Introduction
Established by Thurston Wood and Tanner Emerson in 1975, the Tanglewood Department Stores sell various products, from clothing and home utilities to electronics and camping gear. However, the chain’s primary point of differentiation is its focus on the distribution of ‘outdoor’ items (Kammeyer-Mueller, 2021). At this point in its evolution, the company is focused on growth and requires a revamp of its human resources practices to keep up with changing market conditions and boost its bottom line. It is important to center the conversation on the strategic staffing decisions associated with the Tanglewood situation so that the right course of action may be taken for the company’s future development.
Brief Overview
The Tanglewood neighborhood flourished as the store catered more to those with higher incomes. Tanglewood has grown into a sizable network with 243 locations, and the company intends to keep expanding. The success of the organization can be traced back to a deliberate management style in which employee engagement plays a central role. The existing management model is based on a hierarchy with 12 unit managers, 20 departmental administrators per zone, and 3 deputy store heads at every branch (Kammeyer-Mueller, 2021). To operate the wide chain effectively, it is essential to create an efficient central planning unit and restructure the present management system.
Store assistant managers supervise department directors, who in turn monitor shift supervisors. Managers, then, act not as bosses but as team leaders who consider the ideas of all their workers (Kammeyer-Mueller, 2021). Corporate HR directors and departmental assistant store managers for sales and personnel handle human resources. Effective implementation of the business management strategy is made more difficult by such a method of dividing HR duties. Therefore, it is important to balance centralized HR management and a strong emphasis on local personnel leadership (Judge & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2022). Analyzing thirteen important staffing decisions related to staffing levels and quality can inform Tanglewood’s management system modifications.
Staffing Levels
Acquire and Develop Talent
As part of its overall strategy, Tanglewood intends to establish an organizational structure in which all staff members can act as managers and have their voices heard by upper-level management. This has the understanding that all efforts must be directed toward advancing the business’s overarching goals and philosophies. Therefore, Tanglewood can benefit from either plan for scouting and nurturing new talent. If Tanglewood is serious about progressing, it should talk more openly about its regular hiring practices and prioritize acquiring new skills. When making an external acquisition, a company can rest assured that its new personnel will accept without question the management strategy outlined in response to the attainment (Judge & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2022). Yet another way the business can strengthen its local leadership and central management principles is through training its internal human resources to establish a shared vision of the company’s guiding principles. The organization should pay greater attention to employee motivation while nurturing internal abilities.
Hire Yourself or Outsource
The management at Tanglewood is built on a created system that needs serious reforming, but this can only be done by thoroughly reviewing the company’s successful and unsuccessful approaches to staffing. Long-term employees have the luxury of focusing exclusively on the merits and flaws of the company’s strategies, allowing for the most in-depth evaluation possible. However, it makes sense to bring in an expert consultant to help identify what needs updating to keep up with the times (Kammeyer-Mueller, 2021). An external consultant is better positioned to assess whether the organization would benefit from a lag or lead system and to recommend the latter based on the need to centralize operations sufficiently.
External or Internal Hiring
When it comes to retail, Tanglewood is all about growth and improving efficiency. Therefore, human resources managers pay close attention to external and internal hiring when new stores open and new management-level jobs are created. In addition, the company’s success is tied to staying true to the company’s guiding principles and objectives (Kammeyer-Mueller, 2021). One’s dedication to the job is fostered and supported when work obligation is extended and motivated. Therefore, Tanglewood should emphasize the internal employment process to help establish a solid organization based on the concepts of the company’s culture and values. Tanglewood should rely on external hires to open additional stores that follow the company’s ethos.
Core or Flexible Workforce
Tanglewood’s guiding philosophy is to invest in its foundational staff to foster innovation in the company’s fundamental principles and culture and to increase employee dedication. Attributable to this, Tanglewood has to establish a dedicated staff planning body, and it would be wise for the business to keep employing its core personnel.
Hire or Retain
Tanglewood agrees with the primary workforce principle of solid management. That is why it is preferable to invest in existing staff by providing them with prospects for advancement rather than constantly searching for new ones. Although it is important to prioritize staffing newly opened stores, doing so may have unintended consequences for the evolution of the business’s fundamental strategy (Kammeyer-Mueller, 2021). From here on out, it is essential to emphasize retention methods to curb high staff churn rates.
National or Global
While expanding into new markets, Tanglewood always hires residents of those areas to staff its stores. Distributing the company’s guiding ideas to all of the regional stores’ staff is crucial for advancing the ethos of the business (Judge & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2022). Recruiting experts from all over the world is not required in any case. Therefore, it is vital to hire people on a national scale to respond to the concept of centralization and to maintain the company’s historical ideology.
Attract or Relocate
Tanglewood expands its retail footprint to meet rising consumer demand and recruit a more diverse and skilled workforce. When a business moves without opening a new location, it acts inappropriately (Kammeyer-Mueller, 2021). Therefore, Tanglewood would be better served by adopting a strategy to lure the labor force.
Overstaff or Understaff
When considering the field in which Tanglewood competes, it is clear that extra help is required. It is feasible to shift the approach and put more emphasis on understaffing to provide employees greater responsibility and authority while simultaneously changing staffing tactics and concentrating on the new organizational model.
Short or Long-Term Focus
Tanglewood is currently concerned with planning for the long term regarding personnel matters. This method works quite well as a method for creating an efficient and well-organized management structure (Kammeyer-Mueller, 2021). Thus, it is important to refer to the long-term focus, which allows the company to define a clear objective and try to achieve it during the lengthy period necessary to construct the central planning body and enhance the organization throughout the entire chain.
Staffing Quality
Person/Job or Person/ Organization Match
Tanglewood’s competitive edge stems from its dedication to instilling its core values, philosophy, and culture into every member of its workforce. Therefore, as the bulk of the company’s staff should have low credentials, Tanglewood should focus on the person/organization match to fulfill the intended aim of the effective expansion.
Specific or General KSAOs
Tanglewood is in an industry where broad knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) are more prized than narrow ones. Consequently, it is important to hire people with broad KSAOs to strengthen the organizational system since they will need to learn and embrace Tanglewood’s guiding values and philosophy.
Exceptional or Acceptable Workforce Quality
Employees at Tanglewood are valued for their contributions to the growth of the core workforce, and they are expected to stay with the company for the near future (Kammeyer-Mueller, 2021). To reduce employee turnover caused by the search for qualified candidates, it would be preferable to refer to the identified quality of the current personnel.
Active or Passive Diversity
As part of its strategy for growth, Tanglewood is focusing heavily on opening a large number of regional stores, which will need to hire people from a wide range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Accordingly, the company’s purpose is more visibly addressed by passive diversity, but the focus on active diversity is the way to develop the motivation of employees and attract more customers.
Conclusion
Tanglewood would benefit from reorganizing its human resources department with the company’s culture and values as its top priorities. Tanglewood needs to prioritize learning new skills and be more transparent about its standard hiring procedures if it is serious about progressing. The company needs to nurture internal skills while paying closer attention to employee motivation. It is essential for advancing the company ethos that the guiding principles be communicated to all employees of the regional stores. It is recommended to use the identified quality of the current workforce to reduce employee turnover exacerbated by the search for qualified candidates. Thus, it is crucial to focus more on methods proven to boost employee dedication and enthusiasm.
References
Judge, T., & Kammeyer-Mueller, J. (2022). Staffing Models and Strategy. In T. Judge & J. Kammeyer-Mueller (Eds.), Staffing organizations (10th ed., pp. 6-45). McGraw-Hill Publishers.
Kammeyer-Mueller, J. (2021). Tanglewood casebook to accompany staffing organizations (10th ed.). Pangloss Industries, Inc.