-1Introduction

Human resource has become increasingly complex. In today’s

market, the way an organization manages its employees can make
all the difference in its ability to stand out form the competition.
Because a company’s employees are its great assets, HR must
address its employees’s needs as it addresses the company’s
strategic needs, requiring HR managers to take on new
responsibilities. An effective human resources department will be
customized to best serve the needs of each organization and will
include such areas as staffing, compensation, retention, training,
and conflict resolution, and strategic thinking.

Faced with an information technology employee shortage of

monumental proportions, Sutter Health, a nonprofit health care
network in Sacramento, California, know its expansion strategy
would be stifled if it couldn’t fill its 10,000 job openings. The
company’s further depended on attracting many more recruits - but
how should it do so? Sutter Health decided to move its job opening
posting online only to find that this was not the solution. Project
manger Keith Vencel had to help Sutter devise a new answer and
develop a manpower planning for his company.

Definition

For the Manpower planning, the first step is in recruiting and

selecting process. This can help management in making decision an
attempt to forecast how many, and what kind of, employees will be
required in the future, and to what extent this demand is likely to be
met. It involves the comparison of an organization’s current human
resources with likely future needs and consequently the
establishment if programs for hiring, training, redeploying and
possibly terminating employees. Effective Manpower should result in
the right people doing the right things in the right place at the right
time.

Once the Manpower planning function is fulfilled, the staffing of the

organization must be completed through the recruitment process.
Recruitment is the process of locating and encouraging potential
applicants to apply for existing or anticipated job openings. During
this process, efforts are made to inform the applicants fully about
the qualifications required to perform the job and the career
opportunities the organization can offer them.

Background

Target Sourcing Services is represented around the world with full

service merchandising and production offices in more than 40
countries. To make Target be the preferred shopping destination for
their guests by delivering outstanding value, and consistently
fulfilling Expect More. Pay Less.R brand promise. Mark Murphy
Target Sourcing Service, new VP want to set up a new sourcing office
in Shenzhen since he want to lower the operation costs, to make
employees more productive, and to find new ways to do things
better and less expensively. Their competitor Wal-Mart already set
up a new global sourcing office in Shenzhen as it is a better for the
company to keep a closer link to manufactures there for
communication and coordination. Having analyzed the situation,
Mark has decided to set up a new sourcing office in Shenzhen.
Target will invest over USD20 million in this operation, which was
considered to be a substantial investment by the company.

The HRM at Target is clear as Mark delegated the project of setting

up and starting a new group, and finding and deploying sourcing
team in Shenzhen. Their plan was to set up a branch office which
consisting the Souring Director, Divisional Manager, Senior
merchandisers, Merchandiser and Assistance Merchandiser. To build
up a productive and experienced team, HR was plan to hire the
Director, Divisional Manager and Senior Merchandiser level in Hong
Kong as they realized that HK people will be more professional and
skilled in dealing with customers.

Manpower Planning

Job Analysis

Under this circumstance, HRM begin with organization design and

job analysis. To gather job analysis data, HRM use questionnaires to
determine the job entails, they asked the other sourcing office
director or manager or employees to list their job’s duties for HRM
ref and this information which can be collected and helps to identify
the skills and attributes required for the position that they need to
hire.
Figure 1: Organization Structure of the new sourcing team

S o u r c i n g D i r e c t o r
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D i v i s i o n a l M D a i vn i a s gi o e n r a l M D a i vn i a s gi o e n r a l M D a i vn i a s gi o e n r a l M a n a g
H o m e D e c o rK i t c h e n T a b l e t o p F u r n it u r e & L i g h t i
1 1 1 1

S e n i o r M e r cS h e a n n i od r i s M e re r cS h e a n n i od ri s M e re r cS h e a n n i od r i s M e re r c h a n d
1 1 1 1

M e r c h a n d i s Me re r c h a n d i s Me re r c h a n d i s Me re r c h a n d i s e r
2 2 2 2

A s s i s t a n c e A M s e s r i cs ht a a n n c d e i s A M e s re s r i cs ht a a n n c d e i s A M e s re s r i cs ht a a n n c d e i s M e re r c h
2 2 2 2

Job Description

By completed a job analysis, the HRM have determined the position

and created a job description. They quickly eliminating and have to
write new job descriptions for employees ranging from Senior
Merchandisers to Director.

1. Senior Merchandiser

Company : Target Sourcing Service

Job Title : Senior Merchandiser
Reporting to : Divisional Manager

Responsible for :
1. Interprets the seasonal fashion direction, assortment
opportunities, and merchandise trends for the hard home area.
2. Works with Marketing and Store Environment in the development
of marketing, publicity, signing and visual campaigns to support new
product launches;

Purpose of Job and Responsibilities:

1. Works with Manager of Product Development, and Product
Development Manager, to meet business requirements.
2. Works closely with Buyers, Sourcing, Marketing, and Trend to
ensure brand integrity and consistency of the brand image.

Qualification & Experience:

Education: College degree or equivalent business experience.
Experience: 5 – 8 years' experience in retail buying or wholesale
merchandising.

2. Divisional Manager

Company : Target Sourcing Service

Job Title : Divisional Manager
Reporting to: Director

Responsible for:
1. Interprets the seasonal fashion direction, assortment
opportunities, and merchandise trends for the hard home area.
Ensures that the style, fissionability, and quality of assigned brands
are consistent with requirements.

2. Works with Marketing and Store Environment in the development

of marketing, publicity, signing and visual campaigns to support new
product launches; with Packaging and Labeling to ensure that all
new product launches have the appropriate packaging, hangtags,
and labels, as needed.

Purpose of Job and Responsibilities:

1. Works with Director of Product Development, and Product
Development Director, to meet business requirements.
2. Works closely with Buyers, Sourcing, Marketing, and Trend to
ensure brand integrity and consistency of the brand image.

Qualification / Experience:
Education: College degree or equivalent business experience.
Experience: 8 – 12 years' experience in retail buying or wholesale
merchandising.
Core Competencies: Strong awareness of trends, merchandising
strategies, and product assortment mix, persuasion, time
management, prioritization, organization, oral and written
communication

3. Sourcing Director
Company : Target Sourcing Service
Job Title : Sourcing Director
Reporting to : President

Responsible for :
1. Interprets the seasonal fashion direction, assortment
opportunities, and merchandise trends for the hard home area.
Ensures that the style, fissionability, and quality of assigned brands
are consistent with requirements established in meeting the lifestyle
needs of the target customer, and that product packages are
completed for assigned areas.
2. Works with Marketing and Store Environment in the development
of marketing, publicity, signing and visual campaigns to support new
product launches; with Packaging and Labeling to ensure that all
new product launches have the appropriate packaging, hangtags,
and labels, as needed.

Purpose of Job and Responsibilities:

1. Manage the Sourcing team to meet business requirements
2. Works closely with Buyers, Sourcing, Marketing, and Trend to
ensure brand integrity and consistency of the brand image.

Qualification / Experience:
Education: College degree or equivalent business experience.
Experience: 15 – 20 years' experience in retail buying or wholesale
merchandising.
Core Competencies: Strong awareness of trends, merchandising
strategies, and product assortment mix, persuasion, time
management, prioritization, organization, oral and written
communication

Recruitment & Selection Process

Recruitment

The ability to attract and hire effective employees, HRM is

committed to recruiting team members with different backgrounds
and distinct experiences. They look everywhere for high-performing,
diverse talent, seeking out the best candidates from internal
transfer (from other sourcing office to Shenzhen), agencies and
Internet recruitment.

Recruitment begins with finding the right person to fill job in Target
Sourcing Service team and their hiring process consist of three
activities: recruitment and selection and orientation. Recruitment
was focus on attracting qualified candidates internally and or
externally.

Internal Source - To be effective, promotion is the best way to

attract the present employees to transfer and work in a new branch
(Shenzhen) office. Moved to assignments from the home country.
HRM offer compensate package based on home country practices.
In addition to increase basic salary, cost of living allowances and
career planning for the present employees who moved because the
present employees are often the best source of candidates, since
they well known the company/business and no need to train on their
work, it help the cost saving on training. Also they are more reliable
than the external recruitment.
External Source - Hiring employees at a high wage people from
outside who already have the required talents. Private agencies and
Internet recruitment can help HRM access to a wider range of
candidates.

Private agencies is more productive to find the right people to the

right position and they can submit’s a list of suitable candidates for
the HRM selection. Agencies can be particularly effective that they
can find an employee with professional skill in the Merchandising
field.

Internet recruitment -Being able to reach a wider and more

diversified labors market, Internet recruitment is cheaper and faster.
One of the key tools HRM use is online recruiting through
www.targetJOBs.com. This site allows visitors to research a wealth of
career information, search for positions by location, department or
title, and apply online.
Also they posted advertisement on the Classified post Interactive
website, it is the largest online database in HK, and that thousands
of new jobs are updated each week. Job seekers can search jobs by
job titles or by company logo. Use Classified post can help HRM to
reach the candidates easily.

Selection

From a shortlist of candidates, selection is the process to decide who

is the most suitable or a particular post. HRM use the application
forms, interview, reference check and work sample test for the
selection.

Application form - the candidate should be asked to fill in, firstly to

ensure that no important details are omitted and secondly to
provide information about the candidate in a logical and uniform
way. This is also make easier to compare candidates on specific
criteria. The application form should be contain the personal
information, educational background and employment history.

A well-planned and carefully executed interview is one of the most

important aspects of the hiring process. HRM screen all the
candidates by face to face formal interview, this can valid predictors
of job performance, its based on a throughout job analysis and it
applies a series of job-related questions with predetermined answer
across all interview.

Also reference check is one of the best methods of predicting the

future success of prospective employees is to look at their past
employment record. HRM send a check list or make a phone call to
their past employer to get more information about the candidate
which they selected.

Work sample tests typically have high reliability and validity, the
essential ingredients for an effective selection tools. Its widely
viewed as fair and valid measure of the job performance. HRM
provide a case for the candidate to study and then ask them some
questions or required them to write an email to the customers. Its
consist of a carefully - chosen part of the actual job.

Attracting Talent to the Organization

Compensation & Benefit

To attract talent people to their organization and show the

commitment to the employees, Target HRM has developed a
comprehensive employee benefits package to help balance work life
and personal life. They also continue to seek input from the
employees on what's important to them, and continually review the
programs to make sure they meet the needs of the employees and
the company. HRM also offers health benefits to eligible team
members. Other benefits include more than a competitive pay
package: they offer associates person holiday, life insurance and
leave of absence.

Medical Plan
All plans include coverage for office visits, hospital and emergency
room services, prescription drugs and mental health/substance
abuse treatment.

Dental Plan
A with coverage for routine, preventive, restorative, and periodontal
services.

Competitive pay package

HRM regularly check the salaries against other competitive to make
sure they’re competitive. And in order to keep up with any changes
in the market, they will review the basic pay every year. They also
offer extra performance rewards to recognize individual
achievement.

Annual Bonuses based on the company results, individual

performance
The annual Bonus Scheme is open to all employees. The Bonus
Scheme is open to new employees from the date they join the
Company and they will be eligible for a proportionate bonus, based
on the number of full calendar months they work in the financial
year. However, they reserve the right to review and where
appropriate withdraw the Scheme each year.
Personal Holidays
Personal Holidays give people the flexibility to use time off as you
choose: extend a vacation or just take the day off on the birthday.

Life Insurance, Accident and Travel Insurance

Eligible team members are automatically covered by company-paid
life insurance. The plan pays the team member’s beneficiary
approximately one year's worth of annual pay. Additional life
insurance coverage, from one to six times annual pay, and
dependent policies can also be purchased at very affordable rates.
Travel accident insurance is also provided.

Leave of Absence
As an employee of Target, may request a leave of absence from
work to care for either yourself or an eligible ill or disabled member
of their family, for a work-related disability, or for personal reasons.

Target hire the best and keep their skills sharp through professional
development and education. They provide continuous learning
opportunities to help the associates achieve their professional goals
and career aspirations. They deploy a variety of learning methods,
including classroom sessions, video and web conferences, systems
training, online resources, lending library, on-the-job coaching, and
in-store/in-facility experiences.

Conclusion

A well planned Manpower planning can help company improve their

performance can be more innovation and flexibility, otherwise it will
effect the morale and quality of work. As Target Sourcing Service,
their HRM will have difficult to recruit the experienced people which
needed to stay in Shenzhen from Monday to Friday as they leave
their home country once they find a similar job in HK, they will leave
the company. Also the culture and the attitudes of the local and HK
people is totally different, it will take a longer time to build trust and
work together. The above is a potential impact of the turnover or a
shortage labors in the team and that affect the stability in
company . To Build a success, HRM may considered more about
external opportunities and treats and internal strengths and
weaknesses in their Manpower planning.
Reference :

Maria Seminerio, “E-Recruiting Takes Next Step -Tools Help High-

Techs Spot the Best IT People,” Week, April 23,2001,pp, pp.49-51

Gary Dessler ,2003, Human Resource Management , 9th ed., Prentice

Hall, USA

Chan, Mark and Barry, 2002, Managing Human Resources in Hong,

3rd ed., Thomson Sweet & Maxwell Asia, HK

Messmer Max and Ann Bogardus with Connie Isbell , 2008, Human
Resource Management, Wiley, USA