Outback Steakhouse Analysis

Question 1: Discuss how the employee selection methods at Outback Steakhouse help the organization achieve a competitive advantage. The Selection process within most organizations is the foundation of competitive advantage through people. Upon reading this case, there is one particular aspect that stands out: the people are the main ingredients that make the company successful. Therefore, since the competitive advantage to an organization’s success is it choices of the people that the leaders in charge hired.

In a job fit option, the leaders create the job specification that needs satisfying by the employees hired.

It is very important to select the right contender for the job based on the needs of each individual business, which fall sole on the premise of employee selection. Outback Steakhouse has integrated a defined selection process for hourly and management workers that will help hire and retain people to successfully run their organization.

This selection process helps the organization achieve a competitive advantage because it allows Outback to recruit the applicant, assess their qualifications rigorously, then select the most competent centered on its objective by choosing employees who are willing to adapt to the culture, vision, values and beliefs of Outback Steakhouse.

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And it does allow them to employ people that appreciate the value of teamwork, accountability, kindness, and individual responsibility. Outback Steakhouse leaders used several types of tests that help them to weed out the people they want on their teams.

One of these tests is the validity which dictates how the potential new hires are test against the old setting of Outbackers who have been very successful in the company.

This is a strategic technique to discover if a person is a good fit along with all the tests that are given to the new contenders help to keep Outback Steakhouse a step above the average restaurant when it comes to the superior process of hourly and management workers. By take advantage of the strength of their employees, Outback Steakhouse not only keeps their turnover low, they have gained a competitive advantage in the restaurant industry.

In this case in point the organization-based fit is the norm for Outback Steakhouse selection process. To say the least, competitive advantage is achieved in the ability to make small adjustments in existing goods and services at a low price it characterized by known problems and known methods for solution. Question 2: Discuss the importance of both “job fit” and “organization fit” to Outback Steakhouse and explain how interview questions can help to assess whether or not a candidate “fit. ”

Alavim and Leidner (2001) wrote that “knowledge is state of mind, knowledge is an object to be stored, knowledge is a process of applying expertise, knowledge is a condition of access to information and knowledge is the potential to influence action” (Alavim and Leidner, 2001). Furthermore, Sporleder and Moss (2002) defined Knowledge Management with more details as an integrated approach to identifying, creating, managing, sharing, and exploiting all information and knowledge assets of an organization.

In addition, Soo and his colleagues viewed Knowledge Management in a simpler way; they think it is a process of knowledge creation and the organizational performance outcomes that result from that knowledge (Soo et al. , 2002). Although there is not a clear definition of it, researchers believe that it is an important source to maintain organizations’ competitive advantage (Brannback & Wiklund, 2001; Hagen, 2002; Sporleder & Moss, 2002; Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995).

With that in mind, it is rather more optimal to understand why Outback Steakhouse advanced technique in choosing its candidate for its teams worked. The ability to classify whether or not a candidate fall under the “job fit” or “organization fit” category has more to do with the company’s culture, vision, and values and belief than the applicants themselves. From what the base suggestion of the case implied, there are many steps the applicants have to go through to make the final cut. This is where both knowledge and knowledge management come in handy.

Since, job interviews present a minefield of legal problems; one wrong question could spark a discrimination lawsuit. That's why interviewers should never "wing it" during interviews. Instead, create a list of interview questions and make sure every question asks for job-related information that will help in the selection process. To avoid the appearance of discrimination during interviews, do not ask suggestive question that have negative indentation. Outback Steakhouse has done an excellent job of weeding out the applicants that would have not made it with company.

Another genre that works for many companies is that new research by Right Management shows organizations prefer employees who are a good motivational fit with the team and the organization’s culture. HR professionals’ say that “interpersonal behaviors and organizational fit are bigger factors than technical skills or experience” (Online 2011). How I hire the right people every time an enthusiast wrote, the thing to look for from the applicants: “Hire for attitude, train for skill. ” That’s the one craze in recruiting job candidates, and it can be sickened most of the time.

Attitude is easy to fake by many. Someone can walk into an interview bubbling with enthusiasm, full of bright questions and observations. What they lack in hard knowledge they make up in soft appeals to my ego, which often happened. So the question is: How many interviews are too many? Some employers schedule multiple interviews due mostly to tradition and habit, which can waste managers’ time, isolate top candidates and unnecessarily lengthen the hiring process (Online 2011). So far, Outback Steakhouse has managed to stay ahead of the game.

The case mentioned that one of the key to making Outback a great place to work is hiring the right people so the organizational based fit is very important to the success of continuing with the vision and carrying out mission of the company. Question 3: Evaluate Outback’s selection process including the order of selection methods such that applicants first complete an application, then complete tests, and then participate in interviews. Outback selection process is as follow: job preview, Dimension of Performance, application, testing and then the interview.

For the most part, the application is filled out; if the company is interested in the applicants, there is an interview and a mini series of tests that follow. Afterward, a phone call is issued to let the applicants know that they have made it. With the turnover rate in the food service industry being as high as 300 percent (ww. encylopdia. com), Outback Steakhouse has incorporated a selection process that helps them to keep turnover low. That in itself is commendable.

Of course this method of selection is not guaranteed 100 percent, but the process has helped them keep a low turnover over the years. Outback has managed to take advantage of the information it obtains from the candidates, then use it to choose a person that is compatible to the company as a whole and places them in positions best suited them. Outback also tells the applicant what to expect on the job, their potential responsibilities and benefits for working with the company. Outback’s selection is very different from the other food industries.

The first portion of its process defines its key concepts of validity, predictive validity, utility and reliability and then investigating the nature of work and identifying the key competencies required for all the applicants. All that to say that Outback values are set to keep the employees accountable for each other. The second part evaluates the selection methods such as application blanks, biographical data, resumes and cover letters, reference checks and initial interviews. That’s the key: Outback vision is shared with the applicants.

The third choice analyze and evaluate the selection methods of personality tests including service, cognitive testing, work samples, integrity tests, structure interviews and assessment of all the applicants. At this point, if an applicant made it this far of the process then it’s almost a certainty that the applicant might get the job. From the outside, this process viewed hard, tedious, and expensive but it seemed to work well for Outback. Question 4: Evaluate whether or not these selection methods are valid.

Effective employee selection is a critical component of a successful organization. Employee selection is itself a process consisting of several important stages. The organization must determine the individual KSAs needed to perform a job; the selection process begins with job analysis, which is the organized study of the content of jobs in an organization. In the selection context, validity refers to the suitability, significance, and effectiveness of the implications made about applicants during the selection process.

Validity is calculated by statistically correlating predictor scores with criterion scores. This correlation coefficient is called a validity coefficient. Up to this point, the discussion has assumed that an employer needs to validate each of its selection practices. But what if it is using a selection device that has been used and properly validated by other companies? Can it rely on that validity evidence and thus avoid having to conduct its own study? The answer is yes. It can do so by using a validity generalization strategy.

Validity generalization is established by demonstrating that a selection device has been consistently found to be valid in many other similar settings. An impressive amount of evidence points to the validity generalization of many specific devices. For example, some mental aptitude tests have been found to be valid predictors for nearly all jobs and thus can be justified without performing a new validation study to demonstrate job relatedness. To use validity generalization evidence, an organization must present the following data: studies summarizing a selection measure's validity for similar jobs in other settings.

Data displays the parallel between the jobs for which the validity evidence is reported and the job in the new employment setting. Data showing the likeness between the selection measures in the other studies composing the validity evidence and those measures to be used in the new employment setting (Online article 2011). All in all, there is not a true of set of measurement to validate the Outback selection methods except to say that these methods have worked for Outback for a long time.

And these methods have placed Outback uniquely above average concerning the competitors of its rank. Thereby, Outback have created its own set of culture, vision, principles, and values and beliefs. That’s the only valid way to truly judged it validity against the other existing selection process out there. The only complaint against the company is that it’s hard to get hired there but once the applicants made it to the team; they are there for a long-term, as well time. Unless, they choose to leave the company for other necessary reason; otherwise, they are there to stay.

References

Alavim M. , & Leidner, D. E. (2001). Knolwedge management and knowledge management systems: Conceptual foundations and research issues. MIS Quarterly, 25 (1), 107-136. Brannback, M. & Wiklund, P. (2001). A new dominant logic and its implications on knowledge management: a study of the Finnish food industry. Knowledge and Process Management, 8(4), 197-206. http://www. businessmanagementdaily. com/glossary/management. html http://www. referenceforbusiness. com/management Hagen, J. M. (2002). The knowledge management frontier in the global food system: discussion. American Agricultural Economics Association, 84(5), 1353-1354.

Nonaka, N. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The knowledge-creating company. New York: Oxford University Press. Soo, C. , Devinney, T. , Midgley, D. , & Deering, A. (2002). Knowledge management: philosophy, process, pitfalls, and performance. California Management Review, 44(4), 129-150. Sporleder, T. L. & Moss, L. E. (2002). Knowledge management in the global food system: network embeddedness and social capital. American Agricultural Economics Association, 84(5), 1345-1352. Stewart, Greg L. and Brown, Kenneth G. (2009). BUS 530: Human Resource Management (1st ed. ). USA: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.