DEVELOPMENT of ASSESSMENT CENTRE on LIFESTYLE INTERNATIONAL PVT

DEVELOPMENT OF ASSESSMENT CENTRE On LIFESTYLE INTERNATIONAL PVT. LTD

Submitted To: Prof. Radhika Mam Submitted By: Sidhaant Sangghvi(13208) Nikitha Sachdeva(13091) Priyam Malhothra(v4056) 2

Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd

About the Company: Lifestyle International (P) Ltd, part of the prestigious Dubai based Landmark Group, started its operations in India with the launch of the first Lifestyle store in Chennai in 1999. In little over a decade‟s time, Lifestyle has established itself amongst the leading retail companies in India.

Positioned as a youthful, stylish and a vibrant brand, Lifestyle Departmental stores offers its customers not just the ease of shopping but also an enjoyable shopping experience. Each Lifestyle store brings together five concepts under one roof – Apparel, Footwear, Children‟s Wear & Toys, Furniture & Home Furnishings, Beauty & Fashion Accessories - offering a convenience of a one- stop shop and a wide choice of national & international brands.

Home Centre is a one stop destination for Furniture, Home Décor and Soft Furnishings that truly represent style, comfort and individuality. Home Centre uses a unique „Concept Room‟ display model to give customers a practical idea of how each piece of furniture would look in a particular room.

In keeping with the Group‟s tradition of making every shopping experience rewarding and memorable, The Inner Circle – Landmark Group‟s Loyalty program allows members, to enjoy exclusive benefits and privileges such as reward points and exciting offers. The Inner Circle is today recognized amongst the leading Loyalty Program in the country with an ever increasing base of customers. The card is accepted across all Landmark Group Stores in India including Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max Fashions, Splash, Bossini, Auchaan Hypermarket & Gloria Jean‟s Coffees.

Mission Statement:

“Carefully listen,

Constantly adapt,

Always deliver” 3

Vision:

To be among the top three retail players in three of the fastest growing retail markets in the world (Middle East, India and China)

Philosophy:

Statement of Purpose: Creating exceptional value for all those whose lives we touch

Core Values:

INTEGRITY

Passion

ING ing

Key facts about the Landmark Group in India as of 2011:

• 12 Years of retail experience

• Turnover in excess of US$ 250 million

• Total retail space over 1.3 million sq ft

• Pan India presence covering key cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Noida, Gurgaon, Agra, Indore, Kanpur, Jalandhar, Mangalore, Kolkata, Vadodra, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Nagpur, Coimbatore

• Over 8,000 personnel

• Lifestyle: Department store including fashion apparel and accessories, footwear, fragrances, cosmetics, home ware and gifts.

• Landmark International brands such as Bossini and Splash are now part of Lifestyle

Lifestyle is part of the Landmark Group, a Dubai- based retail chain

• Started at Chennai in 1999

• 29 Lifestyle stores, 12 Home Centres

• Retail Space – 1.1 million sq. ft.

• Team Size : Over 5000 (as of September 2011)

• Turnover of over INR1000 Crores

• Presence in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Delhi, Noida, Jaipur, Mumbai,

Pune, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Mangalore, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Ludhiana and Ahmedabad

LIFESTYLE INTERNATIONAL PVT. LTD

Role Name: Senior HR Manager (South Region)

JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB PROFILE

 Management of over 2500 employees across different support and management positions  Lead a team of three HR managers and 15 HR team members with defined roles  Managing related activities for 13 LIFESTYLE stores, 4 LIFESTYLE warehouses, 26 exclusive brand outlets.  Management of all aspects of Human Resource Public Relations, Service and other allied activities.  Ensure compliance of statutory laws  Ensure timely and accurate payroll inputs  Strategic planning for implementation of the performance management system with corporate HR team  Preparation and appraisal of annual employee, manpower and welfare projects with inputs from business managers, regional heads and the corporate HR team.  Store-wise allocation and tracking optimal utilization of manpower  Support and guide managers on personnel policies, procedures and training  Support and guide HR team on the Employee engagement activities and preparation of the employees‟ engagement calendar.  Create and implement standard operating procedures for HR

Qualification

 Masters of Business Administration with specialization in Marketing from renowned university  Bachelors of Commerce with specialization in Business Management from renowned university.

COMPETENCIES

 LEADERSHIP Definition: As a team member, the ability and desire to work cooperatively with others on a team; as a team leader, interest, skill, and success in getting groups to learn to work together cooperatively.  Supervision  Motivation  Co-ordination  Influencing  Delegating  Communications

 RESULTS ORIENTATION Definition: Focusing on the desired end result of one‟s own or one‟s units work; setting challenging goals, focusing effort on the goals, and meeting or exceeding them.

 Develops challenging but achievable goals  Develops clear goals for meetings and projects  Maintains commitment to goals, in the face of obstacles and frustrations  Finds or creates ways to measure performance against goals  Exerts unusual effort over time, to achieve a goal  Has a strong sense of urgency about solving problems and getting work done

 STRATEGIC PLANNING Definition: Analyzing our competitive position by considering the market and industry trends, our existing and potential customers, and our strengths and weaknesses as compared to competitors.

 Understands the organization‟s strengths and weaknesses as Comparedto competitors  Understands industry and market trends affecting the organization‟s Competitiveness  Competitive products and services  within the marketplace  Develops and proposes a long-term (3-5 year) strategy for the organization 7

 MANAGING PERFORMANCE Definition: Willingness to delegate responsibility and to work with others and coach them to develop their capabilities.

 Ensures that employees have clear goals and responsibilities  Works with employees to set and communicate performance standards that are specific and measurable  Supports employees in their efforts to achieve job goals (e.g., by providing resources, removing obstacles, acting as a buffer)  Keeps informed about employees‟ programs and performance through both formal methods (e.g., status reports) and informal methods (e.g., management by walking around)  Provides specific performance feedback, both positive and corrective, as soon as possible after an event  Deals firmly and promptly with performance problems; lets people know what is expected of them and when

 DEVELOPING OTHERS Definition: Willingness to delegate responsibility and to work with others and coach them to develop their capabilities.

 Provides helpful, behaviorally specific feedback to others  Shares information, advice and suggestions to help others to be more successful; provides effective coaching  Gives people assignments that will help develop their abilities  Regularly meets with employees to review their development progress  Recognizes and reinforces people‟s developmental efforts and improvements  Expresses confidence in others‟ ability to be successful

 TECHNICAL EXPERTISE Definition: Depth of knowledge and skill in a technical area.

 Effectively applies technical knowledge to solve a range of problems  Possesses an in-depth knowledge and skill in a technical area  Is able to develop technical solutions to new or highly complex problems that cannot be solved using existing methods or approaches  Is sought out as an expert, to provide advice or solutions in his/he technical area

 FLEXIBILITY Definition: Openness to different and new ways of doing things; willingness to modify one‟s preferred way of doing things.

 Is able to see the merits of perspectives other than his/her own  Demonstrates openness to new organizational structures, procedures,and technology  Switches to a different strategy when an initially selected one is unsuccessful  Demonstrates willingness to modify a strongly held position in the face of contrary evidence

 INFLUENCING OTHERS Definition: The ability to gain others‟ support for ideas, proposals, projects, and solutions.

 Presents arguments that address other‟s most important concerns and issues and looks for win-win solutions  Involves others in a process or decision, to ensure their support  Offers trade-offs or exchanges, to gain commitment  Identifies and proposes solutions that benefit all parties involved in a  situation  Enlists experts or third parties to influence others  Develops other indirect strategies to influence others  Knows when to escalate critical issues to own or other‟s management, if own efforts to enlist support have not succeeded  Structures situations (e.g., the setting, persons present, sequence of events) to create a desired impact and to maximize the chances of a favorable outcome.

 CUSTOMER ORIENTATION Definition: Demonstrated concern for satisfying one‟s external and/or internal customers.

 Lives the business mission: to be the preferred supplier through total customer satisfaction  Quickly and effectively solves customer problems  Talks to customers (internal or external) to find out what they want and how satisfied they are with what they are getting  Lets customers know he/she is willing to work with them to meet their needs  Finds ways to measure and track customer satisfaction  Presents a cheerful, positive manner with customer

 PROVIDING MOTIVATIONAL SUPPORT Definition: Skill at enhancing others‟ commitment to their work

 Recognizes and rewards people for their achievements  Acknowledges and thanks people for their contributions  Expresses pride in the group and encourages people to feel good about their accomplishments  Finds creative ways to make people‟s work rewarding  Signals own commitment to a process by being personally present and involved at key events  Identifies and promptly tackles morale problems  Gives talks or presentations that energize groups

Assessment Centre

Location: Bangaluru, White Field Date: 24th September, 2013

Leadership

 Debate

Divide the participants into three groups consisting four members each. A debatable topic would be given with a time of 10 minutes to discuss amongst them. Later, the groups are asked to debate on the topic discussed with one spokesperson representing each group.

 Situation Play (1)

This is a simple activity that highlights the different kinds of leaders and the qualities that they exhibit. Make a list of a couple of situations like -'You have to fire an employee because he has shown no results in the recent past', or 'An important meeting with a foreign client is underway and one of the team members has forgotten to add an important slide in the presentation that you're making. How will you handle the situation and how will you deal with the team member'. Several situations like these can be listed and the list can be given to each employee. Each of them have to then write down their point of view on the same in a stipulated period of time and then discuss each person's response at the end of it all. A panel will decide who the winner is.

Result-Orientation

 Case-Study & Presentation

Given a case to all the participants with a set of questions to be solved, analyzed and later to be presented before the deadline. This will help us in identifying their inclination towards results and also their analytical skills.

Strategic Planning

 Developing Strategy through Case

Given a case of“Marks & Spencer: The Phoenix Rises” the participants are required to develop a strategy for the company and develop solutions for the company so that it may sustain in long-run.

Technical Expertise

 Psychometric Test

Psychometric testing provides important information about the capability of an individual to perform a job. It has consistently been found to be the best predictor of an employee‟s potential to perform and to know his technical expertise.

Influencing Others

 Situation Play (2)

Divide the participants into two halves. One group would act as „Management Representatives‟ and the other as „Trade Union Representatives‟. An issue such as „Increase in Bonus‟ would be given 10 minutes prior to the discussion and the groups have to keep their relevant points and influence others. The team of assessors would judge the individuals and would analyze their influencing skills.

Customer Orientation

 Critical Incident Technique

The Critical Incident Technique (or CIT) is a set of procedures used for collecting direct observations of human behavior that have critical significance and meet methodically defined criteria. These observations are then kept track of as incidents, which are then used to solve practical problems and develop broad psychological principles.

List of Assessors and Assessees

Sr. No Assessor A Mr. Yashwant Sharma B Ms. Radhika Gupta C Mr. Manish Kapoor

Sr. No. Assessee 1 Ms. TanishaKapoor 2 Mr. Rahul Singh 3 Mr. VikramBhatiya 4 Ms. AnushreeTiwari 5 Mr. Ahmed Khan 6 Mr. Raj Rana 7 Mr. SandeepUpadhya 8 Ms. SnehaSrivastav 9 Mr. VirajTelang 10 Mr. ShreekantHirne 11 Ms. SoumyaDeshpande 12 Mr. RonitShinde

SCHEDULE: Day 1

Sr. Time Exercises No 1. 9:00 – 10:00 Ice-Breaker: A brief interaction between the participants and the management  Name and… Game 2 10:00- 10:15 Tea Break

3 10:15- 12:15 Case Study & Presentation: Given a 1-4: Assessor B case to all the participants with a set of 5-8: Assessor C questions to be solved, analyzed and 9-12: Assessor A later to be presented before the deadline. 4 12:30-2:00 Critical Incident Interview: The three 1-4: Assessor A assessors would be interviewing four 5-8: Assessor C participants each one by one. 9-12: Assessor B Psychometric Test: During the critical incident interview the remaining would give the psychometric test. 5 2:00-3:00 Lunch Break 6 3:00-5:00 Debate: A debatable topic to be given 1-4: Assessor A with a time of 10 minutes to discuss 5-8: Assessor B amongst themselves with participants 9-12: Assessor C divided into three groups. 7 5:00-5:30 Management Games  Magic Mirror 8 5:30-6:15 Situational play: One group would act 1-4: Assessor B as „Management Representatives‟ and 5-8: Assessor C the other as „Trade Union 9-12: Assessor A Representatives‟. An issue such as „Increase in Bonus‟ would be given 10 minutes prior to the discussion and the groups have to keep their relevant points

# A case study “Marks & Spencer: The Phoenix Rises” would be given at the end of the first day to the participants which they would have to perform on the second day.

SCHEDULE: Day 2

Sr. No. Time Exercises 1 9:00-11:00 In Basket Exercise:During thetest, job 1-4: Assessor B applicants receive a number of mails, 5-8: Assessor C telephone calls, documents and memos. 9-12: Assessor A They then have a limited period of time to set priorities, organize their working schedule accordingly and respond to mails and phone calls 2 11:00-11:15 Tea Break 3 11:30-12:00 Self-Assessment Test:To let them know 1-4: Assessor B their strengths and weaknesses so they 5-8: Assessor C could work upon it. 9-12: Assessor A 4 12:00-2:00 Developing Strategy through 1-4: Assessor A Case:The case given on Day-1 would be 5-8: Assessor B presented and analyzed. 9-12: Assessor C 5 2:00-3:00 Lunch Break 6 3:00-4:15 Situation Play:Several situations can be 1-4: Assessor C listed and the list can be given to each 5-8: Assessor A employee. Each of them have to then 9-12: Assessor B write down their point of view on the same in a stipulated period of time and then discuss each person's response at the end of it all.

Annexure

 Name and… Game

Everyone sits in a circle. One person introduces herself or himself, saying their name andthen one word that describe a reason they have become involved in community service. (For instance, a children‟s book that is important to you, what you would be doing if you were not here, what you like about the place where you volunteer, etc.). The second personrepeats the first person‟s name and the word/adjective and adds their own. The third personrepeats the previous two, adding their own. And so on. The last person has the hardest job because they must remember all of the names and words/adjectives. If there is time, youcan go around the circle again and ask each person to explain why they chose their word/adjective.

 Case Study & Presentation

Electro-Light

Our client is SuperSoda. SuperSoda is a top-three beverage producer in the United States and has approached McKinsey for help in designing a product-launch strategy.

As an integrated beverage company, SuperSoda leads its own brand design, marketing, and sales efforts. In addition, the company owns the entire beverage supply chain, including production of concentrates, bottling and packaging, and distribution to retail outlets. SuperSoda has a considerable number of brands across carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, five large bottling plants throughout the country, and distribution agreements with most major retailers.

SuperSoda is evaluating the launch of a new product, a flavored sports drink called Electro- Light. Sports drinks are usually designed to replenish both energy (sugars) and electrolytes (salts) in the body. However, Electro-Light has been formulated to focus more on the replenishment of electrolytes, and has a reduced sugar content compared to most other sports drinks. The company expects this new beverage to capitalize on the recent trend away from sugar-rich products. 17

SuperSoda’s vice president of marketing has asked McKinsey to help analyze the major factors surrounding the launch of Electro-Light and its own internal capabilities to support the effort.

Which factors should SuperSoda consider and act on before launching Electro-Light into the US beverage market?

QUESTION 1

What key factors should SuperSoda consider in deciding whether or not to launch Electro- Light?

QUESTION 2

After reviewing the key factors SuperSoda should consider in deciding whether to launch Electro-Light, your team wants to understand the beverage market and consumer preferences to gauge potential success of Electro-Light.

QUESTION 3

SuperSoda executives believe that the company's position as a top 3 beverage company gives them strategic strengths toward achieving the desired market share. However, they ask the team to outline what would be needed to achieve the target of 12.5% share of the electrolyte- drinks market. What would SuperSoda need to do to gain the required market share for Electro-Light following its launch?

 Psychometric Test

https://www.psychometricinstitute.com.au/Select-Preparation.asp?cID=12&lID=4

The candidates need to mention the login id as: lifestyleacand password as: 123456 and thenproceed with the test.

 Debate

The participants would be asked to debate on the topic “Victory of a team depends on its captain” The participants would be divided into three groups of four members each. They would be given a time of ten minutes to jot down the key points and then would start with the debate.

 Magic Mirror

Draw outline of wall mirror on a flip chart (vertical rectangle with smooth corners). Lead participants through brief brainstorming sessions to identify the characteristics of a good team member. Do this quickly in just a minute or two to get participants thinking about “how you know a good team leader when you see one”. Write their responses in the “mirror” Then pair of the participants and handout the three column mirror image chart so that each person has a chart. Suggest that each participant folds the chart length wise on the fold line, hiding the third column from view. Give the group of pairs five minutes so that each person has time to list three or four positive behaviours in both the first and the second column. When this is done, instruct partners to exchange papers without looking at the completed columns. Partners now work only with the third column, listing three or four positive behaviours. All papers are then returned to the original owners Objective The object of the exercise is for each participant to find a consistent image or through discussion with the partner to figure out how to bring apparent discrepancies into alignment. This exercise in double reflection can be useful in strengthening ones company‟s leaders. 19

 Situational Play

Divide the participants into two halves. One group would act as „Management Representatives‟ and the other as „Trade Union Representatives‟. An issue of „Increase in Bonus‟ would be given 10 minutes prior to the discussion and the groups have to keep their 20

relevant points and influence others. The team of assessors would judge the individuals and would analyze their influencing skills.

 In-basket Exercises

An in-basket test or an in-basket exercise is a test used by companies and governments in hiring and promoting employees. During the test, job applicants receive a number of mails, telephone calls, documents and memos. They then have a limited period of time to set priorities, organize their working schedule accordingly and respond to mails and phone calls. It also helps in acquainting employees about their job where a number of problems are kept in the "in basket "(usually kept on the desk of the employee). The worker has to look at the problems which could also be complaints from different employees and simultaneously deal with those problems. As the employee solves these problems, he/she transfers them to the "out-basket"

In – Tray Exercise Candidate brief You are Pat Jones, recently appointed a Store Manager of a £1.8 million turnover store. This is your first day at work following a two-week holiday. Today‟s date is Wednesday 5th April. Your administrator has collated the documents that have arrived in the store during your absence. Your task: Decide on the order in which you would deal with the items in the folder using the following code: A = Must do today B = Would like to do today, time permitting C = Can be left until a later date and then in the box provided write the specific action you would take to address that task. You have 30 minutes to complete this exercise.

DOCUMENT 3 Mrs Anna Frampton 111 Blenheim Avenue Stonford ST1 8TL P Jones Store Manager The Shoe Company Slipper Walk Soletown Dear Madam I am writing to express my disappointment at the service I received when visiting your store. I have a 4 year old daughter and a baby of 10 months. As with most children, my daughter does not enjoy shopping, particularly when it involves lots of waiting, which was the case on 30th March when I visited your Store. I arrived in the Store at 10.30am and was not served until 11.40pm. I was not acknowledged by anyone during my wait, and when I was eventually served, my daughter was extremely fretful. I was served by „Mandy‟ who took one look at my obviously distressed daughter, raised her eyebrows and said „I hope you don‟t expect me to deal with her while she‟s in that state‟. As you can imagine, I was absolutely horrified at this person‟s attitude. I asked to speak to the Assistant Manager and told him of the incident. His name was Simon Darby, and he treated me with indifference, offering no apology. 23

As a life-long Shoe Company customer I was appalled at my treatment. The Shoe Company prides itself on a reputation for being the place to shop for children‟s shoes – this experience does not seem to fit in with this reputation. I will not be rushing into a Shoe Company shop in the near future, and I expect something to be done about this incident. Yours sincerely Mrs Anna Frampton

DOCUMENT 4

Charity UK Drake Road SOLETOWN

31st March 2006

The Manager The Shoe Company Slipper Walk SOLETOWN

Dear Sir/Madam

We are newly established charity that works with under-privileged people around the UK. We are now setting up our Christmas Bonanza and would like your help.

We are approaching all local businesses asking them to make a donation, of either products or money, so that we can give a Christmas gift to those most in need in our local area.

If you have any queries please call me on 020 786 2317. 24

Please give generously.

Yours faithfully

George Grey Head Fundraiser

Competency Matrix

Debate Situation Case Study Developing Psychometric Situational Critical Play (1) & Strategy Test Play (2) Incident Presentation through Interview Case Leadership   Result-   Orientation Strategic   Planning Technical   Expertise Influential   Skills Customer  Orientation