Recruitment & Selection of Employees (AQA GCSE Business)

Case Study

Park Designs Ltd (PDL) is a family business that makes high quality wooden furniture to order. The Park family owns all the shares.

As part of its commitment to training, PDL run an annual team building day for all 72 employees which is good for staff motivation. The factory is closed for the day and the staff go off-site for the day. Group challenges are run which help develop team skills and improve communication.

“I loved the team building day, we had great fun and it was better than being at work for the day. However I am not sure how useful it was to my job in the admin department?” Sue, Admin department.

The production manager will retire soon. Like him, many of the production staff have worked at PDL for many years. They enjoy their work and most stay until they retire. Consequently, there are several possible candidates to take over as production manager, but none have management experience.

Customer reviews say that the furniture is made to a very high standard, however, they also suggest that the administration staff do not always deliver a good service. Complaints show that order processing is not always accurate. Recently, some customers have asked about the negative reviews when enquiring about possible purchases.

Case Study

Fleet Academy is a new department within bicycle retailer Fleet Bikes Ltd that will start renting children’s bikes.

The aim of the rental service is that every child should be able to enjoy riding bikes that always fit them. The rental bikes can be changed when children grow. Parents will be able to view information on the website which will also contain answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).

A manager is needed to run the department. The company is offering a salary of £30 000 a year. The manager will need a sales background and ideally have some knowledge of how rental businesses operate. Parents interested in the scheme will contact the manager who will provide advice on the correct size and style of bike for the child. The rental bike will then be manufactured based on this. If there are any problems with the size of the bike the company will guarantee to exchange it within 48 hours.

The managing director has contacted a recruitment agency. For a fee of 20% of the first year’s salary it would find the most suitable candidate in four weeks. Brian, a highly successful salesman of adult bikes, has worked for Fleet Bikes Ltd for five years. He is keen to stay with the business and has shown an interest in the manager’s job; however he has no knowledge of children’s bikes.

Once the manager is appointed, two new administration employees will be recruited. Their jobs will be to deal with rental agreements, ordering of bikes from the factory and collecting payments. All new employees will receive one day of induction training before they start their jobs.

Case Study

Jameel has been running his business JAA Toys for two years. The toys have become popular and the business is now receiving larger orders from many toy shops. To help meet this increasing demand Jameel has rented a small business workshop, purchased more machinery and plans to recruit staff.

Jameel wants to recruit four people; three to make the toys and one for administration. He has decided that he will not recruit a manager because he wants to keep control over the production of the toys. Instead he will manage the employees himself and communicate his new designs to staff. This means his business will have a flat organisational structure. Jameel will spend a lot of his time visiting toy shops in the North of England to get orders. He also has plans to visit exhibitions to gain ideas for new designs.

Jameel is concerned about rising costs due to the expansion, so he wants to keep the cost of wages down. There are some weeks when production will be low because there are very few orders. The business will be very busy at other times, such as before Christmas. Jameel is aware he needs to recruit skilled production staff to make high-quality toys to his unique designs. This is important to maintain the unique selling point (USP) of JAA Toys.

Case Study

Janet owns and runs Premium Motors based in Manchester. Her business provides a luxury chauffeur service (a car and driver are hired). This has proved popular with customers who book the services for events such as weddings or parties.

When Janet recruits new chauffeurs, it is important that she employs staff that have the appropriate driving skills as well as the right personality for the role. Janet uses two methods of selection when recruiting. She will ask for references from the previous employer, as well as interviewing all candidates.