Introduction

We should begin by referencing Tanglewood’s Company mission statement and allowing this to be the foundation for how we will approach all staffing strategic decisions. The company’s mission statement is as follows, [1]“Tanglewood will be the best department store for customers seeking quality, durability, and value for all aspects of their active lives. We are committed as a company to providing maximum value to our customers, shareholders, and employees. We will accomplish this goal by adhering to the core values of responsible financial management, clear and honest communication, and always keeping performance and customer service in the forefront.” We will consult this mission statement throughout this report to ensure that we are following the original guide to Tanglewood’s success. As you are all aware, some of Tanglewood’s current success stems from strategically [1]”distinguishing itself with simple, elegant, and uncluttered design concepts for their stores and their in-house products. This objective is also achieved through the company’s unique employee relations system which focuses on, strong employee participation and ensuring employees, full or part time, are members of the core work force. Tanglewood prides itself on operating with a core workforce (a workforce of permanent employees), reinforcing this philosophy by not utilizing in temporary employees. [1] “Core Workforce is viewed as essential for the organizational values and culture. This is a philosophy which, Tanglewood seeks to develop and maintain.
The company currently has a total of 243 stores open in the states of Washington, Oregon, Northern California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona. However, before any further expansion takes place Tanglewood has some concerns which they want to address prior to this expansion affords. Therefore, Tanglewood has brought in our staffing consulting firm to assist the company with correcting some of these areas of concern. The first concern is the differences in management styles and HR practices across their different regions. Tanglewood would like to centralize their practices, so they can remain as close to the company’s original mission statement as possible. The second concern is to consolidate their staffing structure. To further clarify this section this could mean that the company wants to review the responsibilities associated with the current positions and ensure that all jobs positions are distributed the correct job responsibilities, add staffing to departments which need additional staff and reduce staffing in departments, which are overstaffed. This could also include internal promotions, combining of positions and lateral (to staff on the same grade level) movement of employees. The third concern we will be addressing is the rapid growth of competition in the business industry, [1] 45211 (nondurable general retail industry as classified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Currently, Tanglewood’s top competitors are Kohl’s and Target. Both companies target the same consumer demographic as Tangelwood, [1] “, targeting middle- and upper-income customers. “ Even though Tangelwood shows strong financial potential and competitive growth. The other retail chains still show some potential threat and therefore, Tanglewood wants to reexamine its HR practices and policies with an emphasis on staffing a committed and qualified workforce. We will explain what this means further into the report.

Below is a chart comparing only Tanglewood, Kohl’s and Target. Focusing on the different companies and their potential for financial profit. [1] page 5 Operating Revenues (in millions) Revenue Growth
(1 yr) Employment (in 1,000s) Employment Growth
(1 yr) Number of Stores
Kohl’s 9,120 4.8% 133 2.26% 1,050
Target 67,390 3.10% 351 1.14% 1,750
Tanglewood 7,200 4.2% 53 3.75% 243

Even though Target has a much larger operating revenue and employee size, they are still used in this comparison, because of its massive potential to dominate the retail industry for Tanglewood’s targeting population. As you can see from this financial chart above, Tanglewood is doing quite well, but corrections to the outlined deficiencies (areas of concern) in this report will increase the profitability and productivity of the overall organization. The last concern focuses on Tanglewood’s organization culture. Tanglewood strives to be an organization where, [1] “the company’s culture and values are distinct from most of its major competitors. From its inception, this company has emphasized employee participation and teams employees at all levels of the corporation are encouraged to make suggestions regarding operations.” As you are all aware, Tanglewood adopted an employee relations concept they call, [1] “straight talk, “meaning corporate, store management and all employees will receive open communication regarding, [1]“company’s share price and overall profitability for each quarter, along with other details about company activities. Profit-sharing for all employees is part of the company’s push to encourage employees to think like managers. In addition, mandatory weekly store meetings (one meeting for each shift) give employees a specific time to voice their suggestions for in-store improvements. Associates who make suggestions that are implemented by management receive financial bonuses. Department managers are also given financial incentives for successfully developing and implementing new policies and procedures, further reinforcing the participatory management style of the company. All these approaches are a way of maintaining the company’s original culture and values as time goes on. The concerns listed above are simply 4 of Tanglewood’s business strategies and goals, which support their decisions to hire our company (an external staffing consulting firm). It is imperative that we to revisit the staffing decisions for the organization, the functionality of HR and plan accordingly to ensure the continued success for the future of Tanglewood.
Statement Validation The following are 13 areas of staffing decisions, which you have requested my expert input on as they apply to Tanglewood. The following recommendations and solutions are based on my research of your company and the background reports that you have given me to review. I am confident that you will find them to be viable solutions and recommendation to the 13 staffing decisions that you company will be utilizing as guides for revising your staffing plan.
Acquire or develop talent:

Based on your companies philosophy of, [1] ”participatory management style of the company.” I would recommend that you develop the talent within the organization. Preserving the company’s culture is one of the Tanglewood's goals. Therefore, working with staff that is already committed to the company’s philosophy and mission statement would be more beneficial to Tanglewood’s overall objective. I would however consider acquiring talent for some of the HR function, due to the concern that Corporate HR has not always function according to the company’s mission statement, as you stated in your original report.
Hire or Outsource: According to Tanglewood’s business goal to maintain a core workforce. I don’t believe that outsourcing would be your best approach. I would recommend hiring with a strict outline in the recruiting notice that identifies the company’s culture and emphasizes the company’s mission statement. Therefore, you are more likely to attract candidate who are aware of the company’s beliefs and hopefully this will serve as filter for those candidates who do not feel there is a person/organization match (they don’t feel aligned with the company’s values and their personal values).