Chern's Case Study Ch 1 - Strategic Staffing

Chapter 1: Strategic Staffing

1.a. Identify realistic long-term and short-term process and outcome goals for staffing of sales associate positions at Chern's. Be sure to relate your goals to the firm’s business strategy and explain why each is important and should be adopted by the company.

Strategic staffing is the process of staffing an organization in future-oriented, goal-directed ways that support the business strategy of the organization and enhance its effectiveness. Strategic staffing entails both short- and long-term planning that involves acquiring, deploying, and retaining the right number of employees with the appropriate talents to effectively execute its strategy. This will enable Chern’s to sustain a competitive advantage that allows it to successfully fulfill its mission and reach its goals. Creating hiring goals that are clearly linked to Chern’s organizational strategies and objectives will guide the strategic staffing process.

Chern’s main business strategy is in providing superior customer service to its clientele, which has successfully differentiated it from its competitors. Although the company’s products are expensive, the high product quality and excellent customer service have made the company successful. Because customer service lies at the heart of the company’s business strategy, it is a core part of their corporate culture. Ann and Ryan Chern believe that customer service is the essence of selling and that because the sales associates are in direct contact with customers, they are the core drivers of the company’s performance.

Core values are an essential part of the Chern’s brand and are the foundation of its culture. The company’s family ownership contributes to its desire to make every employee and customer feel valued and cared for. The firm is known for its strong and unique culture, which it feels is due to its belief that the best approach to business is to hire good people. Chern’s tries to identify and select the right people, train them, and give them the tools and autonomy they need to succeed. Successful employees are compensated with above-market salaries and generous bonuses. Understanding Chern’s culture and core business strategy can then help us to identify short-term and long-term process and outcome goals to fulfill their staffing strategy.

One of the most important action items to consider is Chern five year growth strategy, as this will play an active role in their short-term process goals as well as their long-term outcome goals. The table below helps to make this picture a little clearer:

Table