STORES Magazine - May 2008 - (Page 86)

NUTS AND BOLTS / HUMAN RESOURCES Best Buy Keeps Best Hires Automated system helps retailer focus on hiring the right people the first time BY D. GAIL FLEENOR oxes and boxes of paper applications; line after line of data entry; information to vet and verify. These were the human resources challenges Best Buy faced not so long ago. By implementing Workforce Acquisition from Kronos, however, the electronics retailing giant has freed its managers from paper trails — and achieved considerable cost savings in the process. B “In the past, our application process was paper-based and very difficult,” says Kristina Parker, director of recruitment and selection for Richfield, Minn.based Best Buy. “We have stories about applications being lost [and] applicants not getting called back because their papers were lost. There was no way to go back and look at potential candidates: applications were really inconsistent from a process standpoint.” Best Buy’s decision to automate the hiring process was driven by two primary factors: the volume of applications per store and subsequent tracking. “We had nothing automated in place for either store level or corporate,” Parker says. Best Buy chose the Kronos system for its network of more than 1,200 stores “because it is easy Best Buy saved to use and the company understood the retail ension a company can vironment really well,” make is in hiring the first year it used she says. “Their corpo[and] companies are new hiring system rate culture was similar not just looking for to Best Buy’s, which we an automated hiring find makes things much easier from a solution: they are looking for people partnership perspective.” who will stay with the company longer.” On average, 70 percent of the U.S. reOne way that Kronos Workforce Actail workforce is made up of hourly emquisition distinguishes itself is that it ployees. Chelmsford, Mass.-based Krodoesn’t regard workforce quality imnos helps “field-based organizations provement as a one-time event, Earl like Best Buy improve the quality of their says. Customers use the software and workforce,” says director of marketing services to automate the hiring process; they use the selection tools and analytics Steve Earl. “The most important deci- $2.5 million capability to identify which candidate is the best fit for a position. “Over time, the solution improves as we work with other customers and finetune our selection tools to determine the best candidates according to the specific needs of specific customers,” Earl says. “We take a scientific approach to hiring. We do not eliminate turnover; managed turnover is often needed. We use science to shift the odds in favor of selecting better employees.” Kronos’ system can provide reports to companies based on data gathered in the WWW.STORES.ORG 86 STORES / MAY 2008 http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - May 2008

Stores - May 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Contrasting C-Level Compensation Across Segments What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Cover Story: Concepts That Clicked Concept2Watch Kiosks Artificial Intelligence Tech Support Online LPinformation Data Synchronization Human Resources Site Selection POS Selection Communications Biometrics Networking Systems Credit Loeb Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - May 2008

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