Outback Steakhouse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Outback Steakhouse - Essay Example This paper seeks to assess how employee selection methods at Outback Steakhouse help it to have a competitive advantage. It also seeks to establish the importance of fit to the organization. Moreover, it seeks to evaluate the organization’s employee selection process and whether or not its selection methods are valid. The employee selection methods at Outback Steakhouse have, no doubt, given it a competitive advantage. It has made good use of some of the most effective intangible human resource factors, and these together with a wide knowledge in organization have helped it to have advantages over its competitors. The intangible factors also make it hard for Outback’s competitors to imitate its operations. Outback aims at maintaining its competitive advantage, especially through the use of its already established intangible factors, which are mostly employee-centered. It uses a precise process of employee selection for both its hourly and management employees, and this process is one of the things that have helped it to hire and retain the best employees. During the hiring process, Outback always assesses the qualifications of all applicants before selecting the most appropriate for the vacancies in question. This selection process keeps in mind Outback’s objectives, and such, the successful candidates are always those who have proven beyond doubt that they are ready to work within its vision and values, and also adhere to its organizational culture. These employees must be competent enough to work in teams, and be responsible and accountable (Jackson and Randall, 2008). To efficiently perform in a competitive business world, every player needs to understand that structural flexibility is very crucial for success (Vesey, 1991). This is what Outback seems to have understood so well. Outback Steakhouse employs personality test when recruiting new employees. This is majorly aimed at identifying those candidates who â€Å"adaptable, highly soc ial and meticulous.† Thereafter, it keeps the records of all the successful candidates, which are later used to set the cutoff scores for hiring other employees in future. Only those who attain the set cutoff scores get hired, and as such Outback Steakhouse uses this opportunity to recruit only those applicants with characteristics almost similar to those of existing successful employees, a factor which has helped it maintain its competitive advantage. Moreover, its selection process has helped it to keep its employee turnover levels as low as possible. The low employee turnover is equally important as Outback Steakhouse maintains almost all the skills and talents it nurtures. The process is also very cost effective compared to other recruitment processes, since basing recruitment on the traits of established employees helps it to get simply the best employees (Jackson and Randall, 2008). Fit has proven to be very important for Outback Steakhouse. By matching the personal qual ities of all potential employees to Outback Steakhouse’s culture and values, fit provides it with the most effective employees. It helps it to get the most appropriate hourly and management staff, that is, it helps in hiring the right staff. This fit is also relatively important in meeting the organizations objectives, as it ensures that the best employees are retained as they develop their careers within the organization. This not only leads to better performance but it also increases the loyalty of the employees, who are likely to be more committed to achieving the organizational goals (Jackson and Randall, 2008). Most restaurants in the US are reportedly doing badly partly