Marketing executives recruitment at baoviet life corporation

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL NGUYEN TUAN ANH MARKETING EXECUTIVES RECRUITMENT AT BAOVIET LIFE CORPORATION MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS HANOI – 2011 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL NGUYEN TUAN ANH MARKETING EXECUTIVES RECRUITMENT AT BAOVIET LIFE CORPORATION MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS SUPERVISOR: DR PHAM KHAC DUNG HANOI – 2011 ACKNOWLEDGMENT This thesis, from the beginning to end, has received valuable assistance and support from many people, to whom I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude I am deeply grateful to my supervisor, Dr Pham Khac Dung, for his comprehensive, valuable advice, instructions, suggestions, and comments I would like to give my thanks to all the lecturers, assistants, and staff members of the Business School for having assisted me during the time of studying and finishing my thesis I am grateful to my Manager, my colleagues in Baoviet Life Corporation for their great support during the time I carried out the project Finally, my profound gratitude is expressed to my family and my friends for their understanding and care, as well as their spiritual supports at my times of difficulties ABBREVIATION LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES EXCECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION .11 Rationale 11 Research objectives 12 Research questions 12 Research methodology 12 4.1 Research process 12 4.3 Data analyzing method 14 Research scope 15 Research structure .15 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK 16 1.1 Recruitment, selection, and socialization .16 1.1.1 Perceptions 16 1.1.2 The purpose and importance of recruitment 17 1.1.3 Marketing executive recruitment 18 1.2 Factors affecting the recruitment practices 19 1.2.1 Organizational factors (Internal factors) 19 1.2.2 Environmental factors (External factors) .20 1.3 Literature review and theoretical framework 21 1.3.1 Literature review 21 1.3.2 Theoretical framework 22 1.3.2.1 Recruitment process 22 1.3.2.2 Selection process .27 1.3.2.3 Socialization process .35 CHAPTER 2: CURRENT SITUATION OF RECRUITMENT FOR MARKETING EXECUTIVES AT THE HEAD OFFICE OF BAOVIET LIFE 38 2.1 Introduction to Baoviet Life 38 2.1.1 Background of Baoviet Life 38 2.1.2 Organization structure 40 2.1.3 Labor structure 44 2.1.4 Some characteristics of marketing executives of Baoviet Life 45 2.2 Requirements for marketing executives recruitment at Baoviet Life 47 2.2.1 The role of marketing executives at Baoviet Life 47 2.2.2 Requirements for marketing executives at Baoviet Life 48 2.2.3 Requirements for marketing executives recruitment at Baoviet Life 51 2.3 Recruitment and recruitment-related practices for marketing executives at Baoviet Life 52 2.3.1 Current situation of marketing executives recruitment at Baoviet Life 52 2.3.2 Recruitment practices 53 2.3.3 Selection practices 56 2.3.4 Socialization practices 58 2.4 Assessing the efficiency of recruitment for marketing executives at Baoviet Life 59 2.4.1 Selection ratio .59 2.4.2 Turnover rate 60 2.4.3 Job performance 61 2.4.4 Recruitment and selection cost .62 CHAPTER 3: SOLUTIONS FOR A BETTER OUTCOME OF RECRUITMENT FOR MARKETING EXECUTIVES AT BAOVIET LIFE CORPORATION 64 3.1 Improve HR planning .64 3.2 Improve in job descriptions practices .65 3.3 Diversify the recruitment sources for marketing executives 68 3.4 Improve the recruitment process for marketing executives 70 3.5 Enhance the effectiveness of interviews 72 3.6 Improve the socialization .75 CONCLUSION 77 REFERENCES 78 APPENDICES .79 ABBREVIATION Baoviet Life Baoviet Life Corporation HR Human Resources CV Curriculum Vitae LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Labor structure of Baoviet Life .44 Table 2.2: Education level of marketing executives at Baoviet Life .46 Table 2.3: Age groups of marketing executives of Baoviet Life 46 Table 2.4: Average salary/income of marketing executives of Baoviet Life from 2008 to 2010 47 Table 2.5: Requirements for marketing executives at Baoviet Life .49 Table 2.6: Recruitment plan for Marketing Department 55 Table 2.7: Cost for advertising vacant positons via some common channels 56 Table 2.8: Marketing recruitment results in 2008 - 2010 60 Table 2.9: Recruitment ratio from 2008 to 20010 60 Table 2.10: Turnover figures from 2008 – 2010 – Marketing Department 61 Table 2.11: Performance appraisals of Marketing Department .62 Table 2.12: Recruitment cost for Marketing Department .63 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Research process 13 Figure 2: The result of survey 14 Figure 1.1: Hiring process 17 Figure 1.2: Recruitment process 23 Figure 1.3: Selection process 28 Figure 2.1: Oraganization chart of Baoviet Life 41 Figure 2.2: Recruitment process of Baoviet Life 52 Figure 2.3: Human request form .54 Figure 3.1: HR requisition form 64 Figure 3.2: New selection process 71 Figure 3.3 Evaluation form .73 10 EXCECUTIVE SUMMARY Enterprises all over the world are being swept away by the trend of globalization and integration Vietnamese enterprises, together with those from other countries, are spontaneously contributing to the integration and globalization of the world That Vietnam joins WTO even generates this process more actively As a result of this, competitiveness has been greater than ever Under the pressure of competitiveness, Baoviet Life, a life insurer in Vietnam has also been striving to accomplish its goals and missions, meeting the requirements for an enterprise of the new era From the view of top managers of Baoviet Life, humans are the key element to the success of the enterprise Being aware of upcoming changes, Baoviet Lìfe has paid quite a lot attention to developing technologies, enhancing service quality, as well as attracting, maintaining and developing a strong labor force in both terms of quantity and quality Recruitment, along with other human resources management activities, plays an important role in getting suitably talented staff for Baoviet Life in particular and contributing to the development of Baoviet Life in general Together with staff from other departments, marketing executives have been effectively taking part in bettering up the image of Baoviet Life in the mind of customers From that point of view, I decide to choose the subject “Marketing executives recruitment at Baoviet Life Corporation” for my graduation thesis with two main objectives as follows: - Studying the current situation of recruitment for marketing executives at Baoviet Life; - Proposing solutions for a better outcome of recruitment for marketing executives at Baoviet Life Both primary data and secondary data are used in this thesis The primary data were collected from a surveys and in-depth interviews In order 71 - Only referrals for managerial and senior positions or other special position (As stated by the HR Department) are counted; - The reward should be proportional to the level of the position recruited The higher the level, the more valuable the reward - The reward should be divided into parts and paid in times: + 30% is paid after the recruited referrals have finished their probationary periods; + 70% is paid after the recruited referrals have finished their first year of service Partnership with preferred head hunters, job sites, universities Head-hunters: For the positions requiring high level of technical, management and analyzing skills, such as senior marketing executives, or designers, it is difficult and time-consuming for Baovier Life to search for suitable candidates by itself Head-hunters, with their interlacing connections and networks will save Baoviet Life’s time and efforts with reasonable costs For the best effectiveness, Baoviet Life should establish the partnership with or prominent head-hunters to get suitable recruiting prices Furthermore, being partners with head-hunters will help Baoviet Life get full support from them anytime having vacant positions in general and a marketing position in particular At those times, head-hunters might directly come to Baoviet Life’s office to understand more about the working environment, corporate culture, and then come up with best recruitment recommendations Universities: Baoviet Life pays quite special attention to attracting excellent students According to the statistics, during the period 2008 – 2010, at least one fresh graduate is recruited to the Marketing Department each year Baoviet Life has good relations with National Economics University and Foreign Trade University Many of its staff graduated from these two universities out of 11 members of Marketing Department of Baoviet Life 72 have graduated from National Economics University or Foreign Trade University Economics schools are still of a prosperous sources for Marketing Department, especially for fresh positions Job sites/Recruitment websites: For better attraction to candidates, Baoviet Life may make consider posting vacant jobs on job sites on the internet together with its official website As the result of the survey, 79% of candidates know about the vacant positions via the internet, among which 60% know via www.vietnamworks.com Thus, in order to save money and get the highest result in attracting candidates, Baoviet Life should post the advertisements about vacant position to the internet, especially the website www.vietnamworks.com However, for some special positions which are quite hard to find candidates in the labor market, Baoviet Life should post the advertisements via some major websites instead of just one Existed candidate database Along with the above mentioned sources, Baoviet Life may also set up and exploit their existed candidate database Once receiving candidates’ CVs, the HR Department should store them in a proper way for later use CVs of ex-candidates are also good resources for recruitment Some candidates, for some reasons, might not be suitable or available for a job at this time, but might still is a big potential in another time One candidate might not be suitable for a position, but he or she can be suitable for other positions All CVs should be coded for convenience 3.4 Improve the recruitment process for marketing executives For a better outcome of recruitment for marketing executives at Baoviet Life, from the author’s view, there should be some adjustments to the current recruitment process Accordingly, the selection process can be carried out as follows: 73 Figure 3.2: New selection process Recruited Individual Not qualified Preliminary Interview Not qualified Review of Applications and resumes Not qualified 1st interview Not qualified Rejected Applicants 2nd interview Not qualified Reference and background checks Not qualified Selection Decision 1st interview In this interview, the interview board is composed of HR manager, Marketing manager, and one expert/senior executive in the Marketing Department The interview board council evaluates the appearance, technical knowledge, skills, abilities and characteristics of candidates… After that, they discuss and find the best suitable candidates to go into the second interview With this way of carrying out the interview, Baoviet Life we can save time and cost for organizing the interview, as well as restrict issues in assessing candidates 2nd interview 74 After having passed the first interview, candidates get into the second one In this interview, the candidates will meet up with the CEO, who is directly managing the Marketing Department The CEO will, based on his own subjective assessment, decide whether a candidate is suitable for the organization or not Reference and background checks Baoviet Life should pay more attention to checking reference Once a candidate has passed the interview with CEO, the HR department should check the information as follows: • Check information on the phone; • Take time to build good relationships with the reference people to get the information about the candidate or getting the information via other sources; • Brief the description of jobs that the candidate has provided • Find out more about style, personalities, strengths and weaknesses of the candidate All the findings may contributory affect the decision made Evaluate the result of the recruitment process After recruitment decision made, the HR department should have a meeting to evaluate the result of the overall recruitment process Factors to be evaluated are as follows: - The number of candidates; - The quality of candidates; - The cost for recruitment; - The result of job performance of new recruits; 3.5 Enhance the effectiveness of interviews To interview is to verbally communicate (through questions and answers) and select among applicants This is a chance for the employer to accurately evaluate candidates before making a selection decision The 75 interview is also where candidates demonstrate their strengths Therefore, well-organized is the core characteristic for interviews, for the best results Before each interview, the interview board should prepare all the necessary documents The document includes: The job description of the vacant position General information about candidates (Job applications, CV…) Contents of the interview (I.e The information that the board need to know, the questions they want to ask …) Evaluation form As for the evaluation form, the author would like to propose a suitable form: Figure 3.3 Evaluation form INTERVIEW APPRAISAL FORM   Interviewee:      Position applied:    Date of interview:         Goo d Accepta ble No Criteria Excellent   Not appropri ate Remarks/ Notes I GENERAL CRITERIA Appearance / Physical status Communication           in English           in Vietnamese           Educational background           Working experience           Technical skills           Computer literacy           Interpersonal skills           Team-work           Analytical thinking           10 Adaptability           11 Customer orientation           12 Job motivation / Commitment           13 Characters / Positive     76 Personalities Negative     II ADDITIONAL CRITERIA FOR SUPERVISORY & MANAGERIAL POSITIONS 14 Leadership           15 Problem solving & Decision making           16 Planning & Monitoring           III ADDITIONAL CRITERIA FOR THE POSITION 17 Understanding of life insurance           18 Selling experience & skill           19 Presentation / Training skill           20 Voice           OVERALL APPRAISAL             Current (or last) salary:   Expected salary:     Additional comments:   Conclusion:       [ ] Fit for the applied position   [ ] Not fit for the applied position, but potential for the position of …   [ ] Inappropriate     Interviewer's signature:                 Date:       In order to get the highest results, the interview should follow the steps below: Step 1: Introduction of the interview board and interview process; Step 2: Introduction to Baoviet Life and the vacant position; Step 3: Questions from the board and answers from the candidates for the assessment of the candidate’s knowledge, characteristic, and capabilities; Step 4: Questions from the candidate and answers from the board; Step 5: Summary of the information exchanged and information on the next step (If any) 77 The interviewer must make sure that he comprehensively understand the job description of this position, ask questions as prepared, make candidates talk about themselves, and listen to candidates and evaluate the candidate as exactly as possible Welcoming the candidate is also a way of showing respect of employers to candidates A few gentle questions will help the candidate keep calm and exchange information in the interview spontaneously The purpose of asking questions is to seek information from applicants Therefore, to best assess the candidates, the interview board should raise logical and open questions 3.6 Improve the socialization Socialization is the final step in the recruitment process at Baoviet Life After recruitment, socialization has a very important contribution to job performance and satisfaction of new employees Organizational socialization is the process by which employees learn about and adapt to new jobs, roles, and the culture of the workplace In order to get a good socialization, before new employees start their jobs, the HR department should working closely with the General Affairs Department to make sure that all the things needed (e.g computer, stationary…) are well prepared As part of the learning map of Baoviet Life, new employees should be sent to training courses for freshmen These course will not only help new employees get to know about the organization but also help them make their relations at works During the probationary time, new employees should regularly be reached and provided with chances to share their issues The HR Department should stay connected with new employees, and play the role of the bridge 78 between them and the company All the issue arising during the beginning thime of new employees should be noted and settle down reasonably 79 CONCLUSION The foremost and most important role of recruitment is providing the organization with a strong workforce in terms of both quantity and quality In the era of high-tech, the competitiveness has become fiercer than ever, that leads to the trend of companies competing in human resources advantages Therefore, recruitment has become of significant importance of each and every organization nowadays The Marketing department, with its own characteristics and functions, plays an important role in the general operation of an organization However, in the actual condition of Baoviet Life, the recruitment results for Marketing executives were not really positive From the first step of recruitment, attracting candidate, due to the limitation in channel used, the number of candidates attracted for each vacant post is quite limited Moreover, the quality of candidates applying for positions in the Marketing Department was not really high By studying the case of Baoviet Life, the author tried to find out the gaps between requirements and current situation of recruitment activities for the positions of marketing executives, and then proposed some solutions to the current problems, which come in four recruitment-related sectors: (1) planning, (2) recruitment, (3) selection, and (4) socialization The author hopes that the solutions proposed would contribute positively in a better outcome for marketing executives recruitment of Baoviet Life in the time coming 80 REFERENCES Thạc sỹ Nguyễn Vân Điềm, PGS.TS Nguyễn Ngọc Quân (2007) Giáo trình Quản trị Nhân lực Nhà xuất Đại học Kinh tế quốc dân Nguyễn Hữu Huân, 2006) Quản trị nhân Nhà xuất thống kê Gómez-Mejía,L.R., Balkin,D.B., and Cardy,R.L (2007) Managing human resources Pearson International Edition Ju, C.M., and Kleiner, B.H (2001).How to hire employees effectively Management research news, v24, (i12), pp.31-38 Hackney, M., and Kleiner, B.H (1994) Conducting an effective selection interview Work study, v43 (i7), pp.8-13 Mak, C (1995) Seccessful people selection in action Health manpower management, v21 (i5) Pp.12-16 Baoviet Annual report 2008, 2009 Baoviet Life’s recruitment and selection regulations Baoviet Life’s recruitment and selection statistics 10 Baoviet Life’s recruitment and selection related materials 11 Baoviet Life’s Job Descriptions for Marketing Executives 12 Pham Vu Thai Ha, (2010) “Improving recruitment and selection at Siemens Vietnam” 81 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR EMPLOYEES AND CANDIDATES Dear Ms or Mr., My name is Nguyen Tuan Anh, an E-MBA student at BSNEU First of all, I would like to thank you for your kind cooperation This questionnaire aims to collect the information and data relating the recruitment of Marketing Executives at Baoviet Life The information you provide by answering the following question will be used solely for the above purpose Best regards, A General information Your name: Your department (You are working in or applying for): Your position (You are holding or applying for)? B Detail information Part 1: Recruitment How did you know about the vacancies at Baoviet Life?  Via advertisements on newspapers  Via recruitment websites  Via Baoviet Life’s website  Via friends’ reference  Via head hunters  Others – Please specify……………………………………………………… How did you know about the vacancies at Baoviet Life?  Via advertisements on newspapers  Via recruitment websites  Via Baoviet Life’s website 82  Via friends’ reference  Via head hunters  Others – Please specify……………………………………………………… What kind of channel you usually follow for recruitment information?  Newspapers  Recruitment channels  Friends’ reference  Companies’ websites  Others – Please specify………………………………………………………… By what way you like to send your CV to Baoviet Life? Via e-mail and the Internet Mail Meet directly with recruiter Other – Please: Why did you decide to join Baoviet Life?  Working environment  Compensation & benefits  Career opportunities  Baoviet Life’s brandname  Others – Please specify… How long did it take until you received feedback from HR after sending your CV?  One day  Three days 83  One week  More than one week Part 2: Selection Please give marks to steps in the selection process of Baoviet Life as follows 1: Totally agree/ 2: Agree/ 3: Partly agree/ 4: Disagree/ 5: Totally disagree Agreement Statement It takes quite a lot of my time following the steps I am sufficiently provided with necessary information before each step HR executives are always responsible to my questions I feel comfortable during the interviews I think the talks in the interviews are fair I think it would be better if some interviews can be combined I think the written test is appropriate I have all the information I need from HR before I start working with Baoviet Life Part 3: Socialization How were you provided with necessary information when you started your job?  Nothing  Only my job description  Everything I need  Others – Please specify ……………………………………………………… How did HR/Line Manager help you integrate with the new environment? 84  They didn’t anything  They just give me one induction  They are always with me, helping during my beginning time  Others – Please specify ……………………………………………………… Part - Others What is the key element that made you decide to leave Baoviet Life?  Environment  Developing opportunities  Salary  Others – Please specify ……………………………………………………… 10 Your suggestions to improve recruitment practices at Baoviet Life? ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you very much for sparing your time for this! 85 APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS I Personal information Name : Position : Age : Seniority : II Interview questions By what way did you become a member of Baoviet Life? What made you decide to stay with Baoviet Life? What are, in your opinion, the key elements of recruitment and selection practices? How you think about the effectiveness of recruitment in general and recruitment for Marketing executives in particular at Baoviet Life? What improvement you think can be made to recruitment practices at Baoviet Life? Why? How you think about the socialization here? How you think about the work performance/effectiveness of new recruits? Questions for employees having left Baoviet Life: What is the key element that drove you to leave? Did Baoviet Life provide you with enough development opportunities? If you could change one thing in Baoviet Life, what would you like to?