flow was a newly established company and for its first year of operations, the company decided to recruit five salesperson to cover major metros and cities of Maharashtra. The staffing process included the sales manager deciding the job qualifications salespersons based on what he learnt in the MBA programme. The administration manger was asked to place the advertisement in the local newspapers. The resumes of applicants were forwarded to Sunil Kumar, who screened the same and sent interview calls to about ten applicants. The interviews were conducted by Sunil Kumar and the marketing director and the selected candidates were given the appointment letters. Some of the candidates had a problem of finding suitable residence, but the company policy did not provide any consideration for he3 same. Sunil Kumar conducted one-week training programme and generally guided the new salesperson, who reported to him directly. There was a delay in the receipt of the fans from the factory, located at Baroda in Gujarat. During this period of three months, Sunil Kumar was asked to conduct market surveys and look after advertising function of the entire group. He asked the salespersons to collect market information on various other products like water purifiers, power tillers, and so on in which the group was interested to diversify. During this period, two salespersons suddenly stopped coming to work, after collecting their salaries of the previous working month.

(1) What improvements do you suggest in the staffing process followed by the company?

(2) Was Sunil Kumar right in getting market surveys done by the new salesperson?