Introduction
In the ABC Inc. case study, some problems have occurred relating to human resource management practices. Therefore, to get a clear understanding of the situation and the way to resolve the issues, ABC has hired my consulting company. After completing the evaluation, the firm is expected to spot the problems and recommend ways of improving the hiring practices of ABC. In the recent hiring conducted by Carl Robins, a number of issues became evident. According to the analysis, the problems are associated with poor time management and planning skills of the newly hired recruiter and, more specifically, the recruiter’s inability to conduct the orientations at the desired time. In as much as ABC is determined to solve the issues arising in the case study, it is required to equip the human resource staff with a comprehensive outline of the hiring process as well as the components of the process.
Background
Carl Robins is a newly employed staff at ABC Inc. within the human resource department. He was assigned to oversee the recruitment of fifteen new campus hires to work with Monica Carrolls, the operations supervisor. The initial phase of hiring was successful in which the recruiter identified the new trainees. The task that followed was to train them. Objectively, Carl scheduled the orientation to occur on June 15, which was more than a month after the new trainees were recruited. He hoped that the new hires would be working for the operations supervisor by July as he did not perceive any challenge during the training process.
As time passed by, Monica noticed that some important items for the orientation were omitted. It appeared that Carl had either not received them or had simply ignored them. As a result, she contacted the recruiter to discuss the training process on May 15. As expected, the recruiter confirmed to Monica that the process would be a success as every problem would be taken care of on time.
In the meantime, Carl decided to resolve the issues Monica had suggested to him. The real situation unfolded when he perused through the files where information from the new hires was stored. It was apparent that the recruiter had many workers to do before the orientation. Indeed, some of the applications from the hires were incomplete, transcripts were missing, and none of the hires had undergone a drug test. On top of these, there were insufficient orientation handbooks, yet the three available were incomplete.
As many people would expect, Carl started to check each and every component of the orientation exercise. He went to check on the training room where the orientation was scheduled to take place. Adding to his frustration, he found Joe, the technician from technology services arranging computers in preparation for another activity that was to occupy the whole month of June. To his realization, the problem of not having a room for the orientation was too much.
Key problems
One big issue is ABC Inc. The company made a big mistake when it assigned Carl the responsibility of the hiring project. The recruiter had been in the company for just six months, which reflects his lack of experience not only with the company policies but the recruitment tasks as well. It is apparent that an inexperienced individual will not be in a position to identify the qualities that make up the desired employee. To heighten the situation, the company assigned this new recruiter a task that was pressured by insufficient time to guarantee success. In essence, the expectation of the recruiter training fifteen new hires and completing the process successfully in that short time is arguably ridiculous.
Another issue that emerges from the case study is the lack of proper planning. Even though Carl accepted the task the company assigned to him despite limited experience in this field, he should have demonstrated better planning skills. He should have set an action plan and identified the staff who could give a hand in regard to information and management. Contrastingly, Carl is not even bothered to look for assistance when he is stuck but seems overwhelmed. He also lacks the proper communication skills that facilitate planning as it is portrayed when he fails to update Monica about the training process.
Another issue also evident in this study is training. This issue covers both the training of Carl and the training policies of the company. It is apparent that Carl was not fully trained in the position of a recruiter. This is because he fails to observe the basic requirements of the training process, such as aligning the process with the department the new hires will work. In addition, the training policy of ABC has proved to be inefficient. It can be argued that the lack of necessary items resulted either from Carl’s ignorance or are not included in the training guidelines of the company. Furthermore, the company does not communicate effectively about its activities as Carl was supposed to be aware of the computer training seminar that Joe was to conduct in June.
These wider deficiencies have resulted in the following problems evident in the case study: missing applications and transcripts, lack of drug testing, incomplete and insufficient orientation booklets, and double-booking with the training room.
Alternatives
In order to correct the situation, several actions must be planned and implemented on time. Apparently, Carl has much work to do, and within a short period of time. This can only be accomplished if he is determined and very careful, ensuring every exercise is moving on smoothly. The recruiter must put extra effort into this endeavor. First and most important, Carlo needs to establish an action plan that must be completed within the remaining weeks before orientation commences. Within the next few days, he should contact the medical clinic and make a date in order for the new hires to get the drug test soon.
After agreeing on the date, he should contact the hires and notify them of the compulsory test and the date set for the exercise. The recruiter should also have the hires complete the applications and ensure their transcripts are filed. This could take several days, but the recruiter must put some pressure to ensure that the hires provide the necessary items on time. He can achieve this by setting a deadline and consequences thereof if the hires fail to abide by the rule. Indeed, these efforts would solve half of the problems.
About the issues of the booklets, Carlo can solely use his ingenuity to solve them. Being a kind of manual, he needs to have just one booklet to complete the orientation. He can use Monica to acquire a complete booklet or complete one booklet by getting the pages from the others, hoping that the missing pages are not similar among the three books. If either of these options is not viable, Carl should contact his superiors and report the matter on time. Indeed, this should also serve as an opportunity to update the relevant personnel on the process.
One big problem that remains unresolved is to do with the room for orientation. This problem reflects the communication weaknesses between the departments as well as poor time management of Carl. However, it is not a big problem as many people will tend to think considering the number of new trainees that will be oriented. There are many options that Carl can use to resolve this issue. First, he can discuss it out with Joe and see how computer training can be postponed. Together, they can also influence the management to adjust the dates of the training processes. In addition to this alternative, Joe or Carl can find another room to conduct their training activities. Finally, Carl can discuss with Joe to see how they can coordinate times to allow the training to take place in the same room.
Proposed solution
The best solution would be that which corrects the current situation and eliminates the possibility of such circumstances recurring. ABC as a whole should consider revisiting the entire recruitment policy to include all relevant components of a training program. Training policy is demanding and requires the definition of roles and responsibilities as the recruiters completely understand the components of the process when conducting training. The good policy describes the duties and limits for effective recruitment as well as setting the expectations of the company of the recruitment process.
In correcting this situation, the most vital thing Carl should do is to make a temporal schedule that he can follow. A schedule that enables him to address the tasks and ensure he is on time with the tasks. This will enable him to resolve the issues and keep up with his work. After revising all the necessary requirements, he needs to keep in touch with the new hires until they satisfy all the needs. Regarding the orientation booklets, he can consult with Monica and maybe get a complete one. To solve the issue of an orientation room, Carl can just find another room that can accommodate his fifteen trainees. There is no need to seek compromise with Joe as the remaining time must be utilized efficiently in order to meet the June 15 deadline. Finally, Carl is advised to seek help and enhance communication with other personnel who can help.
Recommendations
It is Apparent that ABC needs to take up appropriate measures regarding recruitment. For the sake of future processes, I have several recommendations to make. First, the company should never assign the task of recruiting new trainees to a person who is inexperienced, especially when the recruitment involves more than five trainees. It is true that a new recruiter must oversee some recruitment tasks, but this should be done under the assistance of an experienced one. Second, if the company is determined to assign a new recruiter to a task, he/she should be equipped with the guidelines too, requirements of, and expectations from the recruitment process. Third, it would be good to have someone following up on the recruitment process to ensure that the task is proceeding well and the person responsible has no problems. If ABC executes these recommendations, it will be able to avoid any other problem related to the recruitment and training process in the future.