Danielle Cresci Management 215- Human Resources Spring 2015

Recruiting Safeway Inc., Target

Safeway Inc. is one of the largest grocery chains in North America and Canada, and is

growing by merging with Albertson’s. The vision of Safeway is to earn the loyalty of customers

through the talents and passion of employees. Safeway provides a full

array of grocery, food and general merchandise, and a variety of

specialty departments such bakery, delicatessen, floral, pharmacy,

Starbucks coffee shops, and fuel stations. Safeway’s mission is to

anticipate the consumer’s needs, fulfilling them with superior-quality

products, and customer-focused service. The company also puts a

heavy emphasis on diversity in the work place, and additionally

corporate social responsibility. A trip to Safeway is a staple in a many

peoples lives, which makes it a desirable company to work for: it’s familiar.

When examining Safeway’s career website, it emphasizes appreciation for diversity in the

workplace and opportunity to grow within the company. The site does have some pictures of

“employees” and a little blurb about why it is so great to work for the company, but doesn’t

necessarily provide any realistic insight. As an outsider, the recruiting process is standard; a

simple Google search of “Safeway Jobs” pulls up several websites where candidates can fill out

applications. As an insider, there is time and effort that stores put into the entire recruiting and

hiring process.

Recruiting and hiring for the company has changed several times over the past few years.

In the past, the entire process was run by a Retail Talent Acquisition Representative (RTAR) who

hired for the entire district based on store needs. However, over the last several years the process

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Company Profile

- 1,300 Stores

- 138,000 Employees

- $37.63B Sales

- 22 Brands

has been put back into the hands of each individual store, and is handled by the In Store

Recruiter (ISR).

By the recruiting and hiring process being put back 99% entirely on the individual store, it

allows each Store Manager to really be the boss of their own store, with

the help of their ISR. There is a variety of ways each store recruits their

employees, where some methods work for some stores and not for others.

Credit for a portion of the recruiting process is given simply to the

reputation of the company and it being a staple in the community, and

the history of young people gaining work experience in the grocery

industry.

The actual hiring process is steam lined, and can take as little time

as 3 days or extend to over a week. The flow chart below shows the

process:

The prescreen is meant to clarify any questions the ISR might have and to verify the

information the candidate provided on the application is correct. When ending a pre-screen or

interview, and the candidate is not going to move on, they are told there’s other interviews going

on for the position and will be contacted they are chosen to move forward in the process. As and

ISR, I find it’s important to contact the candidate within 48 hours by e-mail to thank them for

their time and let them know I will keep their application on file for other opportunities.

In comparison, I looked wanted to look into another large chain company: Target. I feel

like it is the only other comparable company in the Bay Area that is a staple in most people’s

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Recruiting Methods

- In Store Flyers

- Postings at schools

- Job Fairs @ Stores

- Word of Mouth

- Job Board Websites

ISR pulls & reviews application of candidates

ISR or RTAR prescreens

applicant

Candidate has interview in store

with ISR

Candidate offered position by ISR,

drug screened

Background check sent to county

(18+ only)

ISR onboards candidate when

BG Check

lives. On the Target careers website, it is significantly more interactive and personal than

Safeway; there are more pictures, videos, employee statements, and in-depth information on

programs. I wanted to find out how the hiring process works for Target, so I contacted my friend

who is an Executive Team Lead at the San Bruno location. The process is demonstrated in the

flow chart below:

The process is very similar to Safeway, which leads me to the conclusion that there is

effectiveness in stores being in charge of their own hiring. With stores being in charge of who is

being interviewed and hired, it allows those hiring to get to know the candidate and see if they’ll

fit in the store. In addition, it provides a good contact person if the candidate is hired to go to if

they have questions, because they helped them along the process of getting into the company.

Because both companies participate in a prescreen interviews, or a multi-interview process, it

contributes to the theory that it is a successful way to ensure some level of quality for hourly

employees.

Overall, both companies have strong recruiting and hiring processes that empower the

stores to staff with effective team members. Safeway and Target are household names and can

attribute part of the hiring process to this, because when people are looking for entry-level jobs,

they look to work for companies that they frequent. The key to having a strong team is to begin

with strong employees, and that is influenced by hiring the right people to fill the needs and

develop those employees to become great team members and managers.

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Store level HR reviews & pulls application

Team Lead in-person interview

with candidate

Store level HR prescreens

candidate

Team Lead recommends to

Exec Team

Exec Team Lead interviews

Meet & Greet with Store manager,

offered position