Le Bon Marche Employment Practices

Recruiting and Retaining Talent at Le Bon Marche Le Bon Marche is a company that belongs to LVMH and comprises various businesses including Le Bon Marche department store, Franck etFils and La Grande Epicerie. Le Bon Marche is a luxury department store that is situated in Paris, France. Given the success of its operations, the company is currently regarded as the ultimate Parisian department store and only store in the Left Bank in Paris.

The success of this firm throughout its operations can be attributed to its focus on recruiting and retaining highly qualified talent in its workforce. The firm has a workforce of 800 employees with a Human Resource department made of 10 people including the departmental director, the Head of Training, Head of Internal Communication, and human resource staff. Despite forcing on recruiting and retaining talent in its workforce, Le Bon Marche can ameliorate its recruitment and retention of employees.

Analysis of Hiring and Retention of Employees at Le Bon Marche An understanding of the hiring and retention of employees at Le Bon Marche involved conducting an interview on Anne Catherine Grimal, the firm's Head of Communication and a member of the executive committee. In addition to being in charge of the delicateness sector of the mall, Grimal is also involved in many projects and different fields of the company such as fashion, food, lifestyle, and furniture (personal communication, 2014).

The hiring or recruitment process in the company begins with an application process that comprises various steps. The application process is carried out both internally and externally with the external one involving advertising the vacancies on LVMH website as well as advertisements in specialized Magazine. The internal process involves the HR department notifying superiors regarding internal opportunities before applications are allowed upon acceptance of the mobility status. Le Bon Marche also uses head-hunters when recruiting for vacancies in senior positions.

The second element of the hiring process is decision making regarding any new positions. In this case, the head of every department analyzes human resource needs every year based on development goals and the budget established by the management. Third, the company utilizes a comprehensive criterion in making the final decision regarding the candidate to be employed. The candidate must possess a combination of competence, knowledge, personality, and experience in order to be considered for the job.

After a candidate has been hired, he/she undergoes a 3-month probation period i.e. For an external candidate whereas an internal candidate does not undergo any probation. This is followed by an orientation and integration program for employees in the company. The retaining strategy involves motivating and rewarding employees for their contributions to the company in terms of helping the firm to achieve its business objectives.

This process also entails conducting an internal evaluation through a 360-degree framework that promotes open communication with employees as well as providing career development opportunities. In case of mergers or downsizing, the firm's human resource department works in collaboration with respective managers to notify all employees about the upcoming structure, its needs, and the next courses of action. This collaboration is geared towards ensuring the company retains as many employees as possible during any merger and acquisition.

Improving Le Bon Marche's Recruitment and Retention Strategy The current recruitment and retention strategy at Le Bon Marche has enabled the company to achieve tremendous success in its operations through ensuring hiring and retaining talent or highly-qualified employees. While the firm's Head of Communication believes that the current strategy is adequate for the size and business of the Group, Le Bon Marche can improve its hiring and retaining process to achieve optimal results and success.

Generally, creating an organizational culture that enables an organization to attract, recruit, engage, and retain the best talent enables a company to obtain competitive advantage and optimal business results (Crisp & Reid, 2007). One of the major ways Le Bon March can ameliorate recruitment and retention of its employees is through creating such an organizational culture. In attempts to develop a caring, innovative culture that would improve hiring and retention of its employees, Le Bon Marche should ensure it has strong, supportive leaders.

Strong, supportive leaders play a crucial role in the development of a healthy, innovative work culture that will in turn act as the basis of attracting, recruiting, and retaining talent in the firm. Secondly, the company should develop an employment brand, which is incorporated into the daily talent acquisition processes of the company. The development of a cohesive employment brand that reflects the firm's vision for the future and long-term needs for hiring and retaining talent should be carried out before engaging a wide pool of candidates.

Employment branding serves as an important aspect of talent acquisition process since it influences candidates' impression of the company. An employment brand will also help the firm to develop the firm's reputation as a great working place and promote a constant flow of qualified applicants within a long period of time. Third, Le Bon Marche can ameliorate its recruitment and retention of employees by maintaining a strong pipeline. This is primarily because companies that are actively recruiting employees are regarded as the strongest and most viable in their respective industries.

In most cases, such companies or organizations consider hiring freezes as important opportunities to extend their pipelines and identify candidates for future employment needs and opportunities. This process usually extends beyond gathering and managing resumes and entails keeping a record of qualified candidates who would be willing to work even at a short notice. The availability of these candidates is attributed to the fact that they have already been screened or interviewed and are waiting for ideal job vacancies that match their qualifications.

The final way for Le Bon Marche to improve its hiring and retaining processes is through seeking for continual dialogue with candidates. After developing an extensive pipeline in the recruitment process, the company should constantly follow up these candidates concerning their status of employment. Follow up enables the firm to hire and retain talent by ensuring candidates recognize and value their position in the extended cycle.