Retail chains regularly face a number of human resource challenges. The most prominent is high employee turnover, which is sometimes more than 100 percent per annum. Under such turnover conditions, it is difficult to nurture employees’ organizational commitment and loyalty. The shortage of human capital in retail chains encourages competitors to attract new employees from other chains, which in turn causes a frequent movement of employees from one chain to another.
Many chains handle the recruitment challenges by passing up on assessment tools or compromising on the screening quality. Building test norms specifically for the retail industy and setting cutoffs according to risk levesl and specific jobs, are the best ways to deal with retail chain’s HR needs and challenges.
Another significant challenge is theft and fraud. Retail chain employees have more opportunities to collaborate with outside customers who are willing to risk theft and commit fraud against the chain. Cash and small but expensive commodities are very accessible. When selection filters are poor or unsuitable for the position, the risk of theft and fraud increases.
Retail chains also have to cope with being spread over a large geographical area, which makes all aspects of security control and supervision more difficult for senior managment. In many cases, recruitment is performed by the store manager, who does not have enough skills and training in selection. The quality of recruitment then becomes irregular among the branches, and may be influenced by local decisions, inferior testing conditions, irrelevant filters, and a lack of controls.
Midot’s tests and PODIUM platform enable the construction of a uniform, single-value screening standard that does not depend on the number of stores or screening abilities of the store manager. After determining the norms and cutoffs, the tests are conducted automatically, objectively and even securely and remotely. Examinees take the tests at the recruiting company’s offices or in their own homes using any computer, tablet or smartphone, with the ability to verify the candidate’s identity using an internet camera. Recruiters are provided with a management interface that allows them to stay up to date on the status of the process, to view the tests’ results and even advise and support decision making from the center, recruiters and store managers in other geographical locations.
The “revolving door” phenomenon is common in the world of retail chains: An employee who is rejected from working at Branch A, tries to find employment at Branch B. The platform also allows blocking or notification before retesting a candidate within a set period of time defined by the organization’s policies, as well as the creation of lists of candidates and former employees who the company has no desire to rehire.
The catalog enables dozens of test types to be administered with ease. The company can add any tailored informative sections to the position or professional field, thereby increasing the accuracy and depth of the evaluation tool for the recruiters.
Midot invests great efforts and resources in adapting its technological environments and work processes to meet all new standards. Midot has ISO27001 certification for information security management as of 2008, complies with all GDPR requirements, as well as a wide range of local legal requirements. The test platform’s technological flexibility, the flexibility of the questionnaires and their many versions, and the system reports, all make it possible for organizations to meet the many changing legal requirements regarding privacy, labor law and information security.