Assignment 2: Business Expansion and Sustainability.

Business Expansion and Sustainability
Name
Institution
Business Expansion and Sustainability
Running a licensed daycare center will require highly qualified childcare professionals. One of the major requirements for this position is education. The childcare professionals will need to have a certificate in early childhood development since this provides them with specialized training in child development (Pek-Greer & Wallace, 2017), an essential part of child care and education. The second requirement is in terms of skills. Childcare professionals will need to have excellent communication and interpersonal skills. In a daycare center, teamwork is fundamental and the staff members can only work together if they communicate and interact efficiently. Also, the childcare professional will need to be patient and physically active because working with children requires both. The third requirement is at least two years’ experience in a similar setting, even if it was on a temporary capacity. Parents want to know that their children are in the hands of qualified and experienced professionals.
It is worth noting that these job requirements will have an effect on staffing at the daycare center. First, these requirements will ensure that the daycare center attracts the right candidates. This will provide the business with quality applicants as well as quality human resources who will be instrumental in achieving the business’s objectives (Ekwoaba, Ikeije, & Ufoma, 2015). Second, it will save the business time in sorting through many applications. In many cases, stating the job requirements allows the recruiter to eliminate unqualified candidates, thus reducing the number of applicants to only those who meet the minimum requirements. However, it is necessary to have a strategy that will ensure all applicants meet the requirements. This is because in many cases, some applicants ignore the requirements and proceed to apply for the job even when they have not met the bare minimum requirements. In this case, the business will utilize the employee referral strategy to attract the right candidates (Ekwoaba, et al., 2015). Employees understand what the organization wants and would, therefore, recommend suitable candidates. This works better when there is an incentive for employees whose referrals get hired. By using the current employees, the daycare center will not only attract candidates who meet the job requirements but also those who are well aligned with the business’s culture.
A growing business requires a long-term recruitment plan to ensure that the business has efficient human resources throughout. For the daycare center, the recruitment plan will first involve identifying a gap that needs to be filled and preparing the job description for that position. This is usually the first step in recruitment (Wilton, 2016). This step involves establishing the title, qualifications, roles, and the application process for the job. Once this has been completed, the next step in the recruitment plan is to identify the recruitment tools or strategies to be utilized. Will suitable candidates for the position be acquired internally through promotions and reallocations or externally through advertisements and referrals (Wilton, 2016)? The daycare center will mostly utilize the referral strategy in filling most of the vacancies, but assistant childcare professionals will also be promoted when any of the five qualified professionals leave their position. This is also a good succession plan. The third step will be to screen the applicants. Given that the daycare center is in the service industry, using standardized tests will be the designated screening approach. Tests that measure the emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills and the personality of the applicants will be employed because these skills, as stated earlier, are part of the job requirement. The fourth step will be to meet and interview the applicants. In these meetings, the recruiter will assess how an applicant behaves in certain situations such as dealing with a child who is throwing tantrums or what to do when the child is experiencing difficulties in interacting with other children.
Even with a long-term recruitment plan, employer branding is necessary for attracting the right applicants. Employer branding can be described as how a business markets itself to existing and potential employees (Wilton, 2016). Some of the branding strategies that will be employed at the daycare center include realistic job preview, effective onboarding, and enhanced organizational support and prestige. According to Theurer, et al. (2018), employers enhance their brand when they have a positive reputation in the eyes of applicants. Realistic job previews can enhance a positive reputation by ensuring that employers are viewed as honest and transparent. At the daycare center, applicants will be presented with both the benefits and challenges of working with the business. This will help manage their expectations and ensure that when they come on board, they are ready for the job. Effective onboarding is also a strategy that will be utilized as a branding strategy. Hired employees will be provided with the necessary tools and resources, which will enhance efficiency. As a result, new hires will not be frustrated during their first weeks at the daycare center. Finally, given that the main recruitment strategy for the business is employee referrals, creating perceived organizational support and prestige will go a long way in marketing the business to potential employees. If employees perceive the organization as supportive and prestigious, they will pass that information to other people outside the business (Theurer, et al., 2018). Creating s...