Read the project scenario below and answer ALL the questions that follow

SCENARIO

You are the HRD Manager at Cellular Today, a cellular service provider selling mobile devices and wireless connectivity to

customers for data and telephone calls. Cellular Today has recently embarked on a growth strategy.

So as to support the implementation of the growth strategy, the Cellular Today Management Committee have identified that

the company needs to boost sales while keeping costs as low as possible. You suggest to the Management Committee that

this be achieved through the appointment of $20$ contact centre sales agents who have a matric, but who do not have any

post$-$school qualifications and work experience. Appointing contact centre sales agents who have a matric, but no work

experience or post$-$school qualifications, presents a couple of advantages for Cellular Today including:

$$ This will keep remuneration related costs down as the contact centre sales agents will receive entry level salaries.

$$ Matriculants with no work experience are $$blank slates$,$ which will make it easier to train them in Cellular Today$$s

specific methods and practices. In turn, once trained, these contact centre sales agents should readily and effectively

be able to apply Cellular Today$$s methods as they do not come with the $$baggage$$ of other companies$$ practices.

Note: In preparing answers to the various project questions, learners are required to read beyond the scope of the

MANCOSA Module Guide. Consult a range of sound academic sources $($such as textbooks and academic journal articles$)$ in

completing this project.

QUESTION $1(25$ marks$)$

When you first proposed that $20$ matriculants be employed as contact centre sales agents to support Cellular Today$$s new

growth strategy, the Management Committee was sceptical. A number of the Management Committee members were

particularly concerned that the new hires would not have the skills to effectively perform in the job of contact centre sales

agent, and felt that it would not be possible to develop the full range of skills required.

Jabu, the Finance Manager, said, $$I am particularly worried that we are going to overlook some of the key training needs

required. Imagine if this does indeed happen. We will have a contact centre full of matriculants, but with no sales.$$

Vishnu, the Operations Manager, added, $$Throwing a bunch of ad hoc training courses at a group of matriculants is most

definitely not going to transform them into a high performing contact centre sales team!$$

You respond to the concerns of Jabu, Vishnu and the rest of the Management Committee by explaining that the HRD

process that will be applied in developing the matriculants appointed as contact centre sales agents is not ad hoc, but that it

is systematic and comprehensive. The CEO asks that you provide the Management Committee with further information in

this regard in the form of an email.

As HRD Manager, write an email to the Cellular Today Management Committee in which you discuss the four phases of

the HRD process, detailing how these phases will be implemented in practice in the roll out of the contact centre sales

agent project.