Scenario: You are the Sales Manager for Technocrat Gizmos, and your department is in desperate need of new Sales Associates

Scenario:
You are the Sales Manager for Technocrat Gizmos, and your department is in desperate need of new Sales Associates. You post a job description in a local newspaper:

Sales job, experience preferred but not required. Candidates must be professional, clean-cut, and highly personable. Ability to troubleshoot and solve Technocrat Gizmo technical issues. Some training required. Commission based, but our most successful employees use a no-pressure sales approach. Call 555-5555.

Question:
Make suggestions for one or more selection devices that would identify the best candidates for the job.

My Answer:
I think the interview would be the best selection. The first reason I would select that is because the ad says experience not required. They would prefer an experienced salesperson but would settle for the best person for the job even if he/she didn't have experience. Another reason is because sometimes people with a lot of experience are too polished, might demand a higher salary, and might not be the right person for the job. Perhaps they would prefer to train the person selected themselves. It sounds like they prefer someone that would use a no-pressure sales approach, in other words someone who comes across as honest and natural, not pushy.

In order to select the best candidate for the position, it would be best to really put the candidates into the actual situation with our set up customers and see their responses. Although they are inexperienced, as a professional salesperson, they should be able to handle and solve the situations. The selection committee can view the response and feedback, give each candidate the points, and select the candidate with the highest score.

Question:
What challenges could arise from standardizing employee selection programs in a multinational organization? How are those management challenges similar to challenges encountered by organizations that accommodate employee diversity? Provide examples.

My Answer:
The selection process requires management to adjust to the different countries and cultures. Not every country thinks alike, and employees may respond to screening processes differently. To determine what the company needs research is imminent before the screening process. Without proper planning, applicants may not respond. When a job posting requires a person to be able to lift and carry, or drive a forklift, a high-level aptitude test may not be necessary. Studies have shown that implementing standardized selection practices can have managers fighting back.

The challenge is the systematic approaches to finding candidates, standardizing selection interviews, and making hiring decisions. The company must implement them to the different groups of people who come from different cultural background. The approach, interview, and selection must be applicable for all candidates from different cultures. For example, the approach for selecting an accountant in the United States must be the same as the approach used in Japan.