Workforce Planning System

The goals for the team need to be concomitant with the company's new purpose as a seller of both cleaning products and services. Hence the sales team need to be selected and trained in such a way to optimize the sales force for both purposes. Specifically, the company is focused upon hiring a diverse and talented sales team. The team should be both customer- and sales-driven.

The hard skills of such persons therefore need to be good communication skills, the ability to obtain new customers, and a good knowledge of the cleaning products and services being sold. Soft skills will include good interpersonal relationships, an ability to remain calm in conflict situations, and enthusiasm for performing the work.

As such, the types of positions needed on the team will be those that require specific knowledge required to answer technical questions regarding the cleaning products and services, those who handle conflict well to form the customer complaints department, and those with good communication skills to follow up on sales or encourage new sales.

The workforce planning system will include both training and incentives to encourage the full set of skills needed for the team. I will need a total of six persons for my sales team. They will be selected based upon the excellence of both their hard and soft skills, as well as their experience and knowledge. The selection process will then be followed by brief training to ensure that all team members know exactly what is required of them. They will also be made aware of the goals of the company in terms of both quality and quantity of sales. Promotions and bonuses will be offered to team members who exceed the minimum expectations.

Selection

Selection is based upon the goals of the company and the skills...

Sales people need to be creative, enthusiastic, experienced and knowledgeable. The selection method will be progressive, via written applications, interviews, and ability tests.
Review the talent inventory from your workforce planning system. Applications will be invited from relevant employees, each of which will be considered carefully and invited for an interview. The final applicants will be selected based upon an ability test to measure their hard and soft skills.

There are six sales people from the list who will be selected to be part of the team. The first of these is Jim Martin, Vice President of Sales. Jim's success in sales is complimented by his ability to work well with customers. Tom Gonzales, Sales Manager, is selected for his experience and long-term relationships with customers. Susan Burnt, Outside Sales Representative, is chosen for her versatility in skills and experience. Her high age would make her an excellent asset to the customer service departments. Eric Borden, also an Outside Sales Representative, is chosen for his team leadership and research skills. Ving Hsu, CEO of EnviroTech, is chosen for his customer service experience and training ability. Terry Garcia is chosen for her critical thinking and problem resolution ability. Her teaching experience will also make her a valuable partner for Ving during training seminars.

The above sales team can be used as the core sales personnel, and can also be used to recruit new personnel and train existing personnel in the company sales and customer service policy. As the company grows, core team members can also form team leaders for new salespersons to promote the company's goals and strategy. The main requirement is that personnel need to be both excellent at customer service and the sales deals themselves.