Unit 8 – Assignment 1
Introduction:
My coursework is based upon The Co-op. I attended a workshop with the Co-op in which I asked
questions based upon recruitment in which I have now based my research in this coursework on.
The Co-op is a national business that operates throughout the UK. The grocer, called Co-operative
Food, became the fifth-largest food retail business in the UK after buying Somerfield in 2009 1. They
are a large business which recruits 70,000 employees throughout the UK.
Explain how a large business recruits and selects giving reasons for their processes
The Co-operative Group, known as the Co-op recruits 70,000 throughout the UK. They recruit this
many people due to their presence being national. They have over 2,500 local, convenience and
medium-sized stores which can help to show why they have so many employees. The Co-op have
said that they are providing major makeovers for 200 stores which could lead to around 1,500 new
local jobs2. This shows that Co-op is aiming to expand their presence and provide more jobs for
people throughout the UK. They also said that they were planning on building a distribution depot 3.
It is expected to open in 2022, itself creating up to 1,200 jobs. This shows that they are again aiming
to create new jobs in the next few years. This means that Co-op will be gaining a lot of new
vacancies and will need to spend a lot more time finding the right people for the job and training
them.
Different times of the year often mean that more staff will need to be employed. From my research
that I carried out, I asked the Co-op if they employ more staff at certain times of the year. They told
me that for their food stores, they employ more people during the months of August and
September. For their funeral care, they employ more people during the months of September and
October. As a result, it shows that are certain times of the year where the Co-op employ more
people. This staff is not temporary. Rather, it is permanent staff. Unlike other businesses that may
employ during December and January time, the Co-op employ more staff during the summer. This
can ensure that by December and January, staff have enough training needed and can perform well
for the business during this busy time period.
The Co-op have told me that they do internally promote their employees. This means that if those in
charge such as managers are happy, they may decide to promote employees into higher positions of
work. For example, a team member in a Co-op food store can be promoted into a team supervisor.
This can be due to a vacancy in the higher end jobs which will need to be filled in. As a result, the Co-
op will need to think about what they should do next, they could internally promote someone or
they could employ someone from outside the Co-op. Whichever way, a job vacancy will be filled. If
the Co-op decides to promote someone internally, it may mean that there will be a job vacancy as
the one promoted has left their previous job. This means that the Co-op will need to recruit
someone from outside anyway which shows when they may need to recruit someone. In addition to
this, the Co-op may decide to develop more of their products which means that they may need more
staff to help them with this. As a result, they will be using their recruitment process to find the right
candidates for their jobs of product development.
1
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26970903
2
https://www.co-operative.coop/media/news-releases/co-op-to-serve-up-over-100-new-stores-in-2019-as-
part-of-gbp200-million
3
https://www.co-operative.coop/media/news-releases/co-op-to-serve-up-over-100-new-stores-in-2019-as-
part-of-gbp200-million
, Unit 8 – Assignment 1
(For customer advisor and store roles they may use job centres)
2a
From my primary research, I found out that the Co-op uses agencies to recruit people to their
business. The Co-op use Indeed which is a job agency. With Indeed, the Co-op advertise their jobs
which is available for all people to see. They are the world’s most popular job board which is why the
Co-op use them to advertise their jobs. Using Indeed, people can apply directly to the Co-op job
without leaving the Indeed website or app which makes it a lot more convenient for the person
using it.
One benefit of using a recruitment agency such as Indeed to advertise jobs is that Indeed is the
world’s most popular job board. This means that the Co-op will be gaining a lot more popularity
using Indeed rather than using other agencies or methods. As a result, it can lead to more people
applying for jobs at the Co-op which can help them broaden their candidate selection and gain more
choice over who they want working for them. One other benefit of using a recruitment agency is
that there is a lower risk of employing a bad candidate. This is because the job agency can help
match the candidate to the job based on their profile, qualifications, experience etc. Candidates can
easily submit their CV’s to the Co-op using recruitment agencies. As a result, it can make it easier for
the Co-op to employ better candidates for their job. One final benefit of using a recruitment agency
is that it handles high-volumes of applications in a consistent way. It is a global reach with
applications coming instantly which can make it a lot more convenient for the Co-op. This is
beneficial for the Co-op as it makes it a lot easier for their recruitment process to run smoothly and
it can help them lead to easily selecting candidates to narrow down for an interview. One
disadvantage of using a recruitment agency is that there is a lot of competition. As Indeed is the
world’s most popular job agency, it is more likely that more businesses will be using it to promote
their vacancies. This means that the Co-op’s job vacancies can quickly become buried under a
mountain of other job offers, forcing you to either pay more for extra exposure or risk not being
seen. One other disadvantage of using a recruitment agency is that it attracts bad candidates. It is
very easy for anyone to apply for jobs on Indeed which means that the Co-op will need to sort the
right candidates to the bad candidates. This will affect their candidate pool of quality as good
candidates may be mistaken for not so good candidates and this may use up time finding the right
candidates. One final disadvantage of using a recruitment agency is that costs can become a lot
higher over time. This all depends on the job agency that the Co-op decide to use. Some job agencies
may make the Co-op pay a subscription fee or other costs to post your vacancy. This may mean that
the Co-op will have higher costs due to using certain recruitment agencies or to boost their job
advertising to a wider audience.
The methods used by the Co-op are effective. This is because the Co-op use Indeed which is an
extremely popular recruitment agency. By using this, it can bring the Co-op a lot more candidates
many of them being whom the Co-op want. This will benefit the Co-op as it will allow them to gain
the right candidates for the job which will make them successful. In addition to this, it is a
convenient way for the Co-op to recruit as the jobs can reach globally which again can reach a lot
more candidates. This can allow them to gain the best candidates for the job. However, there may
be better methods that the Co-op can use to recruit people. One other way that the Co-op can
recruit people other than recruitment agencies is through recruiting internally. The Co-op have
already told me that they promote their employees internally. This is a good method as the Co-op
will already know what a certain worker is like. They will already have their details from their
recruitment from before. As a result, it makes it a lot more convenient for the Co-op. To add on to
Introduction:
My coursework is based upon The Co-op. I attended a workshop with the Co-op in which I asked
questions based upon recruitment in which I have now based my research in this coursework on.
The Co-op is a national business that operates throughout the UK. The grocer, called Co-operative
Food, became the fifth-largest food retail business in the UK after buying Somerfield in 2009 1. They
are a large business which recruits 70,000 employees throughout the UK.
Explain how a large business recruits and selects giving reasons for their processes
The Co-operative Group, known as the Co-op recruits 70,000 throughout the UK. They recruit this
many people due to their presence being national. They have over 2,500 local, convenience and
medium-sized stores which can help to show why they have so many employees. The Co-op have
said that they are providing major makeovers for 200 stores which could lead to around 1,500 new
local jobs2. This shows that Co-op is aiming to expand their presence and provide more jobs for
people throughout the UK. They also said that they were planning on building a distribution depot 3.
It is expected to open in 2022, itself creating up to 1,200 jobs. This shows that they are again aiming
to create new jobs in the next few years. This means that Co-op will be gaining a lot of new
vacancies and will need to spend a lot more time finding the right people for the job and training
them.
Different times of the year often mean that more staff will need to be employed. From my research
that I carried out, I asked the Co-op if they employ more staff at certain times of the year. They told
me that for their food stores, they employ more people during the months of August and
September. For their funeral care, they employ more people during the months of September and
October. As a result, it shows that are certain times of the year where the Co-op employ more
people. This staff is not temporary. Rather, it is permanent staff. Unlike other businesses that may
employ during December and January time, the Co-op employ more staff during the summer. This
can ensure that by December and January, staff have enough training needed and can perform well
for the business during this busy time period.
The Co-op have told me that they do internally promote their employees. This means that if those in
charge such as managers are happy, they may decide to promote employees into higher positions of
work. For example, a team member in a Co-op food store can be promoted into a team supervisor.
This can be due to a vacancy in the higher end jobs which will need to be filled in. As a result, the Co-
op will need to think about what they should do next, they could internally promote someone or
they could employ someone from outside the Co-op. Whichever way, a job vacancy will be filled. If
the Co-op decides to promote someone internally, it may mean that there will be a job vacancy as
the one promoted has left their previous job. This means that the Co-op will need to recruit
someone from outside anyway which shows when they may need to recruit someone. In addition to
this, the Co-op may decide to develop more of their products which means that they may need more
staff to help them with this. As a result, they will be using their recruitment process to find the right
candidates for their jobs of product development.
1
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26970903
2
https://www.co-operative.coop/media/news-releases/co-op-to-serve-up-over-100-new-stores-in-2019-as-
part-of-gbp200-million
3
https://www.co-operative.coop/media/news-releases/co-op-to-serve-up-over-100-new-stores-in-2019-as-
part-of-gbp200-million
, Unit 8 – Assignment 1
(For customer advisor and store roles they may use job centres)
2a
From my primary research, I found out that the Co-op uses agencies to recruit people to their
business. The Co-op use Indeed which is a job agency. With Indeed, the Co-op advertise their jobs
which is available for all people to see. They are the world’s most popular job board which is why the
Co-op use them to advertise their jobs. Using Indeed, people can apply directly to the Co-op job
without leaving the Indeed website or app which makes it a lot more convenient for the person
using it.
One benefit of using a recruitment agency such as Indeed to advertise jobs is that Indeed is the
world’s most popular job board. This means that the Co-op will be gaining a lot more popularity
using Indeed rather than using other agencies or methods. As a result, it can lead to more people
applying for jobs at the Co-op which can help them broaden their candidate selection and gain more
choice over who they want working for them. One other benefit of using a recruitment agency is
that there is a lower risk of employing a bad candidate. This is because the job agency can help
match the candidate to the job based on their profile, qualifications, experience etc. Candidates can
easily submit their CV’s to the Co-op using recruitment agencies. As a result, it can make it easier for
the Co-op to employ better candidates for their job. One final benefit of using a recruitment agency
is that it handles high-volumes of applications in a consistent way. It is a global reach with
applications coming instantly which can make it a lot more convenient for the Co-op. This is
beneficial for the Co-op as it makes it a lot easier for their recruitment process to run smoothly and
it can help them lead to easily selecting candidates to narrow down for an interview. One
disadvantage of using a recruitment agency is that there is a lot of competition. As Indeed is the
world’s most popular job agency, it is more likely that more businesses will be using it to promote
their vacancies. This means that the Co-op’s job vacancies can quickly become buried under a
mountain of other job offers, forcing you to either pay more for extra exposure or risk not being
seen. One other disadvantage of using a recruitment agency is that it attracts bad candidates. It is
very easy for anyone to apply for jobs on Indeed which means that the Co-op will need to sort the
right candidates to the bad candidates. This will affect their candidate pool of quality as good
candidates may be mistaken for not so good candidates and this may use up time finding the right
candidates. One final disadvantage of using a recruitment agency is that costs can become a lot
higher over time. This all depends on the job agency that the Co-op decide to use. Some job agencies
may make the Co-op pay a subscription fee or other costs to post your vacancy. This may mean that
the Co-op will have higher costs due to using certain recruitment agencies or to boost their job
advertising to a wider audience.
The methods used by the Co-op are effective. This is because the Co-op use Indeed which is an
extremely popular recruitment agency. By using this, it can bring the Co-op a lot more candidates
many of them being whom the Co-op want. This will benefit the Co-op as it will allow them to gain
the right candidates for the job which will make them successful. In addition to this, it is a
convenient way for the Co-op to recruit as the jobs can reach globally which again can reach a lot
more candidates. This can allow them to gain the best candidates for the job. However, there may
be better methods that the Co-op can use to recruit people. One other way that the Co-op can
recruit people other than recruitment agencies is through recruiting internally. The Co-op have
already told me that they promote their employees internally. This is a good method as the Co-op
will already know what a certain worker is like. They will already have their details from their
recruitment from before. As a result, it makes it a lot more convenient for the Co-op. To add on to
