Management Research Project

SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT

In Partial Fulfillment of the MBA Program

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Prof. S. Dasari Sonal

08BS0003303

1

DECLARATION

I, Sonal, a student of fourth semester at IBS-B, declare that the project entitled “Sales Force

Management” is an independent research work carried out in the academic year 2008-2009

under the guidance of Professor Shailendra Dasari, IBS-BANGALORE.

I also declare that this research has not been submitted to any other University or Institution for

the award of any degree or diploma. All the work done is original.

Sonal

IBS Enroll.-08BS0003303

IUD no.- 08PMP04085

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Even failures can be turned into success and brilliance if one is guided by knowledge and

wisdom. This study also required such guidance without which the endeavor would not have

been successful. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude towards those who

ensured the completion of the study.

I would like to thank Professor Shailendra Dasari, my faculty guide who ensured that the

research project undertaken must correspond to and be relevant to both of my specialization

papers. Besides, his quest for better result and his emphasis to meet the deadlines kept me

thinking on my foot.

I am also thankful to the employees working at the organizations featured in the study. They

gave their valuable time and helped in understanding their respective organization’s policy

towards the sales force. Chief among them were Mr. Saurabh Kumar (Wipro), Mr. Mujahiddin

(Bharti-Delmonte) and Mr. Mukherjee(Ranbaxy).

Few other people deserve a mention though they were not directly involved with the project.

This study was made possible by helpful insights from my colleagues – Charu and Taheer.

Contents

ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................. 5

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY................................................................................................. 6

SALES ORGANIZATION................................................................................................................... 7

Hiring & Training Sales Personnel.................................................................................................................... 8

Territory & Time Management....................................................................................................................... 13

Motivation....................................................................................................................................................... 17

Compensation & Reward System.................................................................................................................... 18

SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT AT RANBAXY LABORATORIES LIMITED.............20

SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT AT WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED...................25

SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT AT FIELD FRESH FOODS PVT. LTD.........................31

SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT AT BIG BAZAAR...............................................................34

SUGGESTIONS................................................................................................................................... 37

CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................... 39

APPENDICES...................................................................................................................................... 40

APPENDIX-I................................................................................................................................................... 40Assessment Centre.................................................................................................................................................41

REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................ 54

ABSTRACT

The project aims at understanding the most crucial aspect of any sales organization- sales force

management. Today all organizations are into some kind of sales – goods, idea or services. As

such, we need to understand the system that runs the life of these organizations – its salesperson,

which is also a vital part of the human resources of the companies. So, for our purpose we have

taken the study across four different sectors – Pharmaceuticals represented by Ranbaxy

Laboratories, IT represented by Wipro Technologies and FMCG represented by Field Fresh

Foods Private Limited (a JV between Bharti Enterprises and Delmonte Pacific Limited) and

retail which is represented by Big Bazaar. But, effort has been made to also look at other

organizations.

The study takes an insight into the various aspects of the sales force management recruitment

and selection, training and development, sales territory and time management, compensation and

reward system. Then we will look at the system that these organizations have put up in place to

address these issues.

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

The history of salesmanship is as old as the human civilization itself. R.L .Stevenson had once

famously remarked, “Everybody is surviving on selling something to someone.”

The salespeople in the past were not held in high esteem by the society. The Roman equivalent

of the word salesperson is cheater. Today, however, an organization relies heavily on its

salesperson, that is, its sales force. This is so because of the increasing importance of selling.

Today’s selling approach also includes maintaining good customer relationship, managing the

profitability of a firm, managing customer complaints and building brand value in the eyes of the

customer. As such, the concept of sales force management becomes central to the growth of a

sales organization. This, if seen in the light of the world average attrition rate, which continues to

shift between 30% – 40%, becomes even more significant.

Objective of the Project:

To understand the concepts of sales organization

Organizing and staffing of the sales force

Performance management and reward system used

Methodology:

The project requires the information to be collected mainly by interacting with the sales

managers, the HR managers and the salespeople of the respective companies. As of now, the

information that has been collected by interacting with them has been put up in this report.

Limitations of the project:

The sales managers and HR managers who were contacted for the purpose cannot divulge much

information as it is against the company policy. So some generic information and little specific

information could be taken from them so far.

SALES ORGANIZATION

A sales organization is an organization of individuals either working together for the marketing

of products and services manufactured by an enterprise or for products that are procured by the

firm for the purpose of reselling. A successful sales organization is one where the function of

each department are carefully planned and coordinated and the efforts of the individual

supervised a successful organization also organizes resources towards the goal of delivering

products and services in the hands of the customer for profits. A sales organization defines

duties, roles and the rights and responsibilities of sales people engaged in selling activities meant

for the effective execution of the sales function. A sales organization undertakes managerial

functions like the selection and recruitment of quality manpower, their induction and training for

better performance, and their effective supervision of the subordinates. The organization also

motivates them to stay loyal and committed to achieve organizational goals and adequately

compensates them for their efforts.

In order to efficiently serve the ever-changing needs of customers, a company can have a

product-based, geographic-based, customer-based or a combination-based sales force structure.

The type of customers, the market size and its potential, the type of industry in which the

company is operating, level of sales desired, size of the sales force and the width and depth of the

product mix are some factors that influence the decision on the type of sales force structure to be

adopted.

Sales culture plays an important role in the success of a sales organization. Sales culture is a

collective impression of the values, attitudes and personality of top management in an

organization. It pervades down to the lower levels of hierarchy over time. Sales culture has a

significant influence on sales force activities and attitudes. The various components that make up

sales culture include symbols, language, ceremonies, rites and rituals, role models, tales and

stories, and values and beliefs. The strength and direction or fit of the sales culture also play a

crucial role in developing a sound sales organization.

Hiring & Training Sales Personnel

Every company aims at recruiting the right person for the right job. The greatest challenge faced

by organizations today is to be able to recruit the best talent and to be able to utilize that talent to

achieve organizational objectives. Recruitment and hiring the right people is as important in a

sales organization as it is in any other organization. Before coming to the details of recruitment,

let us bear one thing in mind – hiring, contrary to the popular perception is an ongoing process

and not confined to the formative stages of the organization. As such sales managers need to

constantly be recruiting and meeting potential new hires, even when hiring for a sales position

doesn’t appear to be on the horizon. People leave positions and companies for a variety of

reasons, so you have to be fully prepared for when this happens. A bad new hire or a string of

new hires that don’t work out can quickly turn your once great sales team into a dysfunctional

sales force incapable of meeting your sales plan or quota.

The question which is confronted by every sales manager is – are successful salespersons born or

can they be developed? The conviction that many sales managers have regarding developing

good salespeople make companies spend huge amounts on sales hiring and training. Also, there

are several organizations whose only aim is to train salespeople.

At the same time there are several organizations or managers working in sales organizations,

which like to hire mostly experienced sales persons. There is rationale for such an approach

towards hiring. The managers want to save on training and development costs, especially during

the period when economy cannot be said to be booming. Besides, there are also arguments that

people who have experience in the field add more value to the organization in terms of the

relationship which they bring in. also the relevant exposure helps them cope better with the work

related stress.

Many organizations, have however, devised their own system in this regard. Also they have

their own criteria to select the sales personnel. These systems have certain things in common. It

can be depicted as follows:

Requirement in Sales Personnel

Mental Aptitude Dimensions Personality Dimensions

Mental Alertness

Business terms & Memory Recall Aptitude

Communication Skills

Numerical Ability

Mechanical Interest

Work Motivational

Work Habits

Emotional Maturity Levels

Competitiveness

Dominance

High Energy Levels

Cynicism

Sociability

Honesty or Character Strengths

The sales force selection process consists of several stages. These are:

Sourcing the candidates – sales managers try to develop a pool of applicants by attracting

candidates from various sources for filling the sales positions in their organizations. The

various sources from which sales managers can source their potential candidates include

college and university campuses, use of placement agencies, newspapers and trade

journals, referrals from other salespeople etc. Potential candidates can even be sourced

from within the organization. This trend is known as re-recruiting.

Screening the candidates – the curriculum vitae of the candidates serve as the first

screening tool in most of the organizations. Also, some organizations ask the candidates

to fill some standardized application forms to get over the problem of varying formats in

which the candidates apply.

Selection test – tests serve as the selection tool to assess a potential employee’s skills and

abilities. Although tests help in weeding out most of the inaccurate candidates they have

their own pitfalls. For example such test which are often called knowledge tests are

memory based while in work situations one does not depend much on memory rather on

other skills.

Personality tests

Honesty tests

Psychometric tests – these are used to “look into the mind” of the candidates. These are

designed to test the candidate for skills, interest, aptitude, and other aspects of personality

like strengths and weaknesses.

Background checks – here the purpose to screen out undeserving and undesirable

candidates.

Personal Interview – in many organizations, a potential employee is called for a personal

interview only after he or she clears the background check.

Letter of Recommendation – there are chances of a candidate providing wrong

information about himself in his resume. As such, letter of recommendation also forms

the part of selection process.

Physical Examination

Making the Employment Offer – the last stage in the selection process involves making

the employment offer to the candidate.

Despite such elaborate mechanisms being in place for the recruitment purposes,

organizations have to keep on recruiting all through the year. Yet, organizations are not

sure of the performance from the salespersons whom they hire. What can be the reason

behind this? Well, first and simplest answer to the question is that many a salesperson

hired are not “job-fit”. The candidates who are not compatible with the job will surely not

be able to do justice with it. But the question here is how to gauge the compatibility?

Sales Training to the selected candidates:

The success of an organization is a function of the effectiveness of its sales force to convince

customers to make purchase. As sales force performance has a significant impact on the bottom

line of the organization, it is imperative for the sales manager to think about the various ways in

which the performance of the sales force can be boosted. This assumes all the more significance

keeping in view the fact that most of the salespersons do not have the inherent talent to sell. As

such the role of training to overcome this limitation becomes important.

The training provided should be based on the need assessment of the salesperson. However, very

few organizations take this trouble. Most of the organizations design a formal and common

training for all its new recruits.

The types of training that the companies provide can be listed as:

Initial Sales training

Follow-up or Refresher Training

Training by the manufacturer to the Distributor’s Sales Force

Training by the Manufacturer to the Customers

Components of Sales Training Programs

Designing the Sales Training Program

Implementing the program

Evaluate the Training program

It is important to note here that several organizations, these days, have been developing

competency models which are used for not only the recruitment procedure but also for the

purpose of designing training and development programs. The existing employees are tested

against the competencies as per the competency model. The stress is on identifying those

competencies in which they are lacking and subsequently a training program is recommended for

them. The competency models are developed along the functional lines – that is, the sales

function has a different set of competencies, finance has a different set of competencies and so

on. There are various methods to assess the candidates on the identified competencies –

Behavioral Event Interviewing (BEI), Thematic Aptitude Test (TAT), Assessment

Centre/Development Centre etc. Even potential employees are assessed using these methods.

Territory & Time Management

A sales territory is thought of as a geographic area that contains customer accounts. In other

words, a sales territory is composed of a group of customers or a geographic area assigned to a

salesperson, a group of salesperson, a branch, a dealer, a distributor, or a marketing organization

at given period of time. The territory may or may not have geographic boundaries. The term

customer, here, refers to both the existing as well as the future ones. Assigning sales territories

helps a manager to achieve a match between sales efforts and sales opportunities. Now, the

question that confronts us what is the rationale behind establishing sales territories? When sales

territories are out of balance, some areas with high potential customers may be underserved

while other areas are saturated. Too much effort may be expended against low potential

customers. Sales and service people spend too much “windshield time” driving from sales call to

sales call and don’t spend enough time seeing and listening to customers. 

So let us first have a look at these rationales:

Increased sales and customer coverage — when territories are properly aligned, issues of

under- and over-capacity are reduced or eliminated. Each territory is created allowing the

sales person to reach and spend time with the greatest number of high potential

customers, thus increasing sales. 

Reduced travel time and associated expenses — due to the geographic nature of sales

territories, better alignment means less travel time to reach customers. Less time spent in

the car means more time spent with customers, thus more time for selling. Other

associated expenses such as fuel and automobile costs are reduced as well. 

Competitive advantage — this benefit of sales territory alignment is often overlooked.

However, if an organization has better coverage in its territories, it can reach new

opportunities faster than your competitors, again leading to increased sales.

Equity and morale — nothing can be more discouraging to a sales person than to see an

associate milking a highly profitable territory while they’re stuck servicing an area with

low potential. Properly aligned territories provide a more equitable distribution of

accounts, level the playing field in terms of achieving rewards, and boost morale among

sales people. In addition, sales people stay longer, thus lowering the costs associated with

hiring.

Strengthening of Customer Relationship Management – properly designed sales

territories allow salespeople to spend more time with present and potential customers and

less time on the road. The more the salespeople can learn about their customers the more

comfortable their relationship becomes with the customer. Well designed sales territories

should result in regularly scheduled sales call on customers. Let us say, for example, if

there is a customer who purchases regularly but is too busy to see a salesperson, then he

might prefer placing an order over the phone. Or the customer may receive updated

pricing information and place an order on a facsimile machine, that is, fax. Another way

could be through the use of voicemail.

When?

Several organizations conduct a yearly review of sales territories. The year’s performance may or

may not lead to a change in the shape or makeup of the sales territories. However, a number of

situations can compel a manager to embark upon a sales territory alignment initiative, including:

The sales territories are based on historical data rather than potential for sales. 

A new or changed sales team has been formed due to acquisition, merger, partnering or

restructuring.

If the company is launching a major strategic initiative and sales staffing is not matched

to it.

When the sales team has experienced significant changes over a short period of time.

Each of the above discussed situations is ripe with the potential for decreased productivity,

missed customer opportunity, and confusion and competition among sales people. Sales territory

alignment can help rectify all these situations.

How?

There are myriads of software packages available in the market which can help an organization

in aligning the territories. Some are simple and may lack the functionality required to align

multi-tiered territories and account for complex relationships. Others can be sophisticated,

expensive and non-intuitive. It might be required to engage a firm with expertise in sales territory

alignment that can advise on the territory alignment process and provide software and analysis

services.

Most successful sales territory alignment initiatives follow a proven process similar to this:

Analyze current territories, sales force composition, compensation plans, target markets,

customer locations and market penetration. 

Assess existing territories to find underserved or saturated areas based on the number of

customers and prospects in each territory, and analyze how easily they can be reached by

your sales force. 

Determine the number of territories needed based on your criteria for realignment.

Criteria can include equitable distribution of leads or workload, account assignment,

number of sales people, travel time, location of distributors, and other variables relevant

to your business. 

Rank and align territories, optimizing them at multiple levels. For example, territories

that roll up into districts, districts into regions, and so on. 

There are certain factors that need to be taken care of while designing the sales territories:

Select Basic Control Units

Analyze Workload

Determine Basic Territories

Assign to territories

Customer Contact Plan

Evaluate, Revise if needed

Operating the Territory Management System

A sales manager should be very careful in managing the sales territories under him. A sales

manager can efficiently manage their sales territories by routing the movements and scheduling

the activities of salespersons so as to maximize the efficiency of their sales efforts.

Routing involves the measures taken by sales management to minimize the travel expenses,

travel time and total distance traveled by salespersons. It also takes into account the call

frequency and the time that needs to be devoted to each account.

Scheduling refers to allocation of appropriate time to all the activities that salespersons carry out

during a day, week and a month. This requires planning of activities by factoring in the waiting

time at the customer’s place, the travelling time based on the past data, etc

Motivation

“Success is achieved and maintained by those who try and keep trying.”

W Clement Stone

It is no secret that only highly motivated people have been able to achieve what they had set their

sights on. This is so because the people who are highly motivated do not give up trying.

Setbacks, for them, are an opportunity to analyze and identify the mistakes. This learning helps

them to avoid future mistakes. Their motivation keeps them going.

Now, let us understand the role of motivation in a sales organization.

Sales organizations comprise of human beings working at different levels. As such organizations

are affected by the effectiveness of its employees. The effectiveness of employees is again a

factor of many things – significant among them is the motivation levels of the employees. Thus,

we can say that the success of a sales organization depends on the ability and the style of

functioning of the sales manager to motivate the sales staff to achieve organizational goals. The

importance of motivation is felt within and across the organization because the salespeople have

to put in a lot of effort to realize sales in the market. They get demotivated due to frequent

rejections by the customers, lower esteem ascribed to the sales job, and customer complaints

about non-compliance of the products and services. The nature of job itself serves to weaken

motivation levels. Salespeople have to do the job of prospecting, presentations, and

demonstration repeatedly which makes the job monotonous. Also, their personal and domestic

life suffers because of the job.

Sales manager needs to constantly motivate his employees and at the same time continue to be

motivated himself. The greatest challenge in motivating employees is the issue that not all the

employees are motivated by the same factors. It is here that different theories of motivation –

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Hertzberg’s two factor theory, Alderfer’s ERG theory, Vroom’s

expectancy theory etc., - come into picture. Deciding on the ways to motivate an employee

differs from manager to manager, yet certain guidelines are laid down by respective

organizations in this regard.

Compensation & Reward System

Sales organizations design compensation plans with multiple objectives. One of the key

objectives is to attract quality salespeople. If the company’s compensation and reward system is

perceived to be equitable then it will not have much problem in attracting good salespeople.

Besides, it also helps in keeping the employees motivated. This in turn helps in getting better

performance out of the sales force and retaining them.

As such, the reward system should address the short-term as well as long-term issues of the

salespeople. While survival is the short-term issue of the salesperson, recognition and growth in

the company are his long-term needs. The compensation should be guarantee fair wage. The

pattern of remuneration should be such that it should reflect a stream of stable income flows for

the salespeople.

Types of compensation plan

Financial Compensation Non-Financial Compensation

Straight Salary Plan Promotions

Straight Commission Plan Recognition Programs

Bonus & Incentive Fringe Benefits

Salary Plus Incentive Plan Expense Accounts

Drawing Account & Commission Plan Perquisites

Sales Contests

Steps in Designing Compensation Plan

Determine Sales Force & Compensation Objectives

Determine Major Compensation Issues

Implement Long-term & Short-term Compensation Plan

Relate Rewards to performance

Measurement of Performance

Review and Revise (if needed) the compensation plan

Also, the performance appraisal of the salespersons should be fair. Besides, emphasis must be

laid on proper performance management system. Most of the organization mistake performance

management for appraisal, which it is not.

Sales Force Management at RANBAXY Laboratories Limited

COMPANY PROFILE

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, India's largest pharmaceutical company, is an integrated,

research based, international pharmaceutical company, producing a wide range of quality,

affordable generic medicines, trusted by healthcare professionals and patients across

geographies. Ranked 8th amongst the global generic pharmaceutical companies, Ranbaxy today

has a presence in 23 of the top 25 pharmaceutical markets of the world. The Company has a

global footprint in 48 countries, world-class manufacturing facilities in 11 countries and serves

customers in over 125 countries.

In June 2008, Ranbaxy entered into an alliance with one of the largest Japanese innovator

companies, Daiichi Sankyo Company Ltd., to create an innovator and generic pharmaceutical

powerhouse. The combined entity now ranks among the top 15 pharmaceutical companies,

globally. The transformational deal will place Ranbaxy in a higher growth trajectory and it will

emerge stronger in terms of its global reach and in its capabilities in drug development and

manufacturing.

Ranbaxy was incorporated in 1961 and went public in 1973. For the year 2008, the Company

recorded Global Sales of US $ 1,682 million, reflecting a growth of 4%. The Company has a

balanced mix of revenues from emerging and developed markets that contribute 54% and 39%

respectively. In 2008, North America, the Company's largest market contributed sales of

US $ 449 million, followed by Europe garnering US $ 330 million. Business in Asia has been

going strong with India clocking sales of around US $ 300 million with market leadership in

several business segments, backed by strong brand-building skills.

The Ranbaxy Approach

The pharmaceutical market in India is full of challenges and has the most competitive

environment on the India industrial scene today. It is characterized by an intense competition

amongst over 23000 firms – large, big, medium and small – fighting for their share in

37,000crore market.

Also, many Indian pharmaceutical firms have gained a global footprint over the last decade.

Their reach has been growing continuously. Ranbaxy has been the poster child of the pharma-

revolution in India. As such it becomes imperative that we study its sales force management. But

first let us have a look at the firm itself.

Ranbaxy had posted a sales figure of Rs.2000 crores in the year 2004-05. It has 9 divisions and

the number of products under its portfolio exceeds 300. Its field force exceeds 2,500.

Managing sales force productivity is critical for the success of pharmaceutical companies.

Accenture research indicates that productivity as expressed by “Per Capita sales Per Month”

(PCPM) in pharmaceutical companies typically ranges from Rs 2-8 lakh.

The medical representatives of the company are required to call on almost 12 doctors per day.

However, the number of doctors covered per month stands at 233. The representatives visit the

important doctors 2-3 times per month. Also they are required to call on 6-7 chemists per day.

Recruitment and Selection

Now, let us take recruitment and selection at Ranbaxy. The sources which it uses for the purpose

of recruiting the sales force are:

Employment agencies

Internet

Reference from Current Sales People

Advertisement in Newspapers

Campus Placements

Internal Promotions/Transfers

Training and Development

The recruits are given an initial classroom training of two weeks. Here the focus areas are –

product knowledge, marketing and selling skills and personality development.

The training has elements of both classroom and foot on street method to it. The initial training is

provided by some experienced sales people and also some doctors. Doctors are employed in

order to give the sales force a good understanding of the issues related to the drug. Thereafter the

trainees are sent to the field along with some existing sales people.

Compensation and Reward System

Ranbaxy pays a great attention on maintaining the motivation levels of its sales force. This is a

very important aspect of sales force management. A research conducted by Hay Group found out

that the cost of replacing a single pharmaceutical representative is well over one hundred

thousand dollar. This figure does not include the lost sales opportunities.

The compensation to the medical representatives include a fixed salary, field expense

reimbursement in the form of daily allowance, and travelling allowance and incentives based on

sales. It also provides fringe benefits like Contributory Provident Fund and soft loans.

In order to provide a target to the sales force the company takes into account mainly the previous

year’s sales performance. Besides, industry growth is also factored while designing the target.

Information Technology (Sales Force Automation)

Sales force automation or SFA refers to the information systems used to automate sales and sales

force management. As such, SFA includes a contact management system which tracks all contact

that has been made with a given customer and the purpose of the contact. In addition, an SFA

also includes a tracking system whereby the list of all the potential customers, or that customers

of related products is maintained as well.

After a three-month evaluation of mobile sales automation solutions that was overseen by its

headquarters in India, Ranbaxy chose De Data’s intelligent Purveyance system to run on PDA

devices in March, 2007.

The solution is now being used by the company’s representatives to manage its pharmacy sales

force operations throughout India & Australia.

In addition to all the above mentioned strategies and policies another important dimension of

sales force management is the strategic internal communication. Internal communication is

important for any organization as it works as a strategic tool for maintaining the transparency

within an organization; it helps to enhance the employee morale and also reduces attrition.

Sales Force Management at WIPRO Technologies Limited

COMPANY PROFILE

Wipro (Western India Palm Refined Oils) started off as a vegetable oil trading company in 1947

from an old mill at Amalner, Maharashtra, India founded by M.H. Premji. When M.H. Premji

died in 1966, his son, Azim Premji took on the leadership of the company at the age of 21. He

repositioned it and transformed Wipro (Western India Vegetable Products Ltd) into a consumer

goods company that produced hydrogenated cooking oils/fat company, laundry soap, wax and tin

containers and later set up Wipro Fluid Power to manufacture hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders

in 1975.

In 1977, when IBM was asked to leave India, Wipro entered the information technology sector.

In 1979, Wipro began developing its own computers and in 1981, started selling the finished

product. The company licensed technology from Sentinel Computers in the United States and

began building India's first mini-computers. Wipro hired managers who were computer savvy,

and strong on business experience

In 1980 Wipro moved into software development and started developing customized software

packages for their hardware customers. This expanded their IT business and subsequently

developed the first Indian 8086 chip.

Since 1992 Wipro began to grow its roots off shore in United States and by 2000 Wipro Ltd

ADRs were listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company’s revenue began to grow rapidly. It grew at 450% from 2002-2007. This success

has led to higher salaries, which put pressure on the company's margins. This situation has,

however, changed in the wake of the global economic recessions.

The Wipro Technologies Approach

Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment in Wipro is not just an event but is a part of a complete leadership development

process. Most of their recruitment is done from the campus. Wipro began recruiting people from

premier institutes since 1970 and have developed some of the best leaders of the Indian industry.

However, it does not hire people at senior levels unless it is absolutely required. The policy at

Wipro is that even if an insider is 60% ready for a given internal vacancy, he will be preferred

over an outsider.

The recruitment process is extremely important to Wipro and involves a significant application

of the senior and top management time. The assessment of the campus panel is supported by an

assessment of the candidate's performance in group discussions, psychometric tests and an in-

depth reference check.

The selection procedure includes following four steps:

1. Written examination of a duration of1 hour-

It has 3 sections

a) English Language test-

This section has a total of 20 questions. Out of these ten questions are in the form of fill in the

blanks of prepositions, synonyms & antonyms. Then there are two passages related to computers.

This section tests the communication skills.

b) Aptitude test –

Topics on which questions are generally asked are as follows:

• Blood Relations

• Directions

• Time & Distance

The section seeks to test the candidate on logical reasoning and as such his general mental ability

is put to test.

c) Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning-

Topics on which questions are generally asked are:

• Mathematical Operations

• Data Sufficiency

• Logic

• Puzzle Test

Here, quantitative ability of a person is put to test.

d) Essay Writing-

Candidates are required to write an essay in 100-150 words within 10 minutes. The purpose is to

test the communication skills and understand the thought process of the candidates.

2) Group Discussion-

The purpose of the group discussion is to identify confident, informed, and enthusiastic

candidates.

3) HR round-

Here, the oral communication as well as the personality of the candidate is assessed. Some of the

common questions are:

• Tell me about yourself?

• Why your 12th % was low?

4) Technical round-

Here, the candidates’ knowledge regards to computers and information technology is tested.

Training & Development

Wipro has also developed a competency model whereby need assessment for the new recruits as

well as existing workforce is done in order to provide them with requisite training. Also, the

competency model is used to assign the new recruits to proper teams. The organization uses a

competency framework as the anchor for driving individual and organizational performance.

There are 14 behavioral competencies and nine quality competencies that shape recruitment,

staffing, training, and HR processes. During performance appraisals, employees are assessed on

these competencies. The organization also has an assessment center to help measure the

competency levels and effectiveness of training. Though, a detailed and exclusive detail of an

assessment centre was not provided by the company, an example of assessment centre can be

found in appendix.

A future manager program, aimed at building behavioral competencies of employees, took off

during 2006-2007. More than 200 employees were certified as future managers in the first year.

That number rose to 600 in the second year. Service Academies helped new employees

assimilate into their jobs quicker (from 180 days to 155 days). These academies catered to the

special training requirements of their job functions, especially the practical application skills.

Development of employees is one of the most critical processes in Wipro. The best thing,

according to the employees, at Wipro is that a person gets to learn many things. A person may be

working in sales team initially but he can very well go on to work in other functional areas too.

This can be attributed to the employee development programs at the organization. There are

broadly two categories of development programs:

A) Life cycle management program

B) Individual development program against individual development need

The following areas are covered under the life cycle management program:

Entry-level program - this consists of both elaborate technical exposure as well as

exposure to issues related to how to be a good productive employee in the Company.

This is in addition to a common induction program that employees go through on

joining.

New leaders program - For employees who become leaders for the first time.

Wipro leaders program - for employees who start leading other managers.

Business leaders program - for those who become business managers for the first time.

Strategic leaders program - for top management who are responsible for strategic inputs.

Besides the above, a detailed action plan is made on completion of performance appraisal for the

individual employee. The action plan can include the following:

Specific need related development program

Efforts on the job by the employee

Supervisor coaching guidance etc.

Performance Management System

Wipro has a comprehensive performance management system, which has been institutionalized

over three decades. The human resources department does the review and planning is the high

point of the performance management and employee development process at the organization.

The HRRP (human resource review & planning) serves the following purpose:

Identifying top 10% and bottom 10% of the employees

Identifying talent that we should not lose under any circumstances

Succession planning

People in the same job for five years and more

Sales Force Management at Field Fresh Foods Pvt. Ltd.

COMPANY PROFILE

FieldFresh Foods Pvt. Ltd. is a venture between Bharti Enterprises and Del Monte Pacific

Limited, to offer fresh and processed fruits and vegetables in the domestic as well as

international markets, including Europe and the Middle East.

The company will produce, market and distribute farm fresh products that address the needs of

today’s consumer. With the synergy between Bharti’s dynamism and Del Monte’s heritage of

over 100 years, the company aims at becoming a leading player in the foods & beverages

segment in India.

The company is a new entrant in the Indian FMCG scenario catering to the food and beverage

section. As such it requires an aggressive sales pitch. Hence, the sales force management

occupies a special place in the scheme of things at the organization. However, the joint-venture

is in the process of designing a proper infrastructure yet. The organization is currently present in

a limited number of cities and its strength is not too high. For example, the company’s marketing

division in Bangalore has been established and growing slowly and steadily. The company has

been able to register its presence in the market, yet very few consumers in the city are aware

about its products. So the salespeople at the company are working at every level and very

aggressively to push the products. Their requirements, however, as of now is being handled by

the marketing division only and there is no HR department to look into it. The company hopes to

be able to develop a full-fledged HR department very soon, though no deadline has been set up

yet.

The Field Fresh Approach

The company currently recruits people mainly from two sources – placement agencies and

campus recruitments. Campus recruits are mainly taken in as interns. These recruits are given a

small training of two to three days where the focus is on product knowledge and sales process.

These recruits are not provided with any compensation as of now. They are, however, given

freedom to choose their area of projects and the company provides them with resources to

complete the project. Also the interns get to meet their Regional Sales Manager every week and

recognition of their work comes straight from him. This serves as a big motivation for the

interns. The regular sales force, however, is recruited through placement agents. The new

recruits are given a small training just like the interns. These recruits are put on a probation

period of one year. During this one year the new recruits have to show consistency in the

achievement of sales target. During their probation period, the salespersons are given a fixed

salary and reimbursed for travelling and telephone expenses. There is no incentive on the offer.

The company gives ‘best in the industry’ salaries. The purpose of fixed salary is to make the

salespersons feel secure economically. This, according to the company helps keep them

motivated.

After completion of one year the salespersons are put on the rolls of the company. At this stage,

incentives also come into the compensation picture. The company, in fact, starts increasing the

share of variable pay to the salespeople at this stage. This serves as a motivation to them.

The company now has, however, felt that this approach will not suffice them in achieving

desired results over a longer period of time. So, the company is contemplating hiring HR

consultants and domain experts to chalk out new policies for managing the sales force.

Sales Force Management at Big Bazaar

COMPANY PROFILE

Big Bazaar is a chain of hypermarkets which was launched by Pantaloon retail in 2001.

Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited is one of the biggest retailers in India with more than 1000

stores across the country (73 cities). Its head quarter is in Mumbai. It has more than 5 million

square feet retail space located across the country. It is growing at an enviable pace and is

expected to reach 30 million square feet by end of 2010. Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited

employs over 30,000 people.

Future Value Retail Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited.

This entity has been created keeping in mind the growth and the current size of the company’s

value retail business, led by its format divisions, Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar. 

The company runs 120 Big Bazaar stores.

The Big Bazaar Approach

Recruitment and Selection

Big Bazaar recruits from various sources. These sources for the recruitment of sales staff are:

HR consultants

Employee Referrals

Campus Recruitments

Walk-in interviews

The company employs various methods to select for the process of recruitment. Interviews are

held for selection at any level in the organization. For entry level jobs, a simple interview is the

most preferred mode of selection. Interviews are followed by psychometric tests for the jobs

concerning higher level. When selecting from campus, the organization also uses group

discussion for first level of screening, followed by interviews and psychometric tests.

Training and Development

New employees undergo an induction and training program for two weeks. They are taught

about the company’s business, various departments etc. They are informed of their roles, duties

and responsibilities. They are also briefed on the HR policies and rules of the company.

The new employees are put on probation for a period of six months. After this period the HR

manager along with the department manager will review the performance of the employee. If the

employee’s performance is good and encouraging, the employee’s services are confirmed.

Future group has its own training division for all its employees, known as ‘Future Learning &

Development Limited’ (FLDL). All the employees are required to undergo training for twenty

days in a year. These twenty days are, however, spread over the year. ‘Gurukul’ which is a part

of FLDL trains the employees on various skills like team work and improving the customer

service.

Compensation and Reward Systems

The employees are rewarded suitably with attractive pay packages. The salary of an employee

includes basic pay, HRA, special allowance, PF, and medical insurance etc. Annual bonus is

given at the time of Diwali celebrations.

Big Bazaar employees and their dependents get treatment at a discounted rate in some hospitals.

The company has entered into alliance with several hospitals to this effect.

Besides, all the employees are given an ‘Employee Discount card’ (EDC) through which they

can buy any product at Big Bazaar at a special discount of 20-30 %.

Performance Management

The HR department conducts performance appraisal of all the employees annually in the month

of April. The decision as to increments in the pay to the employees is decided upon on the basis

of their performance. Moreover, if an employee achieves or exceeds the target given to them

along with their team members then they are provided with attractive cash prizes and other

incentives.

Motivation

At Big Bazaar, the employees are motivated through various means. The sales managers believe

that the good working environment and organization’s culture themselves are the biggest

motivator. There is healthy competition among the sales staff. Besides, good salary and

incentives, appreciation from the floor managers and even higher level managers too serve to

motivate the sales force. Moreover, the organization has worked to make its employees feel

secure in their jobs, and this is reflected in the trends pertaining to job cuts during recessionary

phase. The higher level employees took to voluntary pay cuts rather than firing its sales staff in

the face of economic slowdown. The HR team worked overtime to communicate with the

employees. Even counselling sessions were undertaken to some extent.

Suggestions

Sales is an important function in any organization as the very survival of an organization

depends on the revenues that it earns, which comes from sales. As such, bottom-line is affected

to a great extent by rise and fall in the performance of each sales person. So, managers often set

high targets for the sales staff. The sales person who works in the field goes through tremendous

amount of hard-work, diligence and stress. Yet, a slight fall in the performance and he can find

his job under threat. Very often, they are not treated well by the customers as well as their

superiors. Most of the sales persons encountered during the course of the study believed that they

face undue sales pressure which is thrust upon them by strategists without knowing the ground

realities. Also, they also begin to feel a conflict which is resultant from the difference between

the espoused values and practiced values of the organization. Often, achieving the sales target

puts them under ethical dilemma. The sales staff often begins to see his performance taking a

downward spiral. Also, it begins to affect the company’s relation with its customers.

So, any organization should take certain measures which will help it better manage its sales

force. Some of the suggestions in this regard are:

Sales targets should be realistic and onstage contact employees should be made

participant in the process. The best results can be observed if it is not thrust upon the

sales staff. For example, an Area Sales Manager working at a reputed stock broking firm

complained that he was required to achieve a target six hundred accounts in one year

even during recession. A failure to reach to the eighty percent of the target would result

in no bonus and certainly no incentive. In this regard Management by objective (MBO)

can be a useful practice. But again the risk is that the superior may not be skilled enough

to handle this kind of approach and would create more problems.

Performance appraisal should not be confused with performance management. Many

organizations declare lofty ideals with regards to the performance management yet on the

terra firma the practice is not to look beyond appraising the performance.

Adequate training should be provided to the superiors so that they could handle their

human resource, which in this case would be their sales staff, in a better manner. They

should not look upon them just as a means to achieve the target assigned to them.

Job rotation should be followed in organizations. For example, a sales person who has

done three-four years of sales could be shifted to HR functions like training and

development, or even strategy formulation. Such measures would be of mutual benefits

to both the respective companies and their sales staff.

While recruiting, many companies keep attaching more importance to experience and

qualifications rather than giving due importance to competence. This happens due to

haste and also because company take HR functions to be a cost to company only. Despite

being a known fact that there should be candidate-job fit, that is, ‘right person for right

job’, companies at times fail to practice the maxim. Experienced or ‘qualified’ candidates

may not always be the right candidate for the job. At the same time equally important is

to note that errors like ageism should not creep into recruitment policy.

Effort should be made to create a learning organization as it can help fight problems

related to manpower shortage.

Organizations should look to develop their own competency model to develop an

efficient and learning organization.

Conclusion

These days a lot of managers and strategists place great emphasis on the bottom-line as it not only

reflects a company’s well-being but also affects its stock values. In this pursuit of profit top-line

assumes special significance. Different organizations have adopted different methods to go about it, as

can be observed in the study undertaken. But, despite different approaches to sales one thing that

remains constant is the significance of sales force. As such, managing the sales force assumes

strategic importance in the growth of the organization. The policies pertaining to sales force have a

deep impact on not only achievement of targets, but also on the image of the organization, employee

satisfaction and attrition rate.

The management policy at a sales organization is a function of various factors – environment, strategy

adopted by the organization, organization’s learning curve, and sales manager’s own understanding of

the environment and his tactical responses. Organizations’ policy, especially those which are related

to performance management and training and development are heavily influenced by organizations’

learning curve. That is to say, organizations choose those policies which they deem to be addressing

their need, based upon experience. New firms, obviously, do not have such advantage. Yet, to

overcome this, new firms hire outside consultants.

The organizations should also look towards their HR function as a strategic function, not only in the

sense that it helps them hire right candidate for right job, but also because it can improve overall

efficiency. HR department comes in handy in developing the competencies of its staff and

subsequently of the organization as a whole, as can be seen from the experiences of Big Bazaar and

Wipro.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX-I

Assessment Centre

Assessment centre or development centre is not a new concept but there usage has become more

wide spread very recently.

An assessment centre consists of a standardized evaluation of behavior based on multiple inputs.

Several trained observers and multiple techniques are used. Judgments about behavior are made,

in major part from specifically developed assessment simulations. These judgments are pooled in

a meeting among the assessors or by a statistical integration process.

Presented below is a hypothetical assessment centre to be conducted for Tata AIG life insurance:

Assumptions:

1) We are consultants

2) We have a team of certified and experienced assessors

3) The assessment will be conducted at our own centre.

4) A panel of assessors will be formed comprising of senior assessors and associate

assessors.

5) The assessors: participant ratio in an Assessment Centre shall be maintained as follows:

Senior Assessors 1:2

Associate Assessors 1:2

As such the panel will have 4 senior assessors and 4 associate assessors that is a total of 8

assessors.

Each candidate will be assessed by multiple assessors and on multiple competencies.

6) To the extent possible, for individual exercises, assessors will operate in pairs, i.e.,

Associate Assessors will not assess individual exercises without the presence of a Senior

Assessor.

7) In addition to the assessors there will be 2 facilitators. Facilitators have the task of

managing the centre process operationally i.e. on the day of assessment. This will involve

two main roles (separate people may fulfill these two roles): (a) Quality control (b) Time-

table management/venue management.

8) Also, the whole assessment will be based on the working plan prepared by the assessment

centre designer who will be an occupational psychologist.

9) Consultancy charges – Rs. 20,000 per candidate per day.

10) We are situated in the same city as the organization.

Background:

The company chosen for the purpose of the assignment is Tata AIG General Insurance Co Ltd. The location and job/position would be New Delhi and Zonal Sales Manager, respectively.

Critical Competencies:

Five critical competencies that the candidates are expected to possess can be listed down as:

Leadership

Goal orientation and Motivation

Communication

Impact

Conflict-Management

The above discussed competencies can be associated with certain behavioral indicators. Let us first have a look at them:

1) Leadership

- Motivates and inspires others

- Helps create a sense of purpose and shared vision

- Communicates goals and objectives to others

- Accepts personal responsibility for one’s own and group’s performance

- Takes initiatives like seeking additional information about a situation, other than given.

- Is flexible but at the same time has conviction

2) Goal-Orientation and Motivation

- Sets, pursues, and follows-through with achieving goals

- Shows a sense of urgency

- Engages in problem-solving activities regularly and autonomously

- Demonstrates a strong sense of purpose

- Committed to achieving results

- Displays a high energy level

3) Communication

- Expresses thoughts clearly & comprehensively both orally as well as in written manner.

- Adapts to the need of diverse audiences

- Makes strategy easy to understand to levels below him

4) Impact

- Is well presented (good personal hygiene, dresses appropriately, etc.)

- Speaks clearly and fluently

- Demonstrates confidence and assertiveness in an interpersonal manner

- Communicates appropriately via nonverbal behavior (i.e. eye contact, etc.)

5) Conflict- Management

- Identifies and manages potential conflicts

- Works to resolve conflict among team members

- Anticipates stakeholders’ (customers, peers, supervisor) agendas and subsequently finds

and presents solutions

- Uses Negotiation Skills to arrive at win-win situation

Assessment activities

Assessment activities can be listed as follows:

1) Psychometric Profiling

Here, 16 PF test and OPQ (Occupational Personality Questionnaire) would be used as

these give a straightforward measure of the personality and can be statistically related

the competency dimensions. These help in judging various aspects like creativity,

motivation, extroversion and so on.

2) Individual exercises – Consisting of Behavioral Interview, Presentations, In-basket

exercise & one-to-one exercise

Presentations are helpful in understanding the candidate’s oral communications and

his or her impact.

The typical in-basket contains a collection of items of varying importance and priority

that managers find in their in-baskets, such as phone messages, memos, and

documents, and the candidate must indicate what action they would take on each

item. Some of the items may be interrelated to add complexity, and there is also

generally a time limit, which puts candidates under some time pressure to handle all

of the items. It is a simulated work task designed to measure performance on work

that managers typically do, so it has high face validity for candidates. The collection

of items in the ‘in-basket’ exercise is targeted to the specific job or they can be made

very general, including the kinds of items that any manager might deal with. Trained

assessors score the exercise by coming to consensus on ratings on performance

dimensions such as prioritization, decision making, organization, and interpersonal

skills.

Behavioral based interviewing is interviewing based on discovering how the

interviewee acted in specific employment-related situation.

One-to-one exercises involve role players who play the role. It is essentially an act of

fact-finding, decision-making or negotiating.

3) Group exercises- Consisting of Role play & Group discussions

Role play can help to find out the efficiency of the candidate in conflict-management,

especially his or her negotiation skills. Here, participants act out real-life situation.

There is no set dialogue and the participants act out on the basis of role description

provided to them. It is performed in front of a group of observers.

Group discussions help in assessing a person on many parameters like flexibility and

conviction along with depth of knowledge and assertiveness. As such, the exercise

can help in assessing a candidate on leadership, impact and conflict resolution.

The participants will be grouped in 4 groups for role-play each consisting of 2

participants. While for group discussion there will be just one group whereby all the

participants will be pooled together.

4) Analytical exercises and Interactive exercises

This involves engaging the participants in an analytical exercise. An issue is given to

all the participants. In interactive exercises the candidates are required to give a

written component of the interaction. This provides concrete evidence of the person’s

cognitive competencies and removes ambiguity.

These exercises help in understanding the competencies pertaining to communication

especially written, conflict-management, and leadership. For example if the

candidates try to go beyond the obvious it can be safely assumed that the person does

have leadership qualities. Similarly the verbal and non-verbal cues are assessed.

5) Skit

It is a passive exercise which will test the participants on their listening, empathy and

problem solving dimensions, and as such will be useful in assessing the participants

on leadership, communication, trouble-shooting.

6) Case Study

This will help in assessing the participants’ analytical skills, trouble shooting, and

decision making.

Schedule:

Day1 (Wednesday)

Time Activity Venue Participants Panel

9.00 a.m. Ice-breaker Board Room All

10.00 a.m. Group Board Room All All

Discussion 1

10.30 a.m. In-Basket Conference Room 1 C1, C8 SA1, AA1

Conference Room 2 C2, C7 SA2, AA2

Conference Room 3 C3, C6 SA3, AA3

Conference Room 4 C4, C5 SA4, AA4

12.30 p.m. Lunch

01.30 p.m. Individual Conference Room 1 C3, C8 SA4, AA2

Presentations Conference Room 2 C5, C2 SA3, AA1

Conference Room 3 C6, C1 SA2, AA4

Conference Room 4 C7, C4 SA1, AA3

2.30 p.m. Psychometric Library All

Profiling (16PF)

3.30 p.m. Panel Conference Room 1 C2, C3 SA1, SA2

Interview C5, C6 AA2, AA3

Conference Room 2 C1, C4 SA3, SA4

C7, C8 AA1, AA4

5.00 p.m. Refreshment

Day 2 (Thursday)

Time Activity Venue Participants Panel

09.00 a.m. One-to-one Conference Room 1 C1, C5 SA2, SA3

C2, C6 AA1, AA3

Conference Room 2 C3, C4 SA1, SA4

C7, C8 AA2, AA4

10.00 a.m. Psychometric Library All

Profiling (OPQ)

10.30 a.m. Case Study Board Room All

12.30 p.m. Lunch

01.30 p.m. Analytical & Conference Room1 C1, C2, C3, C4 SA1, SA2, AA1, AA2

Interactive Ex. Conference Room2 C5, C6, C7, C8 SA3, SA4, AA3, AA4

04.00 p.m. Discussion Board Room All All

With the Panel

05.00 p.m. Refreshment

Day 3 (Friday)

Time Activity Venue Participants Panel

09.00 a.m. Skit Board Room All All

10.15 a.m. Group Board Room All All

Discussion 2

11.15 a.m. Ending

Session & Lunch

Template for Scoring- Competency Grid

RATING

Psychometric Profiling1 * * * * * 1 2 3 4 5Interview * * *Presentation * * * * *In-Basket * * *One-to-One * * * *Role Play * * * * *GD1 * * * *Psychometric Profiling2 * * * *Analytical&Inte. Exer * * * * *Case Study * * *Skit * * *GD2 * * * * *

Note:

^ Leadership here also includes other dimensions like Assertiveness, Decision-Making, Taking

Initiatives, Conviction.

# Conflict Management also includes Negotiation.

Template of instruction to be given to the participants:

Assessment centre information

What are assessment centres? 

What should I bring with me to the assessment centre?

How can I prepare?

How can I best perform at an assessment centre?

How do I book my place on an assessment centre day?

Where is the assessment centre held?

When will I find out the results?

What are assessment centres?

Assessment centres are a way of assessing you and allowing you to demonstrate your full

potential by using a range of assessment techniques.

A number of different assessors see you over a longer period of time, giving them the

opportunity to see what you can do, not just what you say you can do. As such they are seen as a

fair and accurate way of selecting staff.

At XYZ this includes:

Psychometric Profiling

A written paper

An interview of 30 minutes

Don't worry if you feel you have performed badly in one of the assessments; concentrate on

showing your potential in the others.

What should I bring with me to the assessment centre?

When we invite you to attend the assessment centre we ask you to bring a few things with you:

Photo identification such as passport or I-D card (original and a photocopy). Without

these you will not be able to participate in the assessment centre so have them ready.

Your original university certificates and a photocopy.

Your completed occupational health form in a sealed envelope with your name on the

envelope.

Pens.

A calculator (you cannot use a mobile phone as a calculator).

How can I prepare?

You will have read the job description and person specification when you applied online for the

post and it is this that you will be assessed against at the assessment centre.

You may find it helpful to review this and consider how you have demonstrated these skills and

behaviours previously in the workplace or out of work.

Hopefully the following tips will prove useful:

Be yourself- do not try to act as it will show and be detrimental to you.

Do not try to second guess what you are being assessed on.

Follow the instructions you are given for each task and complete all of them. If you are

unsure seek clarification from the assessment facilitator before you start.

Keep up to date with current issues. You can do this by reading current journal and our

website. 

Practice skills you think you might be tested on, such as communication and negotiation.

Re-read your application form or CV before attending.

Get some rest the day before.

How can I best perform at an assessment centre?

Be enthusiastic.

Assume you are being assessed at all times and behave accordingly.

Join in discussions and ask questions but don't dominate.

Listen carefully to instructions and ask if you are uncertain.

Where is the assessment centre held?

The assessment centres are held in the Training and Development department at the GLI

building, AbC Road. Your email inviting you to attend the assessment centre gives you full

instructions on how to get there, including a map.

Plan your journey to arrive on time as you will not be allowed entry to the assessment if you

arrive late. The assessments will already have started and you would be disadvantaged.

When will I find out the results?

We will send your results to your company which, subsequently will be revealed to you.

Budget for total cash outflow

As we have mentioned earlier, the assessment fee which we charge for each participant would be

@ Rs. 20,000 per day. This includes the charges for the stationeries and other items.

So the cost that your organization would have to bear for the exercise for the given period

= Rs 20,000.00*8*3

= Rs. 480,000 only.

As regards to the commutation reimbursements, that has to be calculated as per your

company’s policy.

Hand Outs to the Participants:

Hand out 1

Welcome to the era of meritocracy! Today, if one has to succeed he or she has to be

competent enough. Having right kind of competency for the right kind of job is very

important, that is, competency-job fit is prerequisite for success.

As long as you are at the centre your competency will be assessed through grueling

sessions by different assessors.

You are requested to be true to yourself and be relaxed. Enjoy the whole process. Do not

think that you are being judged. Even if you lack some competency you can develop it

through training and practice. So do not get disheartened.

The results will be shared with you by your company.

Hand out 2 (for In-Basket Exercise)

Assume that you are the Zonal Sales Manager of your organization in Hyderabad. The

tray on the table contains some memos, some reference materials and an organizer. You

have to go through all these. Also, as you can see, there is a laptop on the table which

contains some e-mails that you have received from your superiors, subordinates and

clients. Besides, you have a cell phone on the table and the directory of the organization

(numbers include those of your subordinates). This is closing time of the month and you

have to send a report to your AVP Sales. Also, there are customer complaints from your

clients which require your urgent attention else the company might lose important clients.

Some of your subordinates have not yet sent you the MIS pertaining to their sales targets

and achievements. Moreover, the VP Sales has come to know that few of your

subordinates have followed unethical practices in order to meet the sales target. He is

angry with you as you failed to notice the discrepancies. He requires an urgent

explanation from you regarding the action taken and may call you anytime if you do not

call him within next 20 minutes. You have to complete all the above activities within

forty-five minutes after you here the bell. After your forty-five minutes are over you will

be asked questions by our panel based upon your performance and actions.

Handout 3 (One-to-one Exercise) – variations to be made for different participants:

Assume that you are the Zonal Sales Manager, Kolkata. The client is Coal India Limited.

The MD of the client company is not happy with the service standard. He has asked you

to meet him in his office. All the best!

Handout 4 (Analytical & Interactive exercises)

Two of your Area Sales Managers, who were consistently setting high performance

standards since last one and a half year, are not performing well since last two months.

As the Zonal Sales Manager you are required to give them a pep talk and communicate

them the dangers of not performing in the 3rd month. You should also find out why are

they not doing well? Afterwards you have to write down the whole conversation in a

detailed format.

31

References

Anderson, Hair, Bush AJ 1992, Professional Sales Management,2nd edition, McGraw Hill

International, Singapore

Futrell, Charles M 2003, Sales Management: Teamwork, Leadership & Technology, Thomson

South-Western,Singapore

Sahadev,Panda, K 2005, Sales and Distribution Management, Oxford University Press, Delhi

Shermon, Ganesh 2009, Competency Based HRM, Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited,

New Delhi

http://www.financialexpress.com/printer/news/36360/

http://rai.net.in/storai/storai_magazine1255589812.pdf