Acknowledgements
The research was supported by [name of foundation] who provided the information on the company present and past. I would like to thank [name] for assistance with the information, sharing and evaluation the process of strategy building, sharing the ideas about the built strategy and telling what was done before to develop the company.
I would also like to show my gratitude to [name] who gave some precious comments about the work of the company that helped to process the research and work out some ideas of improvement.
Approval Sheet
Executive Summary
The case study of the Golden Horizon Placement Agency aimed to find the methods in improvement of the recruitment methods as well as attracting new clients for the company. It was important to create a set of strategic approaches for the development and the improvement of the work inside the venture. First of all, the research had several objectives to attain, such as to evaluate the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, which enabled the researcher to identify the ways of resolving the major issues. The literature review showed that there are various ways of attracting new customers, like changing the leadership approach, diversifying the workers, and increasing the social media presence as well as refining the technical support. On the other hand, the first step had to be a detailed analysis and the detection of the current problems in the marketing campaign of the agency. There are several areas that ought to be changed. SWOT showed all the fields for the consideration and enabling the researcher to create an effective action plan. The case study will be beneficial for the marketing department of the Golden Horizon, top management, as well as the entire team of the company. It was decided to use the approach that requires the increase of social media presence and improvement of technical support, as it is considered that this approach will help to increase the quantity of client, refine the recruitment process, increase the ability to target applicants, and optimize the work inside the company. The work contains modern ideas and the best practices from all over the world. The case study both provides the information of the market research.
Chapter 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Introduction
Rapid globalization and intense technological progress provided business owners with the unique opportunities to improve the productivity and optimize the efficiency of the organizations. It is possible today to outsource certain responsibilities and functions, which in the past required massive investments, including HR and marketing. It became easy to target the employees all over the world that helped the businesses to target highly trained specialists and decrease expenditures allocated for the HR services. While there is a high demand for workers in the developed countries in the West, employees from the other corners of the world acquired a chance to improve their economic situation. The Philippines is not exclusion from this rule and, as the statistics show, the migration of its workforce boosted in the last several years (Dole, 2016). Nowadays, there are almost 2 million Filipinos employed overseas (Country Migration Report, 2013). The most frequent destinations for the Filipino workers are Asia Pacific, the U.S., and EU.
The best mediator between the employer and a Filipino worker is a recruiting agency that guarantees both the best choice of the most appropriate and qualified applicants and the variety of job vacancies. In the result, the demand for HR companies increases every year. HR agencies, in this case, have two major objectives, including the search for the clients and target appropriate candidates for them. The research shows that the developed countries prefer hiring foreigners where the level of competence is higher because foreigners tend to work harder (Kirkup, 2013). Filipino workers are famous for their persistence and hard work, which increases their chances of being employed in the foreign state (Ronytparagas, 2013). Currently, there is a severe competition in the area of HR services that makes the work of these companies more complicated. The key problem here is to save loyal clients as well as to attract new ones, which is quite difficult with the current level of competition.
Golden Horizon Placement Agency Inc. located in the Philippines has the same problems, barriers, and opportunities as the other similar organizations, yet the main aim of the current project is to develop a successful marketing strategy that will enable the company to increase its list of clients and target highly trained employees. It was important to analyze the previous literature and evaluate the results of the studies in the area of HR. Critical evaluation of top competitors, SWOT analysis, and an interview helped to designate the main objectives of the company as well as the ways of address the main problem. Following the results of the research, the marketing strategy was proposed according to the modern tendencies and the requirements of the Golden Horizon Placement Agency today.
Background of the Study
The Golden Horizon Placement Agency Inc. was established in 1994 and since then managed to become a successful organization that offers services on recruitment, training and selecting the best candidates for the companies around the globe. All the pre-employment procedures, including medical and document check as well as preparation, are provided by the agency. The aim of the company is to meet the client’s requirement and save friendly relationship both with clients and candidates. According to the General Manager of the agency, Mrs. Nene B. Miranda, the philosophy of the agency is to help the qualified workers succeed in life and help the clients to target highly qualified workers. The business of the company aims not only to boost profits but also to build the productive and open-hearted relationship with the clients.
Today, the company collaborates with multiple agencies in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Middle East, Asia Pacific, Cyprus, Chile, Brunei, and Cook Islands (Goldenhorizon, 2016). The professional fields Golden Horizons specializes in are medicine, construction, hotel services, education, agriculture, HR, and sales. According to the analysis, there are around 404 more licensed recruitment agencies in the Philippines that Golden Horizon must compete with. However, Golden Horizons is the participant of different international programs and has a lot of international licenses, which increase its competitiveness in the market. For example, the agency is the member of the Association of Malaysia Recruiters of the Philippines (MAMA), the Society of Hong Kong Agency of the Philippines (SHARP), and Philippines Association of Service exporters Inc.
According to company's claims, the agency uses traditional methods of recruiting the workers and attracting the customers. People find out about the agency after joining the professional job fairs, as the contact details may be found on the POEA web-site, which is a licensed international manpower deploy organization. A lot of orders come as a referral from friends, partners, or family. Local toolkits, like flyers or advertising, also assist in finding clients and workers. Finally, the company may be found using the search engine. Nevertheless, for more than 20 years of activity and thousands of workers deployed overseas, the company realized that it is a high time to change the tactic in searching for new clients as well as the workforce. The main reason for the need of change is increasing competition in the market of HR services. During the preliminary analysis of the current marketing campaign, a lot of issues were detected. The methods used today are obsolete and are not as efficient as they were several years ago. Consequently, there are several fields in the marketing campaign that had to be changed at once. The research recommends applying the increase of social media presence and refining technical support, as it is believed that this ACA is the most effective in terms of attracting new customers, retaining the loyal ones, and targeting appropriate workers. The main reason for such a decision is the need to improve the communication and collaboration strategies inside the venture. As Golden Horizons aims to help the other firms in recruiting process, it is effective to be more flexible, adaptable, and communicative.
Scope and Limitation of the Study
The study was based on the data provided in 2013 by POEA, on the analysis of current recruitment companies of Philippines as well as some successful foreign recruitment practice. The staff of the Golden Horizon was also interviewed to get more clarifications. Due to the increased competition in the job market and a variety of requirements, it is challenging to develop a single strategy that will reflect all demands of the market.
Significance of the Study
The study on the improvement of the marketing strategy will benefit the agency since it will show the ways for the improvement in terms of targeting new clients and searching for the employees. Also, the research will be helpful for the further inquiries in the field of HR, marketing, and international recruitment, as it shows the methods of evaluation of the market as well as the tools in targeting the international clients. Golden Horizons will be able to improve its image among the foreign employers and increase its workload. Also, the study will accumulate valuable knowledge about the current marketing trends that will help to promote the company.
Definition of Terms
Candidates – these are the group of employees targeted by the HR agency in order to match the clients’ demands and allocate the best employees for particular jobs in the foreign and domestic companies.
Clients – are represented by the organizations seeking to improve their inner HR governance, employ highly professional specialists, or save the financial resources for the HR services.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is the computer-based system that makes the process of customer service easier by saving the contact information and the pipeline of every contact.
Recruitment Agency is an agency that works to fulfill the vacant positions for other companies.
SMM (Social Media Marketing) is the course of actions that is aimed at the promotion of a company in the Internet social networking websites.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the optimization of the website aimed to increase the position of a web site during the search by relevant keywords in a search engine.
Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
Literature
Usually, HR agencies are hired when there is a need for the recruitment services and the business aims to decrease its expenditures spent for the full-fledged HR department. The other cases include the need to find a highly specialized worker or to use outsourcing as the method of employment. Therefore, the recruiting agency can be both a large company and a small recruiting agency, where both are able to cooperate with large multinationals and SMEs (small and medium enterprises). Such an agency may provide a client company with only limited number (no more than 3-5) candidates for consideration (Brown & Swain, 2009). Any recruitment agency uses the requirements of the client company as a basis for its work. Employers turn to recruitment agencies when a company opens a lot of vacancies and they are loaded with work that they cannot cope with.
As a rule, the agencies post job vacancies primarily on the Internet. Most agencies work with the orders that they receive from employers. They work for the customers and are guided by their interests, wishes, and ideas about what employees they would like to hire (Brown and Swain, 2009). Payment is made in the case of successful matching of the candidate and represents a certain percentage of a worker's annual salary, which is usually 30-50% of the first paycheck. Some agencies provide services for the job-seekers pay-per questionnaire or inclusion in the database. Search, selection, and recruitment of workers usually viewed as independent and, at the same time, closely interlinked phases, collectively forming a full complex of actions for staff. Recruitment is a set of organizational activities carried out by agency personnel in the organization that made the order on the vacant position. It consists of the formation and provision of the list of candidates selected in accordance with customer requirements for this position for subsequent employment.
There are several studies evaluating the quality of outsourcing HR services for the foreign companies. It is considered that it is more economically savvy and particularly profitable if the company is small or medium enterprise or there is a need to find highly proficient candidate (Ee, Halim, & Ramayah, 2013). At the same time, some of the studies imply that the businesses employ outsourcing in HR only to save financial resources and there are both big and small companies that may employ such a tactic (Alewell et al., 2007). It is considered that outsourcing HR may negatively affect the leadership inside the company, as it is hard to control the process of recruitment and there is a possible mismatch between the requirements of the company and the candidates proposed by the HR agency (Stopper, 2005).
It is believed that the social media presence today is one of the most important marketing decisions due to the popularity of these platforms among general population and easiness of working with new clients (Patrick, 2011; King, 2012). According to the research conducted by Apostel (2015), the employers find high social media presence an advantage when hiring an employee or collaborating with the partners. Specifically, the inquiry showed that the employers can evaluate the corporate culture, social values, and effectiveness of the company or an employee by examining the social media pages (Apostel, 2015). Another research implemented among the retailers revealed that utilization of technology was effective to promote social interactions with the clients and within the company (Shen, 2012).
Such an advantage of the social media roots in the popularity of this means of communication as well as its functionality that allows the users to advertize, increase the social interaction list, and attract new followers. Overall, social media pages operate as viral ads that do not need additional investments. In a lot of cases, companies save financial resources by using the advertisement through the social media instead of the traditional methods (Platon, 2014). Several studies report that effective social media presence increases the popularity and prestige of the venture. Particularly it was emphasized that “by closely communicating with the consumers on a social media level, the company or the brand becomes a trusted source of information, which makes it a great asset when creating company awareness and brand credibility” (Platon, 2014, p. 195).
A survey organized by Stelzner (2013) among 3025 brands revealed that 86% of respondents think that social media is essential for their business, where 89% of all participants implied their social media strategy has produced more exposure for their brand, where Facebook and Twitter were considered as the most effective for businesses. It was continuously reported that today the interfaces of the companies’ websites are linked to their social media pages in 95% of cases due to the importance of this function for the modern business environment (Hess, Fuller, & Campbell, 2009). Overall, social media has become as the unique HR tool and lack of presence within these platforms can decrease the chances of the recruiting company to gain credibility and connectivity in the modern globalized environment. According to one of the inquiries, social media online job hunting has already become a novice tool in the field of HR (Dhamija, 2012). This option can be particularly useful for the HR agency when allocating new candidates and connecting with the potential clients.
As the business environment today is facing the increase of the diversity inside their companies, it is also recommended to enroll the staff into the diversity training programs to make them more effective in working with the international partners (Watson, Spoonley, & Fitzgerald, 2009). Altogether, the social media presence and diversification may help the company to improve its communication and governance strategies, the areas that are usually responsible for hindering the venture from progressing.
Also, it is essential to remember that the leadership strategy has an ultimate impact on the performance of the company. Transformational leadership is considered one of the most effective modern strategies in improving all areas of operation in the company. According to numerous research, transformational leadership increases the motivation and ethics in the firm, improves the level of communication, refines the tools of collaboration with all stakeholders, minimizes the conflicts, and resolves strategic problems (Wolfram & Mohr, 2009; Zhu, Sosik, Riggio, & Yang, 2012; Sagnak, 2010). These findings prove that the application of new approach inside the traditional framework will provide good results and increase the ability of the company to achieve its strategic goals faster.
In recruitment, the main aims are to evaluate and choose the best option from a pool of people who want to achieve something in the life. Recruiting is also a type of business activity consisting of the provision of services by recruiting staff. It was mentioned by the inquiries that it is difficult to find a highly professional recruitment agency due to the location, possibility of a fraud, and disruption in communication as well as cultural problems (Lilly, Gray, & Virick, 2005). It is considered that the companies operating in the developing countries do not always recognize the main requirements needed for the client organization, which may prevent the firms from the future collaboration (Stopper, 2003).
Studies
In the West, the recruiting business is characterized by a special intensity of competition that causes a variety of strategies, technologies of work of recruitment agencies. The main development strategies of recruitment agencies are diversification and specialization, with leading companies usually keep a certain balance, using them together.
The strategy of specialization in recruiting involves the allocation on the structural level, the units responsible for the provision of recruitment services for a business domain. It can be seeking employees for real estate, financial companies, energy, tourism, and private consultants to industry (Juon, Greiling & Buerkle, 2011).
Such an approach enables recruitment agencies successfully fill a range of vacancies and to fully cover the need for qualified personnel to its customers. There are agencies that specialize only in one area, for example searching only specialists of computer technology and telecommunications. However, the latter is less dynamic and not always able to be reconstructed in accordance with changing environmental conditions. Diversification strategy involves the development of additional opportunities recruitment business as well as its active expansion into other countries and regions. Additional features mean the introduction of any new services that in combination with the existing business will lead to a better outcome. As an example, the agencies or job professional fairs for client companies, carrying out for its clients the seminars, workshops, training skills of conducting interviews, etc. Such events allow the agency to more fully use existing opportunities for expansion. Opening branches and representative offices in other regions, recruitment agency, becomes a multinational corporation, gaining new markets.
When it comes to relationships with consumers, there are two main approaches: the tactics of attack, or the desire to attract new customers (acquisition), and tactics of protection which are hold (retention). Contextual advertising in Google Adwords, Bing or Yahoo or targeted promotion in social networking websites, inbound marketing, and SEO are used to attract more buyers and increase sales. It is aimed at the retention of existing clients so they are back to the company for purchasing or ordering. It also prevents them from going to competitors, that use slightly different methods.
Both marketing strategies are effective, and many Internet resources (e.g. eCommerce sites) combine them into one. The right balance depends on various factors.
The tactic of "attack" is aimed at the expansion of the client base by attracting new users. It is unlikely for the company to sell anything if nobody goes to its website. In marketing, this approach is defined as activities targeting at attracting potential buyers through persuasion to go to the website of the company, and they are further converting into real customers that generate revenue. Acquiring new customers helps boost sales, because the most potential buyers one can attract, the more obvious it will be able to sell. Many people call this strategy the "conventional marketing", forgetting about the reverse side thereof, namely, the retention of customers (Willmot, 2014).
Once a company sufficiently worked with previous tactics (or conditionally rated to output on a +ROI) the number of buyers can take the course on retention. The definition of this strategy is following: one of the tactical objectives of the company is to increase conversion at the expense of existing customers and increase their values. In other words, the essence of deduction is not the extension, but in the activation of the already existing client base. Here it is needed to ensure that once attracted customers remained loyal. In fact, a company is protected from their departure to a competitor (Willmot, 2014). Thus, the attraction and retention of customers are two sides of the same coin, and the combined strategy allows maximizing profitability, increasing the life cycle of each customer. But how much it is necessary to allocate time and resources for the implementation of these strategies? The answer depends on the scope of business.
An effective marketing strategy includes both the acquisition of new customers and retention of old. A company must learn to use both of these tactics. The following is a list of techniques that will be useful:
Adwords or Direct. It is believed that this platform is the first step to acquiring new customers. Contextual advertising helps to tailor offer for a certain group of people. Thanks to this it is possible to reduce the budget by targeting only the necessary target audience and a direct impact on it.
Advertising in social networking websites. Social media is a great tool to attract customers as it gives the possibility to access the contact details of clients and followers, but they have the ability to monitor online activity and to obtain useful and relevant information. Creating an account in various social services, and selecting from them the most effective channels are the first steps. The most profitable network is worth of attention and placing ads
As mentioned above, all of these tactics to attract new customers are just one part of the job. They must go together with the strategy of retaining existing customers, otherwise the campaign is unlikely to succeed.
Loyalty programs. If the company sells products or services directly over the Internet, loyalty programs is one of the most effective ways to retain customers, among other marketing tools. Discounts and bonuses activate customers by encouraging them to make new purchases or free gifts for recommending the service to friends and acquaintances.
Accumulated points (program loyalty), which is invalidated if the purchaser gives preference to your competitor, also stimulate sales, as nobody wants to part with the accumulated amount.
System support. Support system helps to communicate with clients and provide them with necessary assistance. A company representative can communicate to client before or after committing the purchase. A buyer can find the answers to all his questions, and leave a complaint when he visits web-site.
When choosing a marketing strategy for clients it is always necessary to start with the correct balance. Consider the specifics of the products and services that are selling, and life-cycle stage at which a company is located. Business that works to attract and retain customers, will undoubtedly be successful!
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
The data for the strategy development is based on several stages of building the strategy. First of all, the analysis of the current situation that lets to detect strong and weak points of the current campaign. The next stage is analyzing the external situation and literature research of current methods of attracting new orders and customers. Finally, on the basis of received information, the core strategy and recommendations were built. The data was built in the following manner to understand the present problems and weaknesses, to understand strong points, to build the strategy and to execute it (Mobilestrategypartners, 2016).
Research design
The research itself has a descriptive character, and is aimed at the situation description and making some assumptions. It is developed on the basis of Harvard Business School Analysis Method. Case study is aimed at the finding the solution based on the developed data. It consists of the background information, literature review, description of the methodology, analysis and its result. Finally, the recommendations for the strategy implementations are developed, that contain steps and the explanation of their efficiency.
Participants
The participants of the study are the workers and the owners of Golden Horizon, workers of the competing companies and the government officers from the departments that are related to overseas employment cometing companies and the government files in nies and . Also, indirect participants were the competitor companies that were used for the comparative analysis. The most often employers of the Filipino workers were also analyzed.
Data Collection
The main source of data is based on internal and external resources. First of all, there was an interviewing of the workers of Golden Horizon, provided both in the form of personal meeting, phone calls, and e-mail letters. What is more, the workers of other oversea deployment agencies were interviewed. Moreover, the web page and the media content of the agency were studied. Then the same was done with the competitor companies. Their marketing campaign was checked by means of Internet searching and analyzing from the point of view of the potential employer. Finally, the officers of government overseas employment department also shared some information about the situation and process.
Data Analysis
The data will be analyzed by the analytical tools through the comparison and contrast of answers provided by the participants. Also, the information retrieved through the participants will be contrasted with the literature review as well. It is considered that the further development of the action plan has to be based on the practical and theoretical practices applied in the field of HR. Therefore, the research combines the findings obtained with the help of literature review and the interview to produce the most optimal marketing campaign.
CHAPTER 4
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Factors that affect recruitment and finding new links and order, providing great customer service may be internal and external. For example, the internal are the motivation of the workers, the size of the organization. Recruiting policy and image of the agency are one of the first criteria to be checked by the potential overseas employers. That is why the best option is to take care of the internal environment and personal motivation of the workers in the process and results, as well as the system of bonuses like it is present in the Golden Horizon. The external factors are various, and they fall into several categories.
Time Context
It was reported that deviation in the agency happened gradually during the period of last few months. The knowledge of the starting point is necessary to know to set the possible reasons and to exclude some versions. The workers of the company and the owners were interviewed a week before the research, so the data received is up-to-date. The primary users of the strategy will interact with it in short term, approximately a month to interpret it to the company policy and to take first actions. If the time context is not considered as soon as possible, the received data and possible solutions may become out of date.
Point of View
The final decision maker and the person who will make the decision about the relevance of the state is the owner of the company. They must make the decision about the costs, and responsible persons, who are able to provide the activities. On a number of men and money, the deadline may be valued more definite.
Statement of the Problem
There is a need to change the marketing strategy in Golden Horizon Recruiting and Placement Agency in order to attract more customers and target the workers more proficiently. It was determined that the old schemes do not work in the modern competitive business environment.
Statement of the Objectives
The main objective of the study is to develop a strategy that will help Golden Horizon Placement Agency to attract new clients and allocate the employees better. Also, the research aims to increase the number of orders from the foreign companies, deploy more applicants, and strengthen the network of the agency in the shortest term.
Areas of Consideration
It is necessary for the company to understand the current situation and concentrate attention on new possibilities proposed by the changed environment. It is considered that the HR companies have more capabilities in the globalized world in terms of targeting of effective workforce and attracting the clients. Thus, the company has to pay attention on the new technological advancements including software and social media, as well as to employ new training techniques for its employees.
The following list reveals the main strengths, weaknesses, limitations, and threats (SWOT) for the Golden Horizon:
A. STRENGTHS
Good reputation among the loyal customers who support the company by choosing it among the other HR agencies;
Solid reputation among the workers who recommend Golden Horizons for their family and friends;
Security professional management personnel who enable the company to secure the data and the personal information about the clients;
The presence of business relations with the external environment that helps the agency to work with the foreign partners.
B. WEAKNESSES:
Limited number of methods used for targeting the clients and allocating the personnel that do not work in the current environment;
A small number of employees who are not able to satisfy all needs of the clients nowadays;
Weak social media presence that hinders the company from entering new markets;
Inflexibility and lack of diversified methods of operating in the modern business environment that prevents the organization from applying new strategies in interacting with the clients.
C. OPPORTUNITIES
Abundance of the technological advancements that may increase the productivity of the company, including SEO, viral advertisement, software.
Country’s policies that aimed at developing the local business through the introduction of better conditions for the ventures including those operating in the international market;
The increase of demand for high quality and specialized workers that will help Golden Horizons to increase its pool of customers and potential employees;
The ability to expand by collaborating with the foreign companies and increasing its market presence that will boost the profits and improves the prestige of the company;
D. THREATS
Severe competition in the area of HR management that hinders the company from attracting more clients;
The instability of the economic situation in the country that brings uncertainty in the work of Golden Horizons as well as its ability to deploy local workers overseas;
The risk of fraud, especially when working with the foreign companies that can provide guarantees, yet Golden Horizons is not legally safeguarded from the fraudulent activity;
The risk of deterioration in the communication with the clients and workers that will eventually lead to the failure in the market;
Disruptions in the international economy, like for example the crisis in 2007, and a change in the world order, when it would be essential to change the collaboration interests.
Alternative Сourses of Action
ACA 1: Diversification of the staff inside the company. As today, globalization is intensifying particularly fast and the company needs to collaborate with the international community, it is essential for Golden Horizons to either hire new diverse personnel or train them in cultural diversity. These interventions are essential for the ventures operating in the multicultural environment and those seeking for interaction with the foreign companies.
Advantages
Refined methods of communication with the foreign business partners and clients;
More effective tools in targeting the personnel outside the Philippines and in this was increasing the market share;
Improving the communication skills as well as team-leadership inside the company that will allow to optimize the work;
Improvement in the methods of attracting new clients and workers.
Disadvantages
Requires additional costs and time for either hiring new workers or training the current ones;
ACA 2: Changing the leadership approach from the traditional concept to the transformational framework. This approach requires efforts from the entire team, not only from the leader. It is considered that the transformational leadership uses the principles of guidance rather than order and tends to use encouragement and motivation instead of pressure. It is considered that alterations in leadership approach will optimize the work inside the company; this framework is effective for the small and medium enterprises; and it may help in improvement of the relationship among the workers as well as with the clients and applicants.
Advantages
No additional costs required;
Improvement in communication inside the company;
Refinement in daily routine and collaboration with all stakeholders;
Improvement of time-management;
Fostering the motivation of staffers, which will lead to the implementation of more effective ways of working with the clients and applicants.
Disadvantages
Depends on the abilities of the current leader and staff;
Requires revisiting new of new methods in dealing with the team;
Possible resistance of the staff to the innovations in governance techniques;
Requires time for application.
ACA 3: Increase of social media presence. This approach requires not only creating pages in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Circles, but also make regular relevant posts, send daily news to partners, introduce viral advertisement, and optimizing the work of the company’s hardware and software to make the work within the company timely and productive. Also, in order to decrease the expenditures, it is recommended to either appoint an existing worker for this job or hire an outsourced copywriter/content writer who will make posts for the social media pages.
Advantages
Easier to reach the clients and attract new customers;
Easier to target the personnel;
Saving costs allocated for advertisement;
Possibility to work with the international partners;
Optimizes the work of the employees;
Improves time-management.
Disadvantages
Needs additional time and expenditures;
May require hiring an outsourced worker who will manage the social media coverage;
Matrix Table of Alternative Courses of Action
Legend:
5- most likely
4- more likely
3 – likely
2- less likely
1 - unlikely
Decision Criteria
Cost.
It is beneficial to the organization from the point of view of money expenses. It is considered that decrease of potential expenses may be one of the primary decisions. However, it is possible to invest into an effective approach that can generate good results.
Accuracy of Results
Accuracy of the result is the result of the campaign and the quality of the finished work.
ACA3 will bring the best results, as it allows targeting both the clients and the applicants as well as optimizing the work of the company.
ACA 2 is effective, yet it depends on the top management and its desire to make such alterations. It will require time as well.
Efficiency
ACA3 is efficient from the point of view of strategy and targeting new clients and workers. The results will be immediate and it is expected that the efficiency of the intervention will lead to the refined results.
ACA 2 is not that effective, since currently the management does not employ the transformational strategies. It will take time to acquire new patterns of behavior and governance. On the other hand, marketing duties will be shared between the workers due to the work load.
ACA 1 is efficient as well, since the work will be fulfilled by the personnel with better skills. Yet, it requires time and costs.
Management Acceptance
Probably, the management will accept the ACA1 and ACA2 and less likely will like ACA3 due to costs. At the same time, it is necessary to consider all advantages of increasing the social media presence and technological support for the long-term results.
Employee Acceptance
It is better for the employees to remain their current duties and to feel the results of a good campaign faster. That is why they will probably resist to ACA 1 and ACA2, since their duties will alter. It is believed that ACA3 will be more positively accepted by the employees and will not cause resistance.
CHAPTER 5
RECOMMENDATION
The main aims for the company are to attract new clients, retain the loyal customers, and improve the methods of recruiting. The problem is the achievement of the best results with the minimum investments injected. There are several steps important for the company’s further development and survival.
Plan of Action
Corporate Vision is to create a successful business, where the personnel attain the best results in the shortest terms.
Corporate Mission is to meet the customers’ demands and propose the most superior quality of services.
Corporate Objective is to attract more customers and refine the recruiting process.
Strategy. It is considered that the ACA3 has the best potential to increase the list of clients and attract appropriate candidates. At the same time, it is quite clear that this approach may require additional expenditures, such as the salary for the workers and time for the elaboration of the strategy. At the same time, in order to decrease the time and save financial resources, it is proposed to either use the help of the outsourced copywriter/content writer or to appoint one of the workers for these responsibilities. As to the outsourced employee, such platforms as UpWork, Odesk, Freelancer, People per Hour, etc. contain a great variety of copywriters who require minimum salary and can provide effective results. It is possible to find both local as well as foreign outsourced workers who will fulfill the responsibilities. Moreover, as practice shows, it is possible to save finances by using the services of outsourced employees, as they do not require additional space in the office, social insurance, or high salary. Thus, it will help to save time and resources. Also, the strategy can be easily abolished if it does not prove its effectiveness. There are no risks of either implementation or cancelling this strategy, as it is possible to pay for the services per project rather than monthly.
That is why it is crucial to promote the social media presence for targeting audience, develop an up-to-date page that will be optimized for the requirements of the company and blogging in the social media platforms that will contain material both for professional image and for the easy top ranking by the search of keywords. It is necessary for the potential customer to find the company, then to become interested in their services. The last step is to refine the recruitment process as well as the customer service. There are only nine workers in the agency, therefore it is up to the management of how to disseminate the responsibilities among the workers. Below is a complex of actions that are targeting at the general improvement of the marketing campaign and the attracting of new employers to the Golden Horizon Placement Agency.
Policy. The company’s policy is not aimed at competing with other agencies. The main goal is to match the customers’ demands, to find the individual approach to every client and to satisfy the needs both of applicants and employers.
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