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Project Initiation Document
Document Reference: LL/EJL/001
Status: DRAFT v1, 01 June 2015

Objective
Statement

Project Initiation Document
for the
Recruitment and Selection
of a key Account Manager by 1 September 2015

Approved:
Name	Rôle	Signature	Date	
Eddie Lunn	 Project Owner	Eddie Lunn	01 June 15	
Alan Sarsby	Head of Personnel 	Alan Sarsby	02 June 15	
Alison Grimes	Finance Director	Ali Grimes	02 June 15	
Peter Smith	Project Leader	Pete Smith 	01 Jun 15	

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Project Governance:
Signatures and dates for commitment and authority

1	Introduction

Include values or benefits

The restructuring of the Marketing and Sales territories has created the need for an additional key Account Manager to lead and manage the development and growth of nominated key accounts to protect £2m revenues and grow sales by 20% p.a.
Project outcome
The purpose of this recruitment and selection project is …

Objective stated as an outcome
 values or benefits

To appoint a key Account manager by 1st September 2015

To achieve this outcome this project is to market the vacancy, design suitable assessment method, assess and evaluate the candidates, select and appoint the best candidate, review the project and make recommendations to the Project Board for future recruitment.
The approach is to liaise with the line manager and the internal personnel consultant to conduct a role analysis, generate a job specification and the person specification. These are to be used to inform the marketing of the vacancy, the assessment design and the candidate evaluation.

2	Project Board

Key Stakeholders form the
 Project Board

The Project Board for this recruitment project includes:
•	Eddie Lunn, Sales and Marketing — Project Owner
•	Alan Sarsby, Head of Personnel 
•	Alison Grimes, Finance Director
•	Peter Smith, Project Leader
The Project Board will meet at the beginning to launch the project, at the end to review the learning points and prior to the candidate assessment.
The Project Leader will provide weekly updates of progress, every Monday morning, by e-mail to the Project Board and those directly involved in the project.  

3	Business Drivers
The Operational Board approved the business case for this new post at their meeting on 1 May 2015. 
The main benefits are expected to be more frequent customer contact leading to competitive advantage, customer retention plus new sales order value.
The business value is estimated as: Retention of current revenue estimated at £2m per annum. Lost opportunity cost is at £200k per quarter and potential growth over 5 years of £2.5m
The investment, as total cost of employment, for the post is £124k per annum
4	Outline plan

5	Project deliverables
The project is expected to produce the following outputs and outcomes:
Ultimate deliverable	Responsible person	
Best candidate selected, appointment confirmed and candidate in post 	Project Leader — Peter Smith	
Assessed performance — for use of the Line Manager in induction and training post appointment	
Individual responsibilities
Project Leader remains accountable

Lead Assessor — Paul Bisset	
Project review	Project Leader — Peter Smith	

Enabling deliverables	Responsible person	
Budget approved	FD — Alison Grimes	
Resources approved	Project Owner — Eddie Lunn	

Key outputs with Brief explanation to aid understanding

Role analysis — Job specification for use with the job description, assessment design and candidate evaluation	Line Manager — Anne Downton	
Role analysis — Person specification for use with the job description, assessment design and candidate evaluation	Line Manager — Anne Downton	
Marketing plan — strategy: when and where to advertise to attract suitable applicants	Marketing Agent — Ian Somme	
Advert placed — internal market, local, national or specialist press	Marketing Agent — Ian Somme	
Application — short-listing	Line Manager — Anne Downton	
Design assessment activities, recording of performance and an evaluation grid	Lead Assessor — Paul Bisset	
Candidate assessment plan — what, where and when with selected, trained assessors 	Lead Assessor — Paul Bisset	
Implement candidate assessment, and evaluation programme	Lead Assessor — Paul Bisset	
Final selection and appointment	Line Manager — Anne Downton	
Contract issued, signed and returned	Personnel — Steve Balon	
Project Review	Project Leader — Peter Smith	
Project Board report	Project Leader — Peter Smith	
6	Resource requirements
The Project Leader is allocated to the project for 16 hours a week over 16 weeks to lead the project, and co-ordinate resources. 
The Line Manager is required to allocate 32 hours for the following activities:
Role analysis to produce a job specification and the person specification	6 hours	
Paper-sift and short-listing candidates	8 hours	
Agree and test the design of the Candidate assessment plan	10 hours	
Confirm best candidate, agree contract details with personnel	4 hours	
A Final review with recommendations to the Project Board. 	4 hours	

The Personnel Consultant is required to allocate 44 hours for the following activities: 
Role analysis to produce a job specification and person specification.	12 hours	
Contributing to, and agreeing advertising plan including media placement.	10 hours	
Confirm with Line Manager the final short-list of suitable candidates.	2 hours	
Agree and test the design of the Candidate assessment plan.	10 hours	
Review the evaluation grid to confirm fair evaluation practice.	2 hours	
Preparation of contracts, terms of employment.	4 hours	
Due diligence checks	4 hours	
A Final review with recommendations to the Project Board.	4 hours	

Other resources required include:
Skilled designer to craft the advert.
(Expected cost based on previous contracts.)	£2k	
Placement of the advert in relevant media 
(Half-page, colour, x 2 inserts)	£4k	
Skilled designer for the candidate assessment plan.	£4k	
Materials, logistics, rooms, refreshments, for assessment day.
(£100 per candidate x 6)	£600	
Other costs — materials	£1400	

The budget required for the recruitment project is £12k, 
(excluding people and opportunity cost).

7	Risks
The role analysis — High quality, well-formed, job specification and the person specification — are crucial inputs to the advert, the new job description, the paper-sift, the candidate assessment plan, the evaluation and the ultimate appointment of the best candidate. To minimise this risk requires the timely availability of the line manager and personnel consultant 
Marketing the vacancy — The availability of a skilled marketer and the Head of Personnel to approve are critical to the timely placement of the advert in relevant media. Budget has been approved.
High volumes of suitable candidates — Our brand is recognised in the market and the remuneration package on offer is competitive, hence a large number of applicants is expected. Contingency may be required for application processing and the paper-sift. Delays to the project timetable mean we lose good candidates.
An effective candidate assessment programme — The design of the assessment and evaluation is the critical element in selection process. To minimise any risk, the plan includes a dry-run test and rehearsal using internal volunteers, selected observers, and trained assessors at least one week before the assessment day.
Death valley risk — The time between the interview and a job offer is the most critical delay. Good candidates are likely to be in receipt of competing job offers. This delay gives good candidates the opportunity to go elsewhere. 

8	Key milestones
8.1	Phase 1: Preparation
Stage	Project activity	Week Commencing	
Week 01 	Preparation, PID, and project setup.
Role analysis starts	01 June 15	
Week 02 	Job specification completed
Person specification completed	08 June 15	
Week 03 	Advert ready for proof-reading
Assessment design starts	15 June 15	
Week 04 - 05	 Advert placed in media	22 – 29 June 15	

8.2	Phase 2: Sifting
Stage	Project activity	Week Commencing	
Week 06 	Applications received and acknowledged	06 July 15	
Week 07	Paper-sift completed	13 July 15	
Week 08 	Assessment design - tested and completed
Applicants advised of rejection or invite Candidates to assessment	20 July 15	

8.3	Phase 3: Assess and select
Stage	Project activity	Week Commencing	
Week 09	Assessments of Candidates
Evaluation of Candidate performance
Best candidate selected – offer made	27 July 15	
Week 11	Appointment confirmed and Draft contract sent for signature and return	03 August 15	
Week 12 - 14 	Confirmation of personal details, logistics, equipment, 	10 - 24 August 15	
Week 15	Best available candidate in post. Handover to line manager	31 August 15 	
Week 16	Review & Closure of the project – Recommendations to Project Board	08 September 15	

—End—