Assessment Two
The organisation that will be the main focus of which we will critically examine their current recruitment and selection practices is Marks and Spencer. We will look at their employment techniques and based on our findings we will suggest recommendations to amend their selection and recruitment process based on legal requirements using academic theory.
Marks and Spencer are a public limited company that has been established in the UK for over 125 years. The organisation is one of the UK's top leading retailers that is well known worldwide Marks and Spencer are responsibly sourced from around 2,000 suppliers globally with over 21 million people visiting their stores each week. The organisation has over 800 stores in the UK and recruit 78,000 employees, so it is important for Marks and Spencer to develop a strong foundation of recruitment and selection to reflect their mission strategy of ' quality, service, value, innovation and trust.' We will also criticise how fair their recruitment and selection process is and whether they comply with all the employment laws protecting applicants and employees at work and in the recruitment and selection process.
According to M&S website "No matter which area of the business you join you'll find there are plenty of opportunities to learn new skills and develop a rewarding career". At Marks & Spencer there are ranges of career opportunities available such as Store roles; Head office roles; Shared service/admin; Graduates and Trainee management scheme. Regardless of the position being applied for, each applicant goes though the same recruitment process as everyone else.
Marks and Spencer have a very complex recruitment and selection process that is fair and has equal diverse opportunities for everyone that applies to work for the organisation. Marks and Spencer use the internet for the foundations of their recruitment methods. CIDA states that the internet has become a growing vastly source of recruitment for huge organisations. Dan Thompson, selection process specialist at Marks and Spencer, says 'Technical innovation is at the forefront of our recruitment strategy.' This recruitment method is highly popular with Marks and Spencer receiving high volume of applicants. Their online recruitment method asks applicants to answer a 15 minutes test which has a variety of questions relating to customer service. This test gives applicants the chance to test their individual merit of customer service and see if their skills apply to the top service of Marks and Spencer.
When applying for Marks & Spencer the recruitment follows many stages. The first stage of the process is for the candidate to initially apply to the post, this is now undertaken online. This entails all details from the candidate being taken including their qualifications etc along with a short online test helping to sum up the individuals personal attributes in order for the recruitment team to pick the best role for them and whether the skills show in order to follow a managerial role. This process is known in Marks and Spencer as 'Talent Screening' Lewis, M&S (2009). If applicants have been successful in their interview they will be allowed to continue with the rest of the application, however if they have been unsuccessful then they will not be able to continue any further. There is also a time limit on the on-line questions assessment and therefore can be seen as not adhering to the Disability Act 1996. According to Nairns (2008) it is unlawful to discriminate in the recruitment and selection process of anyone who has a disability which includes dyslexia and partially sighted. The on-line assessment does not take into account people who may not find it easy to read words on an computer LCD screen or perhaps may take longer to read due to being partially sighted. Marks and Spencer however, do take certain circumstances into considering. If a candidate suffers with leaning difficulties or a disability and are unable to complete the application process online, then a number is provided for them to call for a telephone assessment instead. If for any other reasons, they are not able to construct a telephone assessment then special arrangements will be made. This indicates their equal opportunities policy. Marks and Spencer put their candidates and employees fist, ensuring that everyone is treated fairly, thus leading to a positive workforce.
Following the online process if the candidates are then successful they are then sent to a 'one day assessment centre', this consists of group exercises, assessments and an individual interview all in order to analyse the candidate's capabilities. The assessments undertaken depend on what department the individual wishes to work in. For example the assessment for working in the clothing department involves the candidate taking part in a role play in which the individual is given a selection of cards with a range of clothes and accessories on. The candidates then take it in turn to take the role of a 'personal shopper'. There are then normally two assessors present, one there to observe and make notes on the candidate and the other pretending to be the customer. The candidate is then asked to recommend a range of outfits suitable for the customer's needs and budget. The assessment helps to show how well the candidate deals with the customer and how good their judgements are for the job at hand. The candidate is then told to wait to be assessed and told not long after the role play whether they have the job. This is good as the individual then knows they have not got to wait days or weeks for a reply. A successful candidate will then participate in a 3 day induction into the company. M&S PLC (2010)
One of Marks and Spencer aims is to 'Ensure that all decisions relating to employment practices are objective, free from bias, and based solely on work criteria and individual merit. In every set of circumstances we aim to find a solution which takes account of an individual's personal circumstances and the needs of the business.' When the Human Resource department discusses who they select from the successful applicants after the interviews, they comply with all the employment laws relating to recruitment and selection. They understand that applicants should be selected on their skills, experience and attributes giving everyone equal opportunities which are why they take into account individual circumstances and stress the importance to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled workers or applicants are not placed at a substantial disadvantage by a practice or policy that exists at M&S. As a well known organisation that deals with many customers, it is vital that they select the right person for the job so they gain a competitive advantage.
Recommendations
Jones and Schmidt (2004:p.427) defines the recruitment process according to them that it is widely seen as a major barrier for people with disabilities. Prior to the implementation of The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA, 1995) there were often difficulties, for example, in the ways jobs were described and in how and where they were advertised. Thus in the case of Marks and Spencer when drawing up job descriptions it is important to check job requirements, where possible to stress the potential for flexibility in working arrangements, to circulate vacancies to disabled job seekers through the Jobcentre's Disability Service Team, and to try to ensure that information and further particulars about jobs are available in different formats and that application forms are disabled user friendly.
As mentioned earlier, it should be noted that Marks and Spencer find other methods to apply for current job positions for people with personal circumstances. Marks and Spencer should stick to their Morales of equal opportunities by including different formats such as on-line applications forms with large print for partially sighted applicants so they have an equal chance of applying for the job and being fair selected based on their skills rather than being disadvantaged for their disability.
Therefore it is recommended that job description should be clear so any person with any kind of disability can feels that he/she has been discriminated on any basis. Marks & Spencer also need's to fully support the initiatives promoted by the Employers' Forum on Disability. Which says "The leading edge of thinking and practice is steadily shifting beyond legal obligation and well meaning philanthropy, towards a solution-focused culture which shifts the emphasis from the person's disability to the changes a business can make easily to enable that person to contribute their skills and productivity." (Employers' Forum on Disability, 2003a)
From using primary knowledge from a team member who applied for M&S at Christmas, they found the process of recruitment rather unfair as they were obviously expected to have previous experience of being a personal shopper and this put them at a known disadvantage. This highlighted that Marks and Spencer were not willing to train people up. This could also cause action under the sex discrimination act as males have a disadvantage to females, as females are more likely to be more knowledgeable about the role as Marks and Spencer segment their clothing mainly to woman, therefore indirectly discriminating against males. This they should take into consideration to help abide by equal opportunities.
Another problem which may arise with recruitment and selection is with candidates getting a quick response after their assessment this may mean that individuals who have their interviews later than others may be disadvantages as all the roles may be filled before a later candidates gets chance to be interview. It should be stressed upon that Marks and Spencer should make it quite clear to candidates applying the post the deadline for the position so they all have chance to be seen. Marks and Spencer when selecting the right candidate should review all candidates so that later candidates are not disadvantaged on a first come first serve basis. They should also take into account the interview weighing rather than just the role play, as role play can work out as a disadvantage for some candidates and so to not be biased should take into account interviews and experience rather than how well they do in the assessment test.
According to Beardwell Holden & Claydon (2004) On-line recruitment has many disadvantages when it comes to selecting the right candidate. It remains an indiscriminate tool as they can face multiple mailings by the same candidate and irrelevant CVs which are very time consuming. The selection process lacks suitable candidates applying for the post and therefore disadvantaging Marks and Spencer competitive advantage.
Recommendation
Hilary et al (1995) explains that there are a wealth of different methods to be employed in the selection of candidates is discussed including screening, psychological testing, and the interview in both its structured and unstructured form. What M&S does is they start with a very complicated application form which some candidates find difficult so they don't get a chance to advance into the next stage However, these methods are generally regarded by Hilary et al (1995) in the field as far less effective than the ability test in its various guises, which in turn is viewed with suspicion by practitioners. So it's recommended that the selection process should be made easier for the candidates so those candidates who don't have enough education can easily apply for those jobs which are at the lower scale. It will not only help more and more peoples to become part of the organisation but it will also close the door for discrimination.
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