Tanglewood Case

Tanglewood is concerned that companies like Kohl's and Target are going to take away a part of their customer base as they have been moving towards the west by opening up stores. Tanglewood needs to ensure that they have the loyal staffs that know the company's culture and are able to provide an exceptional experience for their customers that would keep their customers coming back to them. The company should think of developing talent from within as the employee already knows about the company culture. All new employees with retail experience who are targeted as having management potential spend a period of time working in the store as an associate. The employee is going to stick with the company longer knowing that hard work is rewarded in the company and would help them in working their way up. Each employee starting at the bottom is able to understand company's culture and how the company operates. The company should not outsource the hiring procedure to an outsider. An outsider wouldn't have a complete grasp on the strengths and weaknesses of the company and might not understand the company's culture. I believe that the company could make a better judgment is seeing whether the candidate would a good fit in the company or not and the company has a strong company standard that need to be enforced while hiring.

The company should do the internal hiring for the upper level management positions as it would strengthen the employee trust in the company. The employees for the entry level positions would be hired externally.

The company should be using core workforce as that workforce will be able to help the company's culture to thrive. Wood mentioned in one his interviews that the company's success is due to entirely due to the company's strong culture. From its inception, the company has emphasized employee participation and teams. Employees at all levels of the corporation are encouraged to make suggestions regarding operations. All employees share all tasks, so there are no designated "customer contact" or "display" employees. It is also expected that associates will make themselves available to help the other members of the team. And that's what Tanglewood exactly does as it seeks to develop and maintain a core workforce which is viewed as essential for the organizational values and culture.

Temporary workforce would never feel a part of the company and wouldn't care what the company culture is all about. It would be difficult for the company to maintain a consistent culture if they have a high turnover rate. Profit-sharing for all employees is part of the company's push to encourage employees to think like managers. In addition, mandatory weekly store meetings (one meeting for each shift) give employees a specific time to voice their suggestions for in-store improvements. Associates who make suggestions that are implemented by management receive