The most important aspects to consider at this point are academic qualifications and job related skills. Those candidates who meet these criteria fully are placed on the first list of those who will be invited for the interview. These candidates have to wait for a period of five days as the screening is still being done. Letters are then sent to these candidates to invite them for an interview. Details of the letter are shown in the appendix attached (appendix 3). The time, venue and date of the interview are specified in the interview invitation letter. However, candidates must confirm their acceptance of this invitation.
The next category of candidates is; those whose applications will be held and reviewed after a period of six months. These candidates’ applications are placed on file for one year. Candidates who are placed in this category are those ones who demonstrate average academic qualification and knowledge of job related skills. Most of the time, these candidates demonstrate excellent people skills and other personal traits. Letters are sent to these candidates informing them of the decision. In addition, candidates are encouraged to keep waiting as they will be contacted as soon as a vacant position arises in the organisation. (Schuler, 1998)
The last list has names of the least suitable candidates for the job. These are the candidates who have been rejected for the position. Tesco usually places candidates in this category after they have filled the application form in the most inappropriate manner. These are the candidates who did not have any academic qualifications. In addition, such candidates did not demonstrate any people skills or any job related skills. However, their applications are held on file for a period of one year. Letters are sent to these candidates informing them of this decision. A detail of this letter is contained in appendix 2. These candidate’s applications are not reviewed as was the case for candidates belonging to the second category. (Berkeley, 2007)
Assessment of candidates
This process involves a number of selection processes. These are; a performance exam, a panel interview then a selection interview. The selection interview is the most important as it determines which candidate has qualified for the job and is administered last. All these selection processes are done on the same day. (Rosenberg, 1999)
In Tesco, the process of employee selection involves choosing the ideal candidate for the job from all the qualified short listed candidates. Some important features which Tesco uses while selecting include;
Performance exams are always job related
Candidates are asked to make a presentation to assess the elements that are hard to test through an interview
Psychometric selection test are administered by a trained person
Candidates are informed that the tests are similar for all the persons and the topics for presentation are not in favor of any candidate.
Performance Exam
The performance exam is conducted in order to determine whether candidates are able to do tasks related to the job. Notices are then given to applicants who passed through the first round. The exam is conducted by store managers from other stores in the country. More than one person is involved in this interview. The following is examined during this process: quality of work (this will be checked by giving each candidate a task to perform like sales executives are asked to prepare an advertising proposal), adaptability (candidates must be able to perform their job given few resources) and lastly, their ability to work well under pressure (they will be given two tasks to handle at the same time and their performance is rated. (Billikopf, 1998)
Panel interview
Candidates considered are those who passed the latter exam and results obtained from this process will make candidates eligible for another selection interview- this will only be for candidates who score a percentage greater than seventy. (Mondy, 1996)The Panel will be made up of three evaluators. Candidates will be asked questions relating to these positions: sales executive, store manager, assistant store manager, clerk and cleaners. This is normally done within a specific time i.e. fifteen minutes for each candidate.
Candidates should be precise and they should keep their answers relevant to questions asked. Some questions will be asked from the notice posted. Punctuality by candidates will be among the criteria used to award marks to candidates. (Monk, 2006)
Selection Interview
This will be strictly for eligible candidates who will have been selected from the Panel interview. (Ervin, 1999) This will be conducted by the Chief Supervisor and some of the questions that will be asked in this interview include:
What makes you think you can perform this job?
How will you ensure that the store’s accounts are in order?(for clerk)
What are some of the promotional tactics you can use to boost sales in Tesco?(for sales executive)
Give an example of an action that can prompt you to fire an employee?( for store manager)
What Tesco competitors do you know? (for sales executive)
How would you ensure that your team keeps time yet does not compromise on the stores’ quality?( for store manager)
What did you learn from your previous job that you can apply here?(for all positions)
What can you suggest to ensure that the Tesco Ireland remains ahead of the competition in the retail industry?(for sales executive and store manger)
(Fine, 1999)
Candidates are categorized into three groups starting from the least qualified to the most qualified: the first category will be called ‘least qualified’, the second category is the ‘qualified group’ and the last category will be called ‘Superior Candidates’.
The superior candidates are the ones who fill the vacancy and can start work. They are required to undergo a medical checkup, drug screen and an investigation is also done on his/her background. On commencement, they are given probation of six months. The employee must bring their driving license or passport with them. In addition to this they must be qualified to work in the country. (Jack, 2003)
All the interview details are placed in a file. This is necessary so that the company can increase its transparency.
Advising candidates about the results
This process is normally done within a period of five days. This is normally done by sending letters to candidates. (Schuler, 1998)
Those who have passed the interview and have qualified for the job are the first category of candidates to be informed. This implies that they are now members of staff/personnel. A letter is sent to this category of candidate and another copy is kept on file for an indefinite period of time. The letter’s details are in found on the appendix (appendix 4). This letter normally gives details about the position offered to the applicant. In addition, Tesco leaves a contact number which the qualified applicant can use to arrange a convenient starting date.
A letter is also sent out to candidates who did not qualify but showed potential. These are the candidates who got an average rating of slightly over fifty percent. These candidates are the ones called ‘qualified’. Their interview notes are kept on file for a period of one year. These candidates are reviewed after six months and they will become the first choice if a vacant position arises in the store. (Michael, 2002) All this information is mentioned in the letter. (See appendix 5)
Lastly, letters are sent to the least qualified candidates. These are the candidates who got a rating of less than fifty percent from the selection interview. The letter informs candidates about their rejection. Rejection letters are kept on file for a period of one year. Their interview notes are also kept on file for a period of one year. (Cherrington, 1995)
Conclusion
Tesco Ireland dedicates a lot of time and resources inorder to; ensure that they are fair to candidates, seal any loopholes and ensure that the company gets well qualified personell.
The assesment process must be free of bias and should provide a suitable ground for choosing the right candidate. This is the reason why a combination of many methods is used by Tesco i.e. panel interview, selection interview and performance exam. The disadvantages of one method of selection are compensated by the advantages in another. (EL, 2007)
References
Sarah, L. (2007): Human Resource Management: Employee Attraction and Selection Guide retrieved from: accesed on 21st November.
Schuler, R. (1998): Managing Human Resources; South Western College publishing.
Ervin, B. (1999): Recruiting and hiring outstanding Staff; a journal by the Ohio State University.
EL (2007): Selection process; retrieved from ; accesed on 21st November
Michael, R. (2002): Personnel/ Human Resource Management; Prentice Press
Jack, E. (2003): The Human Resources Program Evaluation Handbook; McMillan Publishers.
Fine, Sidney A., Steven F. (1999): Functional job analysis: A foundation for human resources management. Erlbaum: Mahwah, NJ.
Monk E., Wagner B., (2006): Concepts in Human Resource Planning, 2nd edition.
Berkeley (2007): Guide to managing Human Resources retrieved from; , Accessed on 16th November 2007.
Billikopf, G. (1998): Labor Management in Agriculture; a journal by the Cooperative Extension Service, University of California.
Rosenberg, H. (1999): Labor Management Decisions; a journal by University of California
Fogleman (1999): Employee Compensation and Job Satisfaction on Dairy Farms in the Northeast; Cornell University Publishers
Cherrington, D. (1995): The Management of Human Resources; Prentice-Hall Press
Mondy, R. (1996): Human Resource Management; Prentice-Hall.
Nadler (1986): Managing Human Resource Development; Columbia University Press Adrian, W. (2005): Human Resource Management at work; London CIPD
