The Porch Gift Shop Strategic Human Resource Plan Jessica Akers Bus 261

Transcription

1 The Porch Gift Shop Strategic Human Resource Plan Jessica Akers Bus Page

2 Organization and Strategy The Porch Gift Shop is a new business that has begun as a family owned organization. We strive to improve our guests lives through providing quality products, superior guest service and focusing on developing lasting relationships with guests. Our specializations include Department 56 merchandise, being Snowbabies, Seraphim Angel Series, Caroler Series, Village Collections and our signature cupcake series. Other merchandise found at The Porch Gift Shop retailers range from gifts, greeting cards, distinct collector items, locally produced merchandise and home décor. The Porch Gift Shop can be found in smaller rural communities found in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. With small businesses such as The Porch, one will notice that the largest key to success is to provide high levels of superior customer service. Each store has a limited number of employees, between 8-15 depending on the season. Also noted in the gift industry, our largest competitor would be considered Hallmark, Inc., which has been in business for approximately 100 years. The Porch Gift Shop's overall purpose and goal for success stem from our services provided. The Porch Gift Shop's strategy for growth and success is to provide quality merchandise and superior customer service; and, in order to succeed, The Porch Gift Shop must follow a carefully laid out plan which includes recruiting employees, selling quality merchandise, providing our standards of customer services, and producing profits. Along with following our strategy that we believe will help The Porch Gift Shop to succeed, we have several plans that must be implemented, such as our Strategic Human Resource Plan. Staffing Given the type of industry, helping to grow a large customer base is an important key to success. As we are trying to reach our to our local community, seeing that we are not an web-selling industry, we must employee those who have positive reputations from within the local community. Our employees are the key to the success and to establishing a strong connection with our customer base; 2 Page

3 therefore, hiring employees is a very selective process and considered one of our most important processes. When seeking those to hire at The Porch Gift Shop, there are several avenues that may be pursued. Seeing that we are seeking an employee base that is working for the enjoyment of the atmosphere and interaction with customers, instead of the revenue, our employees will be different than those high sought after in the corporate worlds. We are also pursuing employees with positive attitudes and outgoing personalities. Places that we might recruit for employees include: community organizations, adult and teen Bible study groups, adult volunteer organizations, retirees, and frequent guests at The Porch Gift Shop. While there will be times that we are hiring, we strive for low employee turnover rates. We will not seek employees through media outlets, but more so through word of mouth. Our largest time we will have to hire employees will be during our seasonal sales period. These employees will be parttime and seasonal in the aspect that they will only be with us for a short period of time. If we see outstanding employees during our seasonal sales period, we might create positions to allow for these employees to remain with our business. The hiring process is a basic process in that we only require an application and three references. All references will be contacted in regards to this person before having an interview. Interviews will be conducted with the regional manager, store manager, and top senior employees within that store. As there is only one manager and two assistant managers per location, the majority of our employees will be basic level employees; however, their benefits and packages make them nothing basic in any since. A basic level employee is expected to inform management of their availability. As we are a more free-flowing organization, we ask employees to schedule themselves for their 40 hour work week if they are full-time and 20 hour work week if they are part-time. All locations must have 2 employees in store at all times, and during seasonal periods must have 5 employees on the floor at all 3 Page

4 times. Employees will be trained in: gift wrapping, customer service, creating customer wish-lists, inventory monitoring, event management, and sales promotions. Employees are expected to maintain a good working relationship with all fellow employees, arrive promptly for their work hours, and are allowed one lunch period of one hour. Talent Management All employees hired at The Porch Gift Shop must posses qualities that allow them to be effective within the organization. It will be vital to find and hire employees that carry the levels of talent needed to help The Porch Gift Shop grow to the business that which we are pursuing. Focusing on building a strong employee base that believe in our purpose, and will strive to see the business thrive, is another key point necessary when considering talent management at The Porch Gift Shop. Seeing that The Porch Gift Shop is a growing business, employees must have the talent of creativity to help with realization of ideas. As we continue to grow, we must continue to develop ideas to help with name recognition within the local community. Employees must be creative and take initiative to implement new ideas to help increase their customer base as well. Also, employees at The Porch Gift Shop must be passionate, charismatic, outgoing, personable, and willing to learn new skill sets quickly. Recruiting employees that are passionate about the experience that one would have at The Porch Gift Shop is the most vital part of the employee Talent Management. After hiring employees who are passionate about the ideology of The Porch Gift Shop, our Talent Management focuses on how to train and motivate our employees. Motivating our employees will come from several outlets. Employees are encouraged to speak with management at any time, as we hold an open door policy. They are also encouraged to be creative and inform management of new ideas they feel will be useful to The Porch Gift Shop; and, some of these ideas will be implemented by management in an effort to explore new outlets. Also, employees will receive benefits and performance based incentives that are helpful to 4 Page

5 motivate employees to make sales and build customer relationships. Benefits at The Porch Gift Shop include paid holidays, sick and family leave. Also, in-store discounts are considered benefits of working within our business. Performance based incentives include: commissions off of sales, higher levels of bonuses based on sales during peak seasons, and higher discount rates based off of performance per month. These benefits and incentives lead to retaining employees at The Porch Gift Shop and help to reduce employee turnover rates. As employees are receiving benefits and being monitored for performance based pay, we will take note of key employees and help to train them up for future management positions. Promotions will take place when availability allows for it to occur, and seniority and productivity will be key components when considering employees for promotions. Orientation and Benefits As The Porch Gift Shop is a smaller run business, our orientation is on a very small spectrum. While larger organizations might have week long orientations, our orientation consists of a minimum of three days. Orientation will be structured by the store manager, and will consist of shadowing the manager, assistant manager and senior employees. Upon employees being hired at The Porch Gift Shop, they will report for two work weeks under a schedule written out by management; unlike other employees who are allowed to create their own schedules. Employees will spend one day with management learning the processes of The Porch Gift Shop, communication and sales plans, and functions that which management feels they need to be familiar with. Also, while training with management, they will learn of the benefits, pay and incentives of working for our company. New employees will spend no less then two days working with top sales employees, or senior employees, learning everyday functions of The Porch Gift Shop. Functions that will be covered include sales, register management, inventory processes, ordering processes, and customer services. 5 Page

6 Customer services will take the majority of training that should last at least one day. While training with management and employees, new employees will meet their fellow coworkers and should feel more of a sense of teamwork. Job Analysis There are three key employees at The Porch Gift Shop, being Store Manager, Assistant Manager, and sales associate. Each position holds different job duties, though some are overlapping within each area. Employees are considered for promotions from within the organization before seeking employees from outside of the organization to fill open upper-level positions. Other positions found at The Porch Gift Shop include President, which is the owner, and Regional Managers. As there are four regional managers, their position serves also as a board that which reports to the President and also helps with decisions for the business. Store managers are positions held for employees who have served with The Porch Gift Shop for longer periods of time, but also have proven leadership abilities, talent for advertising, and accounting skills. In the start-up phase of the business, store managers will be selected from those who have experience in a field similar to The Porch Gift Shop. As store managers begin to move on to new phases of their lives, we will hire from within the organization for these positions. As a store manager, one is expected to monitor employees hours, maintain the stores financial books, monitor all orders placed, and are in charge of accounts payable and receivable. Mangers are also expected to take charge of the hiring and firing process, employee procedures, and all employee concerns. Lastly, managers are to implement new programs for customers and be creative sounding boards for ideas. Reporting to store managers, assistant managers will carry a bulk of the responsibilities of the store. Assistant managers are included in the hiring process, training process, and monitoring employees. They are to relay any information about employee concerns or suggestions to the store manager. Also, assistant managers act as key holders to the store and may open or close the store 6 Page

7 without the store manager present. This allows for the three management positions to rotate hours or take vacations as needed without putting too much burden on sales associates for over seeing store functions. Also, assistant managers are expected to monitor inventory reports, make suggestions of new product lines to purchase, items to discontinue, or place orders when necessary. Assistant managers are to act as the direct supervisor for sales associates and to handle any customer complaints or grievances. Lastly, sales associates are the most vital positions within The Porch Gift Shop. Sales associates are the front lines to the customers. They are considered The Porch Gift Shop, as customers will relate directly to the sales associate and establish a relationship with them. Their job duties include mundane tasks to complicated ones, and each is vital for the success of the business. They are expected to be the best in their profession when it comes to providing that individualized attention and superior customer service. They are to be well versed when it comes to merchandise offered at The Porch Gift Shop, have skills in inventory count, knowledge of some product ordering, and will be encouraged to be creative within their position at all times. Allowing employees to learn functions that management carries out daily will help to not only cross-train employees, but allow for them to have the knowledge that advancement is a goal within our organization. Performance Appraisal Considering that The Porch Gift Shop is a sales based company, providing superior customer service is a key to all job descriptions. Employees who excel at providing this customer service will not only have larger customer loyalty bases, but will in turn see more benefits. Customers opinions of employees will be a major part of assessing employee performance. As all levels of in-store management will work with customers, each person working in store will be evaluated by customers. Customers will be encouraged to participate in online surveys and provide in-store feedback. All feedback will be considered by management when evaluating 7 Page

8 employees for yearly raises. With customer evaluations, management evaluations will be considered for each employee as well. When evaluating store managers to regional managers, fellow employee feedback will be considered. If there have been praises or complaints documented throughout the year, those processing the evaluations will consider these. Like other employees, regional managers will be considered for yearly raises based on performance evaluations; however, regional managers, unlike other employees, do not receive certain performance based incentives, so their evaluation process will be more in-depth as this is to determine their only monetary increase available. Though raises are only evaluated yearly, all employees will be monitored and reported to frequently on any praises, complaints, or suggestions necessary for their position. Management may meet with employees as often as they deem necessary to help the employee succeed in their position; in turn, this will help encourage employees to sharpen their skills and increase their chances of bonuses and performance based pay incentives. Performance based pay will not only be based on sales produced, but any year end bonuses will rely upon performance documentation provided from that year. Compensation and Variable Pay As we at The Porch Gift Shop strive to be the best in our profession, we plan our employees accordingly to what sales we would like to see. Employees will be paid a competitive rate, not to be the lowest paid in their profession; however, considering the size of our organization, employees will not be paid the maximize amount that is found for this profession. Employees may expect to be paid a wage that matches, if not slightly exceeds, that found at our competitors. In the building phases of The Porch Gift Shop, employees will be paid wages that are similar to competitors and should not expect to make more than they could with competitors, as our benefits are greater than they will find at other businesses within the profession. 8 Page

9 As regional managers are not involved with sales directly, they will be paid a flat salary. They may also receive a yearly salary if deemed fit by the President and a year end bonus if their performance and leadership warrants. Store managers, similar to regional managers, are not involved with customers sales; thus, allowing assistant managers and sales associates the opportunity to receive compensation pay for sales. As store managers are paid hourly wages, they are also given performance based incentives based on the total sales of the store per month. By doing so, store managers are more likely to encourage their employees to excel in sales, which will benefit the lower level employees and the store manager themselves. Assistant managers and sales associates are to receive performance based incentives. As they are hourly wage employees, these incentives will be more vital to these employees; and, these incentives are meant to help motivate and retain employees. Assistant managers and sales associates receive the same commission rate throughout the entire year. By doing so, the common commission rate is helping to encourage employees to work harder to make sales in the off-seasons and increase revenues during these seasons to increase their pay; while, during peak seasons employees do not have to strive as hard to make sales as they will come more easily. Yet, those employees that strive hard continually will receive the most pay throughout the entire year. All commission is based off of each persons individual sales for the month. Training and Development As discussed in Orientation and Benefits, training at The Porch Gift Shop falls in line with orientation. As we are a smaller business, we do not have the benefit of sending new employees to orientations, but instead rely upon training and development to help serve our employees. Training new employees is done by those higher up within the organization. When training an employee for a new position, such as a promotion, they are to be trained by their direct line supervisor. As previously discussed, shadowing employees within your store will be the most beneficial 9 Page

10 way to train an employee. Employees are to work with their direct supervisor and fellow experienced employees to learn the skills necessary for success in their position. Employees will follow a training schedule designed by their supervisor, which will last at least three days, depending upon the position. When upper management is hired, they are to shadow someone that is within their same position until the person in charge of their training, being the person they are shadowing, feels they are ready to begin working on their own. The only employees that we at The Porch Gift Shop wish to hire from outside the organization are sales associates. As positions become available, we will go through a process to review which employees are eligible for promotion and offer the position to those we deem fit to move up. This process will continue for all positions, except that of the President, as the President is the owner of The Porch Gift Shop. Compliance and Dispute Resolution The Porch Gift Shop is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate against anyone based on age, race, gender, sexual preference, nationality, or disabilities. We believe that in order to provide the best customer service, we are to serve the community and provide job opportunities to those who believe in the mission of The Porch Gift Shop to the best of our abilities. We have an open door policy, where we encourage employees to come to their direct supervisor with any concerns, complaints, or recommendations at any time. If the employees does not feel comfortable speaking with their direct supervisor, they are encouraged to speak with the supervisor above their direct report. Employees are encouraged to first resolve disputes, within reason, by seeking an audience with those they need to resolve the dispute with. If there is a failure to correct the situation, they are again encouraged to speak with their direct supervisor or those above them. If employees feel that they have a concern, complaint, or suggestion that they feel is not taken as seriously as they believe it should be considered, they are encouraged to set up an appointment with 10 Page

11 the President or submit a written notification to the President; at which time, the President will begin to research said concern within 72 hours, in hopes that resolutions occur within a short period of time from notification. All management positions are to have open door policies, allowing employees to know that they are our primary concern and are always welcome to speak with us at any time. If concerns, complaints, or recommendations are of legal proportions, these matters are to be dealt with swiftly by the President. The Porch Gift Shop is a zero-tolerance employer. All matters, including sexual harassment or discrimination, are to be dealt with by the President. If during investigation there is proof of evidence leading to the determination that there was a violation, such as sexual harassment or discrimination, employees positions will be eliminated immediately and legal action will take place. If the proof of evidence is found that there were no such violations, the accusing employee will be placed on a six month probation at another location where they must correct their actions. If the proof of evidence does not lead to a solid conclusion, the two parties are to be separated; therefore, keeping the accusing party at their primary location and moving the accused to another location where they will be monitored for six months. Evaluation and Scorecard The Porch Gift Shop will strive to continually improve all Human Resource functions, as they will need to be continually changed with the organization. Our primary functions of Human Resources is to provide quality staff, in-depth training, and impeccable compensation and benefits. Measuring the means of these goals is to be done through several outlets. Below these goals and measures are outlined in our Balanced Scorecard. 11 Page

12 Goals Hire staff from local community that fits with the style of The Porch Gift Shop and believes in the mission. Provide quality training to help enhance existing talents and build upon those talents. Advancement within organization. Benefits and compensation of employees is to always remain slightly higher than those of competitors. Continually receive excellent marks from employees on: management personnel, training, and employee benefits. Measures Through evaluations of employees done by customers and management, we will know if quality employees are being hired. Evaluations monitored bi-monthly. Through evaluations of employees skill-building, willingness to learn new skills and improvement on said skills. Evaluations monitored bi-monthly. Through monitoring cross-training of employees to help build their abilities and assessing the number of employees being advanced within the organization. Evaluated yearly. Through analysis of what competitors are providing employees. Through monitoring employee satisfaction with benefits via verbal evaluations and surveys. Evaluated quarterly. Through anonymous surveys from all employees evaluating several aspects of the business. Evaluated yearly. 12 Page