Tanglewood Case 1

TANGLEWOOD STORES
-Planning-

Specific Assignment Details

1.Currently the organization expects that their forecast for labor requirements is essentially constant from the previous year. Based on this assumption complete the five stages of the planning process:
a. Currently the organization expects that their forecast for labor requirements is essentially constant from the previous year. This means the forecast for next year will be taken as given.
b. Fill in the empty cells in the forecast of labor availabilities in Table 1.1.

(See Table Below)

c. Conduct an environmental scan. Based on the environmental data, what factors in the environment suggest Tanglewood might have difficulty filling their vacancies in the future?

The Environment for hiring for Tanglewood looks successful and promising due to the fact of the number of applicants, the job market is weak so potential employees are looking for anything right now, and Tanglewood provides a strong promise of moving up in the company which can help grab the interest of new employees to stick with the company.

d. Compute year end totals for each job in Table 1.1 and do a gap analysis to determine where shortages will occur in the next year.

(See Table Below)

e. Develop a preliminary statement of the action plan for hiring for Washington next year. This should be an overview of the number of individuals needed to meet projected staffing levels for various positions that can be given to store managers. Make sure that your recommendations take the strategic staffing levels issues from the introductory case into account.

In the coming year, the hiring process for the Washington Distract stores will need to consist of the outputs that where found in the graph at the bottom of this page. With the Washington stores being a prominent area for the Tanglewood business, it is vital for the company to higher quality employees for this area. The demographics for the area are perfect in terms of potential knowledgeable employees and also the demographics of the internal workforce that Tanglewood already holds. Looking outside the company an important question is “How to keep new employees invested in the company”? Also looking at the company itself and trying to portray the “retail” industry as a higher end job and not just another 9 to 5 job for a college kid. How customers see the image of Tanglewood is just as important on how employees see it. If the company is to hold new employees they need to provide the availability of a successful career and the ability to learn new skills and grow internally in the company. Becoming an assets of the company is necessary to gain trust and a hard work ethic to new employees.

2. Examine the percentages of employee representation across demographic categories for Tanglewood and the available labor market for Table 1.3. Are there any particular classes or jobs where the representation within Tanglewood appears to be out of line with the available workforce? What does the pattern suggest to you?

The growth of Female and Minority employees is important and in my opinion should be a key factor in the new hiring process for the coming year. The outdoor industry is flowing with testosterone driven men who seek that since of adventure and freedom that Tanglewood can provide as an employee. The problem with this is in my opinion is the outdoors industry tend to be swamped with male applicants. Using the minorities and the female aspects of a company can help diversify your company and even set you ahead of the competitions in terms of a unique work force that reach’s a broad range of genders and demographics.

3. Based on your analysis and the affirmative action plan, do you think the company should engage in a specific strategy to change their recruiting and promotion practices? Do you think it is realistic for the company to try to meet their affirmative action goals in this process in a single year? What are the pros and cons of using internal promotions vs. external hiring to rectify the problems with gender and ethnicity representation in supervisory positions?

In my opinion the growth of Tanglewood as a company seems to be very successful and with the percentages shown in the graphs you can see that the need for new employees in necessary for the growth and success of the company. To meet these goals just in one year seems rushed. I would recommend using a model of increasing the smaller stores that may be lacking in growth and allowing your larger stores to continue the success. You know the larger stores are in a viable location and growth can be seen internally and externally (financially). Looking to the weaker stores may allow the company to implement a better strategy at fixing “the weakest link” in their chain of stores. It may help them pinpoint problems throughout the lower end instead of missing them by just focusing on these larger stores. In terms of the internal promotion vs. external hiring in the ethnicity and gender issues, I would choose going with internal promotion. Internally you gain not only an already well-equipped employee that you trust but also the knowledge base that is key to a successful business. Externally hiring shouldn’t be forgotten though and possibly hiring the lower end employees from outside the company can help bring in new ideas and allow them to grow and move up the ranks of the company with time.

4. In addition to the specific targets for employee representation for the Spokane flagship location, Tanglewood wants to use this opportunity to establish estimates for the entire chain’s staffing policy regarding demographic representation of the workforce. How do you think individual stores can respond to overarching organizational objectives? Prepare a memo to be disseminated to the individual stores that gives a sense of your targets for the organization as a whole, and also gives the stores advice on how they can assist in narrowing any representation gaps you find through their recruiting, hiring, and promotion practices.

The Tanglewood Company is looking to grow in the coming year and with that growth comes many questions, one of the big questions has to do with the hiring of new employees or using internal employees to move up the ranks. Looking at new employees Externally will allow for new ideas and potential long-term employees who are looking for a career in the retail industry. Also these external employees can consist of a larger diversity with gender and minorities, which are key areas that are lacking with the Tanglewood company. Promoting internally, and helping employees move up the company ladder is also important. The company has a wide range of knowledge and potential leaders and instead of looking elsewhere for new candidates, looking internally can be an even better option. It is a much faster turnover rate in the higher process and also a lot cheaper then going outside the company. It also helps already existing employees feel more needed throughout the company, which can lead to employees sticking with the company longer.

Table 1.1 Markov Analysis Information
Transition probability matrix
Current year

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Exit
Previous year
(1) Store associate
0.53
0.06
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.41

(2) Shift leader
0.00
0.50
0.16
0.00
0.00
0.34

(3) Department manager
0.00
0.00
0.58
0.12
0.00
0.30

(4) Assistant store manager
0.00
0.00
0.06
0.46
0.08
0.40

(5) Store manager
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.66
0.34

Forecast of availabilities
Next year (projected)

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Exit

Current Workforce

Previous year
(1) Store associate
8,500
4505
510
0
0
0
3485

(2) Shift leader
1,200
0
600
192
0
0
408

(3) Department manager
850
0
0
493
102
0
255

(4) Assistant store manager
150
0
0
9
69
12
60

(5) Store manager
50
0
0
0
0
33
17

Gap analysis
Next year (projected)

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)

Year end total
(column sum)
4505
1110
694
171
45

External hires needed
(current workforce-total)
3995
90
156
-21
5