1. Prepared for
Mr. Bob Hire
HR Leader
Dallas, Texas, 75202
Prepared by
Beau Kramer
Sales Manager
Toledo, OH 43613
October 27, 2014

2. Improving Hiring Decisions 2
500 Rambo ln • Toledo, OH 43613 • (419) 821-4105 • www.att.com/kramer
Mr. Bob Hire, HR Leader
AT&T Inc.
208 South Akard St
Dallas, TX 75202
Dear Mr. Hire:
In this document you will find specific answers to your request on Monday, September 29th 2014.
In response, we have designed strategic planning solutions and alternative interviewing
performance standards to decrease our high employee turnover rate amongst the sales force.
The solutions for the recruitment process will build positive relations with future salesperson’s
who will be committed and motivated to engage in teamwork and collaborations. Constructing
proper structured interview techniques by HR personnel and sales managers starts with
establishing a collective performance standard. Both HR personnel and all hiring managers have
to communicate the work standards and corporate culture before starting the recruitment process.
Nevertheless, managing change and negotiating alternatives to the current standards of our
organizations interviewing process is mainly dependent on the influence and commitment of our
recruitment team. Once our interviewing team has a solid base of what the corporate culture image
is, we then can use sound judgment and diligent decision making to hire an employee freely willing
to build positive rapport with our organizations mission.
Toledo’s sales department performed excellent resourcefulness by collecting data from a multitude
of different reliable sources such as Pearson Educational Books, Ohio link Academic Research
Premier, American Management Association, and multiple professional HR and sales
representatives.
Thank you for placing this assignment under my supervision and judgment. Questions may arise,
and to answer them in complete diligence and efficiency please call (419)-821-4105, or visit
www.att.com/kramer. Listening to your questions only helps us keep composure in finding
creative ways to enhance our research critique. Our sales team would be happy to conduct any
future research needed to help the organization succeed.
Sincerely,
Beau Kramer
AT&T Sales Manager

3. Improving Hiring Decisions 3
Letter of Transmittal 2
Executive Summary 4
Introduction 5
Purpose and Scope 5
Methods 5
Limitations 5
Interviewing Tactics 6
Application forms 6
Screening Interviews 6
Stress Interviews 6
Panel Interviews 7
Structured Interviews 7
Puzzle Interviews 7
Recruitment Brochures 8
Development 8
Benchmarking 9
Strategy 9
Reasons & Impact 9
Conclusions and Recommendations 10
References 11
List of Illustrations
Figure 1 Hiring Standard Guided Selection Process 7

4. Improving Hiring Decisions 4
Integrating trustworthy, honest, and reliable salespersons into our company’s culture is our
mission. In order to accomplish this inspired vision within our sales department, we designed
alternative methods that would help lower the turnover rate amongst the sales department. Puzzle
interviewing questions needs to be implemented throughout the recruitment process because it
challenges the interviewee in a cognitive way that helps recruiters assess the applicant in a more
direct approach to determine if the applicant’s characteristics best fits our organizations culture.
Selecting and developing people who are invested in our organization’s mission statement is a
process that has to incorporate and distribute recruitment brochures. This allows for applicants to
be informed about our company’s culture before they step foot in an interview, it also enhances
interviews because job candidates will generate better questions which will result in more informed
career decisions from the applicant’s applying for particular positions. Many alternatives can be
screening interviews, panel interviews, and stress interviews. All of these business recruitment
thinking approaches are conducted in order to determine which applicant’s best fits our culture,
these established hiring tactics has the ability to make our organization succeed in a powerful
composed fashion.
To ensure lowered salespersons turnover rate, we have recommended the following:
1. Incorporate a variety of business system thinking interviewing methods.
• Applying screening interviews and panel interviews allows for the applicant to use
creativity, resourcefulness, or ability to think through a problem by considering
numerous variables.
• Measure the applicant’s problem solving ability and have a verifiable correct answer
through puzzle interviews.
• Stress interviews give the interviewers the opportunity to assess the applicant’s reaction
to uncomfortable situations.
2. Recruitment Brochures: Engaging Invitations and Introductions to AT&T.
• Gives us the opportunity to sell our company’s value, communicate our organizations
hiring practices, and provide the candidate with insightful information.
• Allows for us to be creative by creating a message by getting candidates excited by a
click of a button through e-mail newsletters.
3. Setting time and priority management on defining the expectations of a sales job
description and the applicant’s competency.
• Our sales managers and HR professionals need to define all the performance
expectations for opening position, this is in accordance with defining job descriptions
and duties as well as requirements and accomplishments we want applicant’s to achieve.
• “Benefits for defining competencies will result in better coaching, counseling, training,
and evaluating for the interviewing process”(Vielhaber).

5. Improving Hiring Decisions 5
In order to resolve conflict within our hiring practices, we have analyzed and determined new and
improved performance standards that will develop a variety of successful leadership skills for
applicants and current members of AT&T. Overcoming the high turnover rate obstacle established
within the sales department will be transformed by taking cautious but composed steps throughout
the recruitment process. Ultimately, the organizational toughness in maintaining associates
longevity with AT&T will gain interpersonal skills that will lower the turnover rate amongst the
sales force.
Our purpose for this research is to lower the turnover rate in the sales department. “This stems
from the basic concept of retaining high performing sales associates and allowing less time spent
on retraining new hires” (Darmon 211). We are enhancing our performance management in the
recruiting sector in order to retain key customer relationships, preserve the prospects being nurture
and share the best practices. This project will review different formats of interviews such as
screening, stress, panel, and structured, all of which input different successes and conflicts. In
addition, we have analyzed different angles of approaching the structure of interviews and how
they have certain specific sequences to follow in order to sustain improvement over a period of
time. The research collect on this topic was recovered from expert sales associates and HR writers
that are well known for their professionalism on the recruitment in business.
The knowledge acquired in this report is representing the sources of online academic premier
researching and reference books. Based on our recommendation, all the references provided in this
report are detailed-oriented which places a responsibility amongst all of our professional duties as
associates of AT&T.
The information in this report is limited to the knowledge of my sales team and HR department.
We do not have specific direct information from 100% success rate of different interviewing
strategies. We have gathered here to establish the most successful problem solving issues for our
organization to inherit and apply in order to minimize our sales turnover.

6. Improving Hiring Decisions 6
There are many different angles on approaching interviews due to the variety of different
combinations of job duties and responsibilities. Some tactics prove to impact the organizations
involvement of creating an attractive and innovated work environment.
“Application forms adequately evaluate the applicant’s former positions, levels of responsibility,
and formal education. An application form is designed to see if the candidate can read and follow
directions, respond to judgment neutral questions” (Tanner). This process is a great quick and easy
way to weed out applicants, these forms can also be used to develop screening or telephone
interview questions.
“The three major segments of the candidate telephone screen: (1) Company and job specifics, (2)
Candidate success profile, and (3) Assessment of candidate’s needs” (Falcone 189). “This is also
a very preferred method for the first steps of the recruitment process because it determines the
candidate’s suitability with less commitment on our part” (Falcone 188). The purpose and impact
of this process, delivers and communicates the message of the interviewer will ultimately aid in
weeding out applicants that do not meet the basic requirements of the job or position. Application
forms and screening/ telephone methods are less expensive and really convenient for both parties
of the hiring process. Although they are not as formal as scheduled interviews, they still play an
important part of finding a perfect fit for the opening job.
The purposes of stress interviews are to observe and analyze job applicants under stressful
situations. “A part of salespersons daily activities evolve around stressful situations. It seems
appropriate for interviewers to place in of fluid situations that cause some sort of stress on the
interviewee in order to learn more insight on the candidate’s ability to handle stress” (Honeycutt).
René Darmon an expert in selecting and developing people through multiple educational literature
books mentions a particular subject on the use of stress interviews for hiring a salesperson, “Look
at the insights you’ll gain if a candidate has to demonstrate their persuasiveness and ability to
handle pressure interviews that are rushed hassled or outright challenging. Selling is not an easy
job and any sales person hired will face challenging and stressful sales calls working for you and
your company. Why not find how they’ll handle these stressful situations before you make them a
job offer?”(Darmon 15). An example question could be sound like this, “Give me an example of
how you have demonstrated success with understanding the fundamentals of selling?”(Darmon
15).

7. Improving Hiring Decisions 7
Panel interviews is a process that is beneficial for both parties in the hiring process such as the
interviewer receives great insight on the job position and the interviewee builds direct relationships
that could possibility promote networking capabilities. This whole process “Positions the
interviewee towards multiple interviewers or is escorted throughout the office introducing fellow
employees in order for them to briefly evaluate” (Morgan 20).
“Interviews that are better designed and developed specifically to asses particular constructs
show greater evidence of construct- related validity”(Human 215).”In structured interviews,
mangers and HR associates have the ability to focus on the candidates competencies as well as to
evaluate employee performance in meeting job expectations also sharpens the managers
performance management skills”(Vielhaber 10). This process would be best for a job position
that has multiple parts to the required job duties and responsibilities because it allows for the
hirer to establish an organized variety of goal setting accomplishments. Figure 1 shows the hiring
process and how the sequence operates under an organized interview.
Figure 1: Model that shows the process for selecting new salespeople,
(Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall)
“Puzzle questions originated in the uncertain high technology industry, where employees are
generally expected to be logical, creative, and innovative” (Wright 2836). They are useful

8. Improving Hiring Decisions 8
because they measure the applicant’s cognitive capabilities such as critical thinking, intuition,
flexibility, and ability to reason. “Examples of descriptive puzzle questions involve asking
applicants how they would weigh an elephant without a scale or how many quarters would need
to be stacked to reach the top of the Empire State Building?”(Wright 2836). “Puzzle
interviewing questions is seen as an opportunity to assess the candidate in an unrehearsed
setting” (Wright 2836). “Notable corporations that use such process is Google, eBay, and
Amazon.com” (Wright 2835). “William Byham, Chief Executive Officer of Development
Dimensions International, for example, has stated, ‘ Increasingly, when interviewing candidates,
organizations are doing something puzzling: they are using puzzle questions to supplement
background interview data’”(Wright 2835).
“Candidates are attracted to one of three things: (1) the company and its name brand reputation
as well as its image as a positive place to work; (2) the position, in terms of its opportunities for
growth as well as challenge; and (3) the people- an overall feeling of welcoming and warmth that
hits a chord in those visiting for the first time” (Falcone 214). Practical answer to these thoughts
is developing a recruitment brochure that demonstrates the pride we take towards our employees,
company, and particular incentives accordingly. This is a simple but extremely effected way to
enhance our strategic employment strategy.
“Statistically, about 80% of all hires in corporate America are based on a personality match”
(Falcone 47). The development of the formal format needs to include the necessities of conducting
the first steps of the interview process. Interviewer either from Sales managers or HR associates
has to make a basic assumption of standard requirements for the sales position. Interviewers must
look for job expertise showing the level of knowledge and skills that relates to the job. Most
importantly interviewers must become aware of the personality characteristics that the position
poses in order to function properly. “It has been determine that some companies collect baggage
meaning that when a candidate applies for a position and the company is trying to hire someone
completely opposite of the previous employee”(Falcone 65). This is a result of poor orientation
prior to conducting an interview. “Instilling the concept of finding personal qualities such as
willingness to learn, motivation, accepts challenges, gets along well with others, positive attitude,
and personal chemistry are all phases of traits hiring managers should abide by. It’s easier to teach
technical skills then teach new behaviors’ is what Dana Morgan writes about in her Job
Interviewing Best-Seller Series”(15).

9. Improving Hiring Decisions 9
“The benchmarking method is very vital to the recruitment process because it is an objective way
of determining social and cultural fits within our organization” (Khosla 3018). “Benchmarking is
the process of comparing and measuring an organization, system, process and/or product against
recognized leaders anywhere in the world to gain information what will help this particular
organization take action to improve its performance”(Khosla 3019). “This method highly impacts
an organizational effectiveness by promoting group cooperation and the results is greater than the
sum of their individual efforts or capabilities” (Khosla 3019).
The correct procedures a sales manager should use to conduct an interview is to ask the question,
evaluate the answer, probe when necessary, and take sufficient notes for future
evaluation”(Honeycutt 121). But to enhance that process we have established a more detailed
approach and follow a sequence of actions as an interviewer. “For a salesperson job description
and designing the competencies in accordance with the HR leader and sales manager should follow
these steps, (1) The nature of the products and services, (2) Customer type and frequency of calling;
(3) Specific tasks and responsibilities, (4) Relationship between representatives and other people
in organization, (5) Intellectual and physical demands of the job” (Tanner). “Sales managers need
accurate information on the performance expectations for a key position and define all the
performance expectations” (Vielhaber 11).
“Reasons for turnover rate can be viewed two different ways, one being controllable, such as,
retirement, promotion, transfer, termination and territory changes, while the other being
uncontrollable, such as moving, marriage, death, quitting, and returning to college”(Tanner).”Loss
of an average sales employee is estimated to cost somewhere between 100,000 and 1 million
dollars when considering replacement costs, training cost, lost leads, lost relationships, and
opportunity cost”(Darmon 25).

10. Improving Hiring Decisions 10
After evaluating the entire interview process, we concluded that in order to improve the turnover
rate amongst the sales force we need to incorporate alternative structures of interviewing
techniques. Techniques such as stress interviews and puzzle questions helps HR associates and
sales managers make decisive decisions that best positions the most qualified applicant for the job.
Other methods such as benchmarking helps establish a company culture image within the
organization and use that information to maximize the applicants efforts and capabilities within
AT&T. When well-trained interviewers have accurate information on performance expectations,
they need to use that knowledge to their advantage in order to determine the company’s culture
which then aids enormously when finding a salesperson that meets the organizations standards.
To ensure a successful decrease in the sales force turnover rate, we recommend the following:
1. Incorporate a variety of business system thinking interviewing methods.
• Applying screening interviews and panel interviews allows for the applicant to use
creativity, resourcefulness, or ability to think through a problem by considering
numerous variables.
• Measure the applicant’s problem solving ability and have a verifiable correct answer
through puzzle interviews.
• Stress interviews give the interviewers the opportunity to assess the applicant’s reaction
to uncomfortable situations.
2. Recruitment Brochures & Structured interviews: Engaging Invitations and
Introductions to AT&T.
• Gives us the opportunity to sell our company’s value, communicate our organizations
hiring practices, and provide the candidate with insightful information.
• Informed candidates makes for better hires with fewer surprises.
• Allows for us to be creative by creating a message by getting candidates excited by a
click of a button through e-mail newsletters.
3. Setting time and priority management on defining the expectations of a sales job
description and the applicant’s competency.
• Our sales managers and HR professionals need to define all the performance
expectations for opening position, this is in accordance with defining job descriptions
and duties as well as requirements and accomplishments we want applicant’s to achieve.
• “Benefits for defining competencies will result in better coaching, counseling, training,
and evaluating for the interviewing process”(Vielhaber).

11. Improving Hiring Decisions 11
References
Darmon, René Y. "The Concept of Salesperson Replacement Value: A Sales Force Turnover
Management Tool." The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management 28.3 (2008):
211-32. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Falcone, Paul. 96 Great Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hire. 2nd Ed. New York:
Amacom, 2009. Print.
Honeycutt, Earl D., John B. Ford, and Antonis C. Simintiras. Sales Management: A Global
Perspective. London Routledge, 2003. Print.
Human Resource Management Review 19 (2009) 20. Contents Lists Available at Science Direct
Human Resource Management Review (n.d.): n. page. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
Khosla, Rajiv, Tharanga Goonesekera, and Mei-Tai Chu. "Separating the Wheat from the
Chaff: An Intelligent Sales Recruitment and Benchmarking System." Expert Systems
With Applications 36.2 (2009): 3017-3027. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Nov.
2014.
Morgan, Dana. 10 Minute Guide to Job Interviews. New York: Arco, 1998. Print.
Tanner, John F., Earl D. Honeycutt, and Robert Erffmeyer. "Recruiting and Selecting the Right
Salesperson." Sales Management: Shaping Future Sales Leaders. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. N. page. Print.
Vielhaber, Mary E., and Richaurd R. Camp. “Are You Ready For The Next Hiring Boom? What
You Can Do Now To Position Your Company For Talented Employees.” Insights To A
Changing World Journal 4 (2010). Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.
Wright, Chris W., et al. "Why Are Manhole Covers Round? A Laboratory Study of Reactions
to Puzzle Interviews." Journal of Applied Social Psychology 42.11 (2012): 2834-2857.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.