HR Strategies in E-commerce: A Case Study of VTI Group's Transition

This case study provides a detailed analysis of HR strategies required for VTI Group's transition to e-commerce. It explores relevant HR policies and objectives, including recruitment, selection, and induction procedures, and covers the legislative aspects. The study identifies the need for recruitment due to the shift to online selling and the importance of hiring individuals with e-commerce expertise. It includes the development of position descriptions for roles such as Administrative Manager, Marketing Manager, Training Manager, and Finance Manager, along with sample job advertisements and interview questions. The case study also discusses the importance of training and ongoing support for individuals involved in the recruitment process and examines advanced software solutions to improve recruitment, selection, and induction.

Running head: HR STRATEGIES
HR STRATEGIES
Case study analysis
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

HR STRATEGIES 1
Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................2
Task 1:........................................................................................................................................2
Critical analysis of the strategies and operational plan to identify relevant HR policies and
objectives:..................................................................................................................................2
Policies and procedures related to the recruitment, selection and induction covering the
legislation...................................................................................................................................2
Step by step procedure to be followed for recruitment, selection and induction process..........3
Identification of the need for recruitment..................................................................................4
Obtaining support on the policies and procedure in the simulated work environment..............4
Forms and policies developed and the necessary adjustments to the proposed plan.................4
Development of the position description for the following position in VTI Group:.................5
Development of the advertisements for each of the positions to be posted on job portals........6
List of specialists to be consulted in the HR process.................................................................8
Advertisement of the job to other colleagues:............................................................................8
Need of training and on-going support to the individuals involved in recruitment, selection
and the induction process...........................................................................................................8
A set of 10 questions to be asked in interview from each candidate for each job position.......9
A set of 5 questions for reference checks.................................................................................11
A template for an unsuccessful letter to be sent to the unsuccessful candidate.......................12
A template for the successful letter to be sent to the successful candidate..............................12
Development of the staff induction policy:..............................................................................13

HR STRATEGIES 2
Development of staff induction and checklist to follow the process.......................................14
Task 2:......................................................................................................................................15
Discussion on the three advanced software available to improve the recruitment, selection
and the induction process.........................................................................................................15
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................16
Reference list:...........................................................................................................................17

HR STRATEGIES 3
Introduction:
The aim of this study is to carry out a detailed analysis of the HR strategies that an
organisation has to undertake when there is a change in the operational activities of the
organisation. The study will give an overview of the steps that the HR department shall have
to undertake because the Melbourne based VTI group has decided to implement the online
selling strategy and begin with the e-commerce activities.
Task 1:
Critical analysis of the strategies and operational plan to identify relevant HR policies
and objectives:
As stated by Trappmann (2017), the role of the HR in the e-commerce sector can be
best described in terms of the quirking, agility and the ability of thinking out of the box when
the focus has to be made on the hiring and the retention policies of the organisation. As
pointed out by Stone et al. (2015), that the e-commerce activities are inclined towards the
technology used to carry out the buy and sell activity but amidst the increasing impact of the
technology in the e-commerce activities, the HR policies should include the ideas and
unusual benefits for the employees working in the organisation. As commented by
Melanthiou et al. (2015), for a star- up HR policies should go beyond the branding process.
The employees should be given the allowance and the leaves as per their capability and need.
For instance, the employees could be given maternity or paternity leaves, medical insurance
or any kind of benefits that could be given as a token of appreciation for achieving any target.
Policies and procedures related to the recruitment, selection and induction covering the
legislation
Recruitment policies are based on creating a brief description of the job of the
company keeping into consideration the mission and the vision of the company. Followed by

HR STRATEGIES 4
it, the policy should include a short summary of the job role and the purpose of the person in
the company. A list of responsibilities, requirement and the procedure to apply for the job are
the next steps in the recruitment procedures (Melanthiou et al. 2016).
Selection process has to be accompanies by the screening the candidate in terms of
his/her abilities that might include the process of resume screening, followed by some kind of
personality tests along with ability tests and reasoning. Once these processes are done, the
final selection shall be based on either individual or by group interview.
Induction procedure should be able to consolidate the understanding for the duties and
the responsibilities of the employees in the form of the standards and the job objectives to
align the job responsibilities with the line managers. The other policies and procedure include
consolidating the job responsibilities and the duties and understanding the expectation of the
employee (Marchington et al. 2016). In addition to this, the induction program also highlights
the training and development needs of the candidates based on the day to day performance.
Along with this, the candidate is also introduced with the line managers of the company.
Step by step procedure to be followed for recruitment, selection and induction process
Recruitment, selection and the induction process goes one after another and thus, the
steps of the three processes follows one by one. These are:
 The need of hiring is identified
 Planning of the process that include the interview question and the designation to be
offered
 The job description is created
 The post for the employees or the job opening is done
 The process of recruitment starts by screening the CVs of the candidates followed by
the interviews and the talent assessment
 Final decision is made and the applicant is given the job offer

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 The final step of hiring is done and the candidate is expected to work on board
 After the desired candidate is once selected, the induction process follows
 The candidates are given induction in order to let them know about the company and
also about the line managers with whom they shall be working
Identification of the need for recruitment
For any kind of change management in an organisation, it is not easy for the existing
staffs to settle down for those changes and if there is an urgency of the change the only option
left for an organisation is to hire new people. In the case study, the organisation has been
transforming its business activities from the retail stores to the e-commerce activity and so
people with better knowledge of the e-commerce needed to be hired. People who are more
capable of dealing with the clients virtually and not in-person was needed. The e-commerce
activities include dealing with clients virtually right from the time when the client makes the
purchase to the time of delivering it and in fact in case if the product needs to be exchanged.
In addition to this, the need of the technical knowledge is important and that people who are
well versed in the technology needed to be hired.
Obtaining support on the policies and procedure in the simulated work environment
In order to make sure that the policies and the procedures have been done correctly,
help from the seniors was needed. For the same reason, the senior managers and others in the
organisation shall be contacted in order to understand their point of view on the policies
developed for the purpose of hiring the new employees.
Forms and policies developed and the necessary adjustments to the proposed plan
The planning has been done keeping the need of the workplace and the changes that
the organisation is about to bring in its operational activities. Considering any kind of
adjustment, it can be said that the employees are not only responsible for the selling and
buying of the things but there should be other employees who shall be responsible for the

HR STRATEGIES 6
technical operations as well. For example, development and the maintenance of the e-
commerce site are important in this respect. Moreover, since the organisation will be turning
its operation into e-commerce for the first time, it is equally important that the candidate
should have enough knowledge about the e-commerce operations and when needed can also
help other existing employees to understand the activities.
Development of the position description for the following position in VTI Group:
 Administrative Manager
The administrative manager should be well aware of the duties and responsibilities of
the HR like reviewing the applications of the candidates, conducting the interview and then
processing with the hiring process that might also include the evaluation of the employees
based on their abilities. Managing the costs and the budget of the various operational
activities and managing the schedule and deadlines for all the staffs including the managers,
fall under the responsibilities of the administrative manager (Keep 2014). Apart from this,
managing the inventory and keeping a close analysis of the supplies and the purchase of the
new materials in the office to ensure that the operational and the regulatory activities are
carried on smoothly are the expected job role of the administrative manager.
 Marketing Manager
The marketing manager should be responsible for developing, implementing and
executing the strategic marketing plans for the entire organisation. The manager is
responsible for co-ordinating the day to day activity of the marketing and the creative staff
that will lead to the viability of the existing product or service (Kang and Shen 2017). The
manager should be able to think creatively and should come up with innovative means to
ensure that the business maintains the competition in the market. For this, analytical skill sets
to identify the recent trends is required.

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 Training Manager
The training manager has to identify the need of the training in order to make sure that the
things would turn out great in future. In order to do so, accessing each and every candidate in
the organisation is important and then drawing upon the conclusion to understand individual
training need. Upon identification, communicating the training schedule to the trainee and
taking the necessary steps to resolve the issue is needed (Humphreys et al. 2017). The
manager should also be responsible for the training budget and maintaining an understanding
of the training needs, development and the best practices.
 Finance Manager
The typical job responsibilities of the finance manager are to review the financial
reports and monitoring the accounts and then preparing the activity reports and financial
forecasts. The major responsibility is to make sure that the company follows the law and
regulation and the policies while carrying out the business activities.
Development of the advertisements for each of the positions to be posted on job portals
 Administrative manager:
Administrative Manager for E-commerce company required
A leading company is changing is operational activities to e-commerce and is looking for an
administrative manager. Interested candidates please mail their CVs to
[e-mail].
Qualification requirements: Any Bachelor degree is the minimum criteria. BBA/ MBA will
be the first choice.
Experience requirement: Minimum 3 years work experience with at least 1 year experience in
e-commerce.
 Marketing manager:

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Marketing Manager for E-commerce company required
A leading company is changing is operational activities to e-commerce and is looking for an
marketing manager. Interested candidates please mail their CVs to
[e-mail].
Qualification requirements: Master degree in the business/ Management/ Marketing
Experience requirement: Minimum 3 years work experience with at least 1 year experience in
e-commerce.
 Training manager:
Training Manager for E-commerce company required
A leading company is changing is operational activities to e-commerce and is looking for an
administrative manager. Interested candidates please mail their CVs to
[e-mail].
Qualification requirements: Master degree in the business/ Management/ Marketing or any
master degree candidate can apply.
Experience requirement: Minimum 3 years work experience with at least 1 year experience in
e-commerce.
 Finance manager:
Finance Manager for E-commerce company required
A leading company is changing is operational activities to e-commerce and is looking for a
finance manager. Interested candidates please mail their CVs to
[e-mail].
Qualification requirements: ACCA/ CA/ ACMA/ MBA-Finance/ MSC in Accounting &
Finance
Experience requirement: Minimum 3 years work experience with at least 1 year experience in
e-commerce.

HR STRATEGIES 9
List of specialists to be consulted in the HR process
The specialists who can be a part of the hiring process should be the existing
employees working for the organisation. The list will include the existing line managers, the
experienced employees working in the organisation for a long time.
Advertisement of the job to other colleagues:
When the job description was shown to the other colleagues, they liked the approach
as it was concise and that it delivered the exact information required for a candidate to
approach the VTI Groups but everyone had the opinion that there should have been more
details and also in order to make the advertisement more creative and attractive there could
have been the use of images or graphics as well. Also, it would have been more effective if
the expected salary was also written in the advertisement as that would help in creating a
clear image among the candidates on their expectation from the job.
Need of training and on-going support to the individuals involved in recruitment,
selection and the induction process
The hiring process of the candidates has to be perfect in order to make sure that the
right candidate has been selected for the different positions and that all the needs of the
organisation will be fulfilled. For this, the training related to the current need of the
organisation for transforming the operational activities to the e-commerce is needed.
Moreover, the hiring members should also be aware of the budget and the costing of the
hiring and the recruitment strategies. The training can also involve the way the candidates
will be interviewed and the specific questions that can be asked to them. For this, a set of
questions can be handed over the managers during the induction program.

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A set of 10 questions to be asked in interview from each candidate for each job position
 Administrative manager:
1. Tell me the various ways you have used to improve your efficiency at work?
2. What software programs are you comfortable with and do you use for the regular
activities?
3. Do you regularly build spread sheets in Excel and what kind of spread sheets?
4. Please share with us about your experience with calendar administration?
5. How do you keep track of office resources as the resources are very vital part of the
operational activities?
6. How will you handle any kind of employee requests for confidential information
related to our workplace?
7. Do you have any prior experience in the administrative jobs for an e-commerce
company?
8. What motivates you to stay productive during repetitive work?
9. Recall a time you had to resolve a dispute between colleagues. What was your role in
resolving the chaos?
10. Have you ever lost a physical or digital file at work? What did or would you do, if it
ever happens with you?
 Marketing manager
1. How will you understand that a particular marketing activity has failed? How would
you get those data?
2. What social media channels would you rather select in order to increase the brand
awareness of our company?
3. What will you do if the seniors do not approve the new campaign idea, proposed by
you?

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4. How much are you familiar with SEO best practices? Can you tell us, what are the
some common SEO mistakes in the marketing activities?
5. How will you manage the marketing budget that will be offered to you?
6. What marketing software (e.g. CRM) do you use and you are comfortable with and
why do you prefer these tools?
7. What is your point of view on the paid advertisement, like PPC or sponsored content
campaigns?
8. Have you ever used the performance appraisal methods? What was your experience in
that?
9. How will you compete with our competitors? What differentiates our companies?
10. Please share your experience with mobile marketing.
 Training manager
1. How do you prefer to plan new training programs?
2. Do you believe that it is important to come up with new training ideas to keep up the
trend of employee training?
3. What kinds of preparation you have taken to improve your skills lately?
4. Please share with us the most difficult training situation that you have had to deal with
during your work life.
5. What is your idea of getting feedback about your programs from those whom you
have trained?
6. You need to introduce new technology in the training program, tell us about a time
you introduced to your trainees about the new technology to facilitate training
7. How often do you think training should be given in order to make sure that the
employees will be able to retain their new skills?