Interclean_Career_Development_Plan_Part_1

On February 22nd, David Spencer, president, announced that InterClean Inc. has acquired EnviroTech, one of our major domestic competitors in the corporate market. This is a terrific opportunity for InterClean to expand its operations and specifically for our southwestern sales team to expand its skills and career opportunities in the health care full-service cleaning solutions industry. Our company’s ability to attract and train the best people will help to ensure our success in the long term. In order for InterClean to succeed with this expansion, management has asked the sales team to conduct a job analysis for the salesperson positions at InterClean. A job analysis is the process of gathering and analyzing information about jobs to clarify responsibilities and qualifications (Teratanavat, Raitano & Kliener, 2006). The result of the job analysis is a job description, an overall written summary of task requirements, and a job specification, an overall written summary of task requirements. Because we are anxious to get the sales team started, we will be using two methods of analysis in combination to define the salesperson position. The first method is continuous observation. Observation provides direct exposure to jobs that can develop a richer, deeper understanding of the job requirements than a workers’ description of the job. The current sales manager will accompany several of the salespeople on sales calls to observe and document the sales process. The second method is interviews. This method can provide insight into the job that might not be available from other sources. The main job duties and specifications for the sales positions in the new sales department are: 1) New sales generation – Research and create targeted new client lists for the given territory 2) Customer service – The candidate must be able to customize packages and systems for new and current clients. Must be able to make decisions quickly and proficiently to meet the needs of these clients. Must maintain and service clients by developing long-term relationships with clients. 3) Experience – The candidate must be knowledgeable about emerging issues in sanitation, environmental regulation of cleaning and cleaning systems. Our clients themselves may need staff education and training; therefore our sales force must become conversant in the language of each client's industry as it relates to cleaning and sanitation. 4) Communication skills – The candidate must possess excellent written and verbal communication skills to ensure accurate and prompt follow up with management and clients. 5) Federal regulations – The candidate must have an extensive, working knowledge of OSHA standards required in the industry. Workforce Planning System David Spencer is forecasting a 40% increase in profitability with the merger of our two companies. To be successful in obtaining this increased profitability, a workforce planning system is necessary to determine InterClean’s sales team needs. Workforce planning is a systematic, fully integrated organizational process that proactively plans ahead to avoid talent surpluses or shortages, based on the premise that a company staff more efficiently if it forecasts its talent needs as well as the supply of talent that is or will be available. A crucial part of workforce planning is tying it to the strategic planning and budget processes of the company. A talent inventory of both InterClean’s and EnviroTech’s existing sales team is necessary to determine if we currently have the right people for our team or if we need to conduct an external search for employees. The new southwestern sales team will consist of one Sales Manager and four outside sales representatives. For an existing member of the sales team to be a part of the new southwestern sales team, an employee must score at least in the 50th percentile and above on each of the skills lab in the table shown above. Action Plans For the sales team to succeed, action plans for the selection of employees, training, placement, promotion, development and compensation need to be put in place. The action plans designate responsibility and outline the specific steps that should be taken to fill the talent pipeline and maintain the talent inventory at the levels required for the firm’s projected growth rate (Sullivan, 2002). According to Sullivan 2002, the action plans cover three general areas: 1) Sourcing and recruiting an adequate supply of leaders and key talent 2) Internal development and supply of qualified leaders and key talent 3) Forecasting the gap between talent needs and its availability Staff Selection The methods used to select the staff for our southwestern sales team are the in-basket test, which will assess an individual’s ability to work independently, and the assessment center method, a process that evaluates a candidate’s potential for management. The assessment center method will allow us to predict how an employee might behave in the next-higher level management job and will help fill our succession needs. We are excited and anxious for the southwestern sales team to start implementing the new sales strategy for InterClean to become the dominant full-service cleaning solutions company in our industry.