First Day On The Job Shannon Goodwin Dr.

Natalie Marsh HRM 530 Strategic Human Resources Management November 23, 2011

2 First Day On The Job

1. Discuss the factors causing the employees dissatisfaction.

The key to Outbacks success is identifying and hiring the right people who fit the companys needs and aligns with its culture. Outbacks leaders believe that if you start with the right people and provide a positive experience, you will retain them longer. Thus, the company has developed a rigorous selection process that is relevant to both their hourly and management workers. The process uses a series of test to assess cognitive ability, personality and judgment. Upon passing the tests, applicants are then asked specific questions that measure experience, and how well they will orientate into aspects of Outbacks culture to include service mindedness, hospitality, teamwork and the ability to think on their feet (Stewart & Brown, 2009). This strategy allows Outback to employ the best people, ensure a low turnover rate, and improve experience. With such an effective strategy, not only are employees happy, but because of the outstanding service provided by them, customers continue to come back. Hence, Outbacks ability to hire the right people with the right fit has helped them to achieve a competitive advantage over other competitors within the restaurant industry.

2. Identify which of these factors could be addressed with improvements in the way the organization handles development. Fit is very important to Outback. Outback has founded itself on the need for organization fit and employees potential and motivation. Thus, the company has been hiring the right people from the beginning of the companys establishment. According to Stewart and Brown (2009) when it comes to ensuring the right people are selected, an organizations selection processes must fit with its overall human resources strategy. In the case of Outback, its overall human

3 resource strategy is to identify and hire employees who are commitment to the company and customers and will remain with the company for a substantial amount of time (Stewart & Brown, 2009). Outback leaders believe that providing the right employees with a positive experience will keep turnover rate at a minimum. Outbacks selection process, engrained in its principles and beliefs, are coupled with the Loyal Soldier human resource strategy (Stewart & Brown, 2009). This approach ensures Outback meets its objective of hiring employees that fit within its culture. In doing so, the company and the employees are placed in what one would call a win win situation. That is, Outback benefits by hiring employees that produce low-cost goods and services, and reduce payroll and staffing cost; while employees benefit by developing new skills and relationships, and forming a strong sense of commitment to the company which provides them with a sense of job security over a long period of time (Stewart & Brown, 2009).

3. Discuss what Malik should do tomorrow with regard to his employee.

The process used to access people into an organization is what we know as an employee selection process. A selection process can provide many benefits; such as improving human capitol efficiency and effectiveness and preventing numerous problems in the future (Stewart & Brown, 2009). For example, hiring the right person for the job can reduce disciplinary problems and diminish costs due to high turnovers. This is why the selection process is very important to Outback. Outbacks employee selection process is a little different than what we may be accustomed to filling out an application, getting a call for an interview, maybe taking a test or two, and then receiving a call or no call. However at Outback, the applicant selection process is not only different, but proprietary (Stewart & Brown, 2009). The food service industry has an extremely high turnover rate of 300%. Outback has integrated a selection process to keep its

4 turnover rate under 20% per year (Company Info, 2011). First, they give all applicants a realistic view point of both the benefits and responsibilities of future employees. This stresses the importance of taking care of others, as well as how they will be accountable for their actions. Then, candidates are exposed to Outbacks vision. They are afforded the opportunity to review Dimension of Performance", a document that explains and gives detail examples of the behavior expected of employees and how these behaviors fit in the vision. After reviewing the Dimension of Performance, if the candidates agree to continue with the application process they are asked to provide information by completing an application. Answers provided on the application will helps to determine the candidates ability to perform the job, fit into the culture and remain with the company. Candidates, who are determined to be prospective employees, are then given a series of test to assess their cognitive ability, personality and judgment. Finally, candidates who pass the tests are interviewed and a determination is made as to whether they are the right person - service minded, hospitable, team player and quick thinker - for the right job commitment to the principles and beliefs of the company (Stewart & Brown, 2009). Outback has managed to take advantage of the information provided to them by potential employees and used it to select the right people that fit the company. Outbacks process may be rigorous, but it is a good fit for them. They took a human resource strategy, shaped it to fit their needs and made it work for the overall success of the company. This has proven to be quite a competitive advantage for Outback Steakhouse.

4. What long-term changes should Malik suggest for this organization, if it appears that his employee is not the only one with these questions?

5 According to Stewart and Brown (2009), for a selection method to be valid, it must accurately predict who will perform the job well. There are several strategies content validation, criterion-relation validation, predictive validation, concurrent validation, situational specificity, and validity generalization - that can be use to accomplish this task. Outback uses a concurrent validation strategy, as they obtain assessment scores from current employees and used them to correlate coefficient with the scores of potential employees. While concurrent validation is done with ease, it has its weaknesses. For example, current employees do not complete tests under the same conditions as potential employees. Current employees do not have anything to lose so they are more at ease and may be a little more forthright about answering test questions. On the other hand, potential employees are under stressful conditions as they are trying to get hired. Knowing this, they may be a little more apt to be dishonest and answer questions to make them appear to be the best candidate for the job. In addition, you must take into account current employees have grown wiser; therefore changing in ways that may reduce accuracy in the test for predicting who will perform best when first hired (Stewart & Brown, 2009). All things considered, there is not an accurate set of measurement to validate Outbacks selection method. However, one can not dispute the fact that Outbacks method has given them a competitive advantage above its competitors, which validates Outbacks selection process.

5. Discuss the human resource policies and programs that would support development programs within the organization.

There are several resource policies and programs that would supports development programs within organization, such as

References Company Info. (n.d.). Retrieved August 6, 2011, from Outback: http://www.outback.com/companyinfor/ Stewart, G., & Brown, K. (2008). Human resource management: 2009 custom edition (1st ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.