Running Head: NEEDS ASSESSMENT 2

NEEDS ASSESSMENT 2

Needs Assessment

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation:

Course Name and Number

Instructor Name

Assignment Due Date

 

Introduction

Our organization is a retail shop that deals largely with household and consumer goods. It operates a chain of stores in the country and has, in recent years, registered significant success with an appealing profitability index. Since its establishment, the firm has only been dealing with physical orders where the c clients have to visit our facilities to purchase the goods that they desire. However, with the recent COVID 19 outbreaks, there have been numerous controls that have been affected and have largely reduced the number of sales made each day (OECD.org, 2020). Over the last few months of 2020, the company has registered very low sales as people have largely avoided physical contact. By operating on a physical basis, our stores have been avoided by customers, translating into dropped sales. The situation has made it essential to carry out a needs assessment that will attract more customers to our products.

The need analysis has been concentrated on the sales department since it is the section that has a direct impact on the sales index. While the team in the department has, over the years, led to the development and implementation of highly successful policies, the virus outbreak has seemingly exhausted their ideas. Thus, the firm needs to look into how well the company can adjust the structure of the section to revert to past success. The primary goal of the assessment is to come up with effective measures that would aid in increasing sales volumes. An increase in the customer base will be essential, and there lies a high possibility of exceedingly previously sales that have been recorded over the past years.

Employment needs

The employment needs of the identified need are to facilitate the sales recorded by the company. As a profit-oriented organization, there is a high preference for making as many revenues as possible. Therefore, one of the employment needs is to boost the sales of the entity. The only variance from the sales from previous periods is that it will be designed and aimed towards online selling employment is a relatively new platform for the firm. Therefore, the company will be looking at how best to reach out to the buyers, emphasizing getting them to place their orders over the online platform.

The move is also expected to boost the firm by rolling out the online platform, considered a relatively more effective selling method. Despite having some firms already in the area, there are still numerous unexplored openings that the company seeks to take advantage of. The acquisition of loyal online clients will be determined by how well and effective the system is (Singh & Davidson, 2017). It will also be necessary to develop an online site that is easy to operate as this would encourage more clients to adopt our proposed venture. Besides, by going online, it means that there will be lower physical visits to our stores. We will also manage to sell to larger geographical regions, and this would eliminate the need to open further branches across the country. Therefore, there is a high possibility that the firm will decongest their stores and save costs that would be incurred in renting shop spaces. There would be more emphasis on acquiring go down relatively cheaper services. The strategy is therefore projected to raise the sales moved, and thus the profits realizable to the company.

Required Function

The company looks at the possibility of launching an online shopping platform over which shoppers can order their goods at their comfort and have them delivered to their desired locations. Such a structure will work well not only to avert the adversities caused by the pandemic outbreak but will also target the people who are too busy to get time for their basic shopping. Further, it will help increase the clientele since the company will have a platform to reach even people far from the physical stores (Lamont, 2017). Such would assist in correcting the low sales that have been recorded across the second and the third quarters of 2020.

It is a primary responsibility for firms to be socially responsible to their clients. Our company also sees the possibility of meeting their corporate social responsibility needs with the adoption of online shopping. Through the development of the platform, the retail stores will discourage unnecessary movement and congestions that have been reported to be primary risk factors in the spread of the COVID 19 pandemic. The proposition will assist the people in gaining easy access to their basic needs without having to expose themselves to the pandemic (Cable, 2013). These are perceived to be the primary functions that the needs assessment will seek to address.

Jobs or Tasks

There is a need to develop a team that will identify the specific needs of the market to achieve the desired function. Currently, a majority of retailers have created an online selling system. There is thus going to be a crucial need to try and identify the deficiencies in the existing structures and taking advantage of it (Jobber et al., 2019). The job that is to be created will involve a person who is vibrant in the marketing field and one who can easily convince people to adopt our entity’s online platform. Upon recruitment of the new clients, they will then be oriented into the system to ensure they are well acquainted with all the functionalities of the company’s site. They will also be required to aid the clients in the placing of orders.

Upon order submission, the personnel tasked with handling the system will then follow up to the selling team to get the orders processed. The order will be considered fulfilled when delivered and approved by the client, recorded as a successful sale (Syed & Kramer, 2017). Also, the task will include making a follow-up to get the feedback of the clients. The team will help develop a system that will amicably address all the issues raised by the buyers and use it to come up with worthy proposals of how to improve the process.

Current Training

To achieve the objectives of the need identified, the firm is expected to instill the right skills and knowledge to the employees. The company aims at selecting a team of five employees from the sales and marketing team that will be tasked with meeting the needs of the gap identified. The plan is to come up with a training schedule that the selected employees will be subjected to. The arrangement will include taking them through the basics of online selling and social media platforms to attract new sales (Jobber et al., 2019). They will further be taken through more detailed customer relations sessions that will be aimed at ensuring they get a competitive advantage over their peers when dealing with existing as well as prospected clients. The five employees will then be taken through continuous system orientation to ensure they understand the operations in the site. Further, the company will organize further training to match the dynamism of the sector and the industry at large. That way, the company aims to fulfill the identified needs entirely.

Online Marketers Job Description

The aim of conducting a needs assessment is to identify the gaps in the system that need to be addressed. The company seeks to deploy employees to the online selling team proposed after the conduct of the need’s assessment done on the company. The firm will be looking for marketing experts who will help in spearheading the online selling department. The persons will be expected to have high marketing skills and be very conversant with the emerging trends in the sales and marketing sector as it will play a major role in determining the best approaches to take. The initial plan is to have a team of five employees who will be placed under the marketing department as an independent section. They will work in coordination with the general sales and marketing department in ensuring that the firm meets the objectives set as per the need analysis.

The team will be led by a section head who will be categorized as a middle-level manager. The team leader will be tasked with the implementation of policies that are aimed at boosting the selling process of the firm. He will report directly to the overall marketing manager with the staff under him being delegated to carry out various functions under online selling. The team will seek to enroll clients to the platform and follow up on the orders placed for delivery. Their efficiency will be assessed based largely on the sales volumes pushed and the ability to retain clients beyond the first order. The company aims at approaching the recruitment internally, with a bias towards the personnel in the sales and marketing department. However, there will be consideration given to employees from other departments if the management feels that they fit the needs identified by the assessment done.

 

References

Cable, D. M. (2013). The Oxford handbook of recruitment. Oxford University Press.

Jobber, D., Lancaster, G., & Meunier-FitzHugh, K. L. (2019). Selling and sales management. Pearson UK.

Lamont, I. (2017). Lean Media: How to focus on creativity, streamline production, and create media that audiences love. I30 Media Corporation.

OECD.org. (2020). COVID-19 and the retail sector: Impact and policy responses. OECD. https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/covid-19-and-the-retail-sector-impact-and-policy-responses-371d7599/

Singh, D. J., & Davidson, J. (2017). How to make a profit by selling your household items online – One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Mendon Cottage Books.

Syed, J., & Kramar, R. (2017). Human resource management: A global and critical perspective. Macmillan International Higher Education.

 

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A lot of this just needs to be eloborated/made up! This is one of those papers that you really can just bs your way through!

 

1.            Work on your final paper.  Include the following:

a.    Briefly describe the issues you initially identified while reading the Mock Negotiation Problem.**attached

i.    How did your views differ from those of your teammates? **try to explain how I didn’t really have a good view/understanding what unions in labor groups went through in negotiations

ii.    What research did you provide for your team during this process?  Did it help? *** we broke up our demands and I was gave 3.) Overtime should be on a volunteer basis first and if additional personnel are needed then it can be made mandatory only if additional workers are needed. Persons out of town pre-approved vacations are exempt from mandatory overtime.
— my info I submitted is attached below

b.    Briefly describe the 6-8 demands your team decided on to negotiate. **below

i.    Why did you choose these demands to negotiate? ** we felt this was a good mix of good/current topics?? Elaborate on this!

ii.    Do you feel these demands were adequate for negotiations?  Why or why not? **I would go w/ yes because that is the best/easiest to answer and include reasons why you chose them to negotiate as why you feel these were adequate!

iii.    Choose two demands and give the bargaining zone limits for each.  **from final decisions below!

iv.    What were the results of these two demands? ***From Final Decisions below!

c.    How do you feel the negotiating process went?  Was it smooth? Difficult?  Why? **say it went ok w/ a few bumps in the road because not everyone could effectively communicate in the discussions because of technical problems…

d.    What do you feel could have been done better or differently? **pretty much the above…

e.    Compare your views of labor unions and management before and after this negotiation. **opened my eyes to all of this…

i.    How are your views different than before?

2.            This paper is to be 3-5 pages type written APA format, 12 pt Arial or Times New Roman font, double spaced with 1” margins.  You are to have at least three sources – one of which can be your textbook.  This paper is due no later than Sunday, May 5, 2013 at midnight.  No exceptions!

 

 

8 demands:

 

1.)          Increase the escalator clause from 3 cents to 5 cents for every 0.4 point increase in the CPI. Bi-Annual review of the escalator agreement.
2.) Maintain employee coverage for emergency department usage.
*Company will establish a wellness program which emphasize prevention, smoking cessation, diet, prescription coverage through discount programs such as Medco by mail.
*Company will establish and maintain an employee assistance program for employees dealing with stress and other stress creating situations.
3.) Overtime should be on a volunteer basis first and if additional personnel are needed then it can be made mandatory only if additional workers are needed. Persons out of town pre-approved vacations are exempt from mandatory overtime.
4.) Minimum of two union members serving on the company board of directors at all times.
5.) Extend medical insurance coverage to 90 days for employees on lay-off
6.) 2 weeks paid vacation after 2 years of seniority, 3 weeks after 5 years of seniority.

 

Final Decisions:

 

At this time, union and management have reached a settlement on the issues at hand. I will post the issues below and our final decisions on them. We, the union and the management team have worked jointly to negotiate a new contract which we believe will serve the company to operate both in the interest of the business and the interest of the employees.
Management Requests
Keep wages the same.  Over the 3 year period of the first contract, wages have increased $0.75 hr. //$0.40 from the escalator clause of $0.03 increase per 0.4 percent increase in the CPI. And $0.30 from the operation of the annual improvement factor.

See COLA, SUB pay and production bonus details under other headings.

2. Contract shall set production standards

Set production standards at 100% for full employee pay and allowing employees the option to leave work for the day with full pay intact once they have met these standards. This may change at the next contract negotiation, however at this time we found it may not be in the best economic interest of the company to offer a financial bonus to employees to create surplus, but we believe that an incentive should be offered to meet these production standards. We have have taken safety and housekeeping factors into consideration and the go-home option will be rotating and offered based on seniority.

3. Reduce SUB pay percentage

Adjust the sub pay back to 90%

4. Cost share any increase in health premiums with the employee

Future health care costs will be shared 50/50 between the company and the employee.

5. Modify the wait time before employee is eligible for health and retirement benefits

The wait time for eligibility for health benefits shall be six months and eligibility for retirement benefits shall be two years. We believe this will help to reduce healthcare costs and still offer a benefits package that will retain and attract employees.

6. Open dialog on flex-time, telecommute, outsourced administrative functions, holidays, sick leave and vacation.

Generally applies to Management and Administrative.

 

Flex time will be introduced with the expectation of normal 8 hour days/40 hour week.  Identify daily fixed schedule where most all employees are expected to work “core time”.  (Telecommuters to be separately arranged).

 

Telecommuting will be encouraged for positions wishing and able to do so with consideration to certain core time requirements.

 

Union Requests

1. The demand is to pay $0.05 instead of $0.03 for every 0.40 % CPI increase, reviewed twice annually.

Keep COLA at $0.03 per 0.40% increase in CPI, reviewed twice annually.

5. Medical coverage for laid off employees: Current contract is 30 days coverage; the demand is for 90 days.

Extend medical coverage for laid off employees to 60 days post notice.

 

6. Vacation accrual is currently 1 week after 1 year, 2 weeks after 5 years and 3 weeks after 20 years. Demand is for 2 weeks after 2 years and 3 weeks after 5 years.

Vacation to be 1 week after six months with 1 day per year additional accumulation on employee’s anniversary date with the maximum retained accumulation being 15 days.  Rotational shift workers will have the comparable amount of time off.

3. Overtime: currently the company can require overtime. This continues. The demand is to make overtime volunteers first and mandatory only to the point of filling slots/positions not able to be filled by volunteers. Two historical points here. First, recently the company forced overtime and threatened to fire those not responding. Secondly some employees say supervisors offer overtime to their “friends” and the chance to make overtime money isn’t equally shared.

Overtime will be rotational within skills and departments giving all an equal opportunity for overtime and allowing employees to predict when their obligation to overtime will be.  An alphabetical ranking or apprentice-journeyman-full type of schedule will be adopted.  The unpredictable part is how many employees will be required in any instance but after the first series employees will know if they may be obliged to overtime the next occurrence.

4.  The current demand is to put TWO representatives on the board. Logically they are thinking that by starting with 2 we might concede to allowing 1.

We have agreed to have one voting member on the board. This is what was asked for in the case study and we, the union believe this will allow us a more open dialogue with management and provide management with more “hands on” company information.

2. The classroom union demand is for a host of wellness programs covering both physical and mental health issues. Recently the company has pushed to eliminate emergency room visits from the health coverage and that employees enroll in an HMO to save on dollars.

A Union-Management committee will be struck to analyze wellness programs with the mandate to offer a binding proposal to this contract on wellness programs within six months provided that future health care costs are shared 50/50 and wait times for health and retirement are adopted.

 

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Question 1

 

 

Physicians who receive the Doctor of Medicine use an allopathic approach which means they actively intervene in attacking and eradicating disease and focus their efforts on the disease.

 

True

False

10 points

Question 2

 

Physicians who receive the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs) tend to stress interventionist treatments and use a aggressive, pharmaceutical-based approaches to treating patients.

True

False

10 points

Question 3

 

 

Most DOs are generalists.

True

False

10 points

Question 4

 

Exercise physiologists manage programs to assess, design and manage individual programs for both healthy and unhealthy individuals

 

True

False

10 points

Question 5

 

 

Kinesiotherapy is the application of exercise science to enhance the emotional capabilities of individuals with limited functions.

 

True

False

10 points

Question 6

 

 

Licensed vocation nurse’s responsibilities include patient observation, takes vital signs, keeps records, assists patients with personal hygiene, feeding and dressing them which are considered activities of daily living (ADLs).

 

True

False

10 points

Question 7

 

 

Certified nursing midwives (CNM) are registered nurses who have graduated from a nurse-midwifery education program that has been accredited by the American College of Nurse-Midwives’ Division of Accreditation.

True

False

10 points

Question 8

 

 

Primary care is important to U.S. healthcare because:

 

 

It is the point of entry in the health care system where the patient makes contact with the system.

 

It focuses on short term interventions that may require a specialist’s intervention.

 

 

It is the most complex level of medical care needed to complicated health issues.

 

 

It is based on a referral from a primary care provider.

10 points

Question 9

 

 

A hospitalist is a:

 

Nurse that only works in hospitals.

 

Physician that replaces the patient’s specialist for complicated surgeries.

 

Physician that monitors the patient from admittance to the hospital to the patient’s discharge.

 

Specialist physicians that work with the patient while they are in the hospital.

10 points

Question 10

 

 

Physician extenders are:

 

Registered nurses that are used for physicians in rural areas.

 

Also called non physician practitioners (NPPs) such as nurse practitioners.

 

Physicians who are retired but have returned to practice, extending their career.

 

Chiropractors who manipulate the patient’s spine to extend their life expectancy.

10 points

Question 11

 

 

Which of the following statements are accurate regarding nurses?

 

Nurses constitute the largest group of health care professionals.

 

Nurses provide the majority of care to patients.

 

Nurses represent 20% of the healthcare workforce.

 

All of these statements are accurate.

10 points

Question 12

 

 

Which statements are accurate regarding dentists?

 

They prevent, diagnose and treat teeth, gum and mouth disease.

 

They are required to complete four years of dental school once they complete a four year undergraduate degree.

 

Dental practices are not in managed care environments.

 

All of these statements are true.

10 points

Question 13

 

 

_________________ is the point of entry into the healthcare system—where the patient makes first contact with the system.

 

Secondary care

 

Tertiary care

 

Primary care

 

Primary prevention

10 points

Question 14

 

 

________________________ constitute the largest group of healthcare professionals in the U.S.

 

Physicians

 

Physician extenders

 

Chiropractors

 

Nurses

10 points

Question 15

 

 

The concept of healthcare providers has expanded to include many different positions. This expansion is called

 

Optometrists

 

Allied health professionals

 

Podiatrists

 

Nurse practitioners

10 points

Question 16

 

 

This category of healthcare professional focuses on a holistic approach to patient treatments.

 

Podiatrist

 

Personal trainer

 

Chiropractors

 

Optometrists

10 points

Question 17

 

 

Another term for primary care physicians is:

 

Psychologists

 

Psychiatrists

 

Specialists

 

Generalists

 

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21) Which performance appraisal tool requires a supervisor to maintain a log of positive and negative examples of a subordinate’s work-related behavior?

22) Which of the following is not a characteristic of the critical incident method for performance appraisal?

23) Wilson Consulting is a management consulting firm with seventy employees. As associate vice president of marketing, Suzanne Boyle is responsible for conducting performance appraisals of the twelve employees under her direct supervision. Suzanne plans to use the critical incident method to evaluate the performance of her subordinates.

A) providing examples of excellent work performance

B) comparing and ranking employees within a group

C) connecting specific incidents with performance goals

D) reflecting performance throughout the appraisal period

E) compiling examples of ineffective work performance

Which of the following, if true, undermines the argument that the critical incident method is the most appropriate performance appraisal tool for Suzanne to use?

A) Employee performance standards are closely aligned with Wilson Consulting’s long-term strategic plans.

B) Other departments at Wilson Consulting have seen employee performance improve as a result of providing ongoing evaluations.

C) Suzanne will be conducting performance appraisals in conjunction with the HR manager to ensure EEO compliance.

D) Logrolling has been an issue in the past for performance appraisals, so Wilson Consulting will be allowing employees to rate themselves.

E) Due to economic difficulties, the firm will be laying off the two lowest-performing employees in Suzanne’s department.

A) alternation ranking

B) paired comparison

C) forced distribution

D) critical incident

E) graphic rating

24) Which appraisal method combines the benefits of narrative critical incidents and quantified scales by assigning scale points with specific examples of good or poor performance?

A) behaviorally anchored rating scale

B) constant sums rating scale

C) graphic rating scale

D) alternation ranking

E) forced distribution

25) Which of the following best describes a behaviorally anchored rating scale?

A) chart of paired subordinates ranked in order of performance

B) combination of narrative critical incidents and quantified performance scales

C) diary of positive and negative examples of a subordinate’s work performance

D) predetermined percentages of subordinates in various performance categories

E) list of subordinates from highest to lowest based on specific performance traits

26) The first step in developing a behaviorally anchored rating scale is to ________.

A) develop performance dimensions

B) generate critical incidents

C) compare subordinates

D) reallocate incidents

E) scale incidents

27) Stacey is using a behaviorally anchored rating scale as a performance appraisal tool. She has already asked employees and supervisors to describe critical incidents of effective and ineffective job performance. What should Stacey do next?

A) create a final appraisal instrument

B) develop performance dimensions

C) rank employees from high to low

D) reallocate the incidents

E) rate the incidents

28) Wilson Consulting is a management consulting firm with seventy employees. As associate vice president of marketing, Suzanne Boyle is responsible for conducting performance appraisals of the twelve employees under her direct supervision. Suzanne plans to use the behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) to evaluate the performance of her subordinates.

 

Which of the following, if true, supports the argument that BARS is the most appropriate performance appraisal tool for Suzanne to use?

A) Suzanne wants to provide her subordinates with specific examples of their good and poor job performance during the appraisal interview.

B) Suzanne encourages her subordinates to review and make comments about their appraisal during a formal appeals process.

C) Wilson Consulting recently installed an electronic performance monitoring system to help supervisors conduct appraisals.

D) Wilson Consulting provides training to all supervisors regarding legally defensible performance appraisals.

E) Suzanne provides her subordinates with upward feedback as a way to illustrate the ratings she assigns to each employee.

29) What is the primary disadvantage of developing a behaviorally anchored rating scale?

A) costly

B) unreliable

C) time consuming

D) unclear performance standards

E) lack of feedback for subordinates

30) Which of the following terms refers to setting specific measurable goals with each employee and then periodically reviewing the progress made?

A) behaviorally anchored rating scale

B) management by objective

C) narrative form technique

D) forced distribution

E) critical incident

31) It is most important that supervisors who choose management by objectives as a performance appraisal tool use ________.

A) SMART goals

B) EPM systems

C) computerized notes

D) graphic rating scales

E) BARS-based techniques

32) All of the following are benefits of using computerized or Web-based performance appraisal systems EXCEPT ________.

A) merging examples with performance ratings

B) helping managers maintain computerized notes

C) allowing employees to perform self-evaluations

D) combining different performance appraisal tools

E) enabling managers to monitor employees’ computers

33) Which of the following enables supervisors to oversee the amount of computerized data an employee is processing each day?

A) computerized performance appraisal system

B) online management assessment center

C) digitized high-performance work center

D) electronic performance monitoring system

E) electronic performance support system

34) Nick supervises a team of data entry specialists. Lately, productivity has been down, and Nick believes his subordinates are not working as efficiently as possible. Which of the following tools would provide Nick with daily information about each employee’s rate, accuracy, and time spent entering data?

A) digital dashboard device

B) electronic performance monitoring system

C) Web-based management oversight device

D) electronic performance support system

E) computerized performance appraisal system

35) Graphic rating scales are subject to all of the following problems EXCEPT ________.

A) unclear standards

B) halo effects

C) complexity

D) leniency

E) bias

36) Which of the following terms refers to an appraisal that is too open to interpretation?

A) unclear standards

B) halo effects

C) leniency

D) strictness

E) biased

37) Which of the following is the best way for a supervisor to correct a performance appraisal problem caused by unclear standards?

A) focusing on performance instead of personality traits

B) using graphic rating scales to rank employees

C) avoiding the use of extremely low ratings

D) using descriptive phrases to illustrate traits

E) allowing employees to rate themselves first

38) Which of the following is a performance appraisal problem that occurs when a supervisor’s rating of a subordinate on one trait biases the rating of that person on other traits?

A) recency effect

B) halo effect

C) central tendency

D) stereotyping

E) discrimination

39) Jason is a conscientious employee, but he is viewed by most of his co-workers as unfriendly. Jason’s supervisor rates him low on the traits “gets along well with others” and “quality of work.” Which of the following problems has most likely affected Jason’s performance appraisal?

A) central tendency

B) leniency

C) stereotyping

D) halo effect

E) recency effect

40) A supervisor who frequently rates all employees as average on performance appraisals most likely has a problem known as ________.

A) halo effect

B) stereotyping

C) central tendency

D) strictness

E) leniency

 

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supervisory management

When Transfer Backfires” Case Study 

Attach is the case study)

(When the Transfer Backfires.docxDirections: Review the case, “When the Transfer Backfires” in your textbook. Write a 2-3 page paper to answer the following questions.

1. What are the facts Trent must consider now?
2. What avenues are now open to Trent? What does this case say to you about the need for supervisors to act morally?
3. Do you believe that some supervisors are untruthful where recommendations are concerned? Explain?
4. What three functions are salaries meant to perform?
5. To what extent should employee appraisals be used in salary adjustments? Explain

 

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