Introduction
This paper seeks to analyze the case of recruiting employees for a government project by Liberty Engineering Co after the company won the bid knowing afterward that it is difficult to recruit the needed employees for the project.
Discussion
Problem Statement: How would a company prepare itself in completing a government project that it had won in the bidding process in order not to lose money?
The case facts speak of a dilemma faced by Bob because of the difficulty in having to hire thirty (30 employees) in so short a time under conditions set by the company when it won a bid for the projects from the government. The company has included in its proposal the recruitment selection and training qualified individuals to survey over 1,000 recreational vehicles but apparently, the company finds it hard to recruit.
Its bid was in response to the government’s need for information regarding how people actually use their recreational vehicles which includes motor homes, pick-up trucks campers, and different kinds of recreational trailers. The government’s intention is for making additional safety rules regarding the manufacture and use of recreational vehicles. Liberty must therefore provide the government the following information to have the full satisfaction of the contract: value recreational vehicles for the user, trailer hitches being used, and the availability of proper suspension systems and awareness of safety features of the users’ recreational use.
Since the company has proposed that it would be surveying at three different sites which include a desert location, a seashore site, and a mountain location, it appears that the company is expected to do the same. This was the reason why in meeting with government officials, several definite locations were selected and these include Lake Mead, Nevada; Cape Hatters, North Carolina; and Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. Putting people in these places makes it hard.
Causes
The possible causes of the present include the following:
Lack of experience on the part of the company for such kind of government project
Case facts say that the company wanted to stabilize its revenues and it was the company president of Liberty who decided about the prudence to make some diversification from its present business into bidding for government contract. The president pursued this option despite the company’s not having experience in these areas. His intention was to obtain the contract but failed to consider the cost of doing the project. Its failure to complete the project could make Liberty Engineering liable to the government for breach of contract.
It is a basic management proposition that a businessperson should not be interested only in having revenues; the person must also consider the cost of the project in what it will have to be spent since revenues may not come without employing some assets into the project. For failing to forecast the cost of the project, the company is faced with the situation of having to recruit personnel in so short a time under conditions of employment that may not be delivered well.
Promising to deliver a kind of service without really determining the chances of success of its options
The company represented in its proposal the recruitment, selection, and training of about a good number of qualified individuals, which are now set at 30 people by Bob to survey over 1,000 recreational vehicles. The government may have accepted the proposal because of the sweet offer of having to study such a big number of vehicles by a big number of people. In fact, the estimate for the number of personal was not specific at the time of the proposal. Thus it is also a failure to know in advance how many people are needed for the project. It was only after meeting with the government officials that the number of 30 was determined by Bob. For a company to subsequently know the details after having won a proposal is a sign of a lack of prudence.
Had the company been more circumspect in bidding for government projects, the company may not have reached this point where it is forced to finish the contract with the government.
Possible Solutions
The possible solutions may include the following:
Cancel the contract and be liable for certain damages to the government but invoke causes beyond control in recruiting employees for the project
Choosing this option seems not possible due to the lack of estimated revenues and cost of the projects as per case facts. But if Liberty will fail to complete its representation with its approved proposal then its fate is just to indemnify the government. Instead of stabilizing revenues, the company needed instead to pay. Liberty may not be prepared to do but it is a possibility.
Continue the project but with a lower number of employees than what Bob has determined but offering to employees to be recruited better salary, accommodation, and benefits
The number of surveyors and leaders as determined by Bob was agreed upon after a meeting with government officials. However, the company may invoke the using smaller number that could be recruited since there is a need to offer the surveyors better conditions of employment so that they will accept the offer. This will therefore create a reduction from 30 employees to possibly 16 with four leaders and three members or surveyors for each leader.
This would be cutting the cost by at least half of the estimate. As long as the needed information by the government is delivered, the company would have still completed the contract and thereby avoid any penalty for breach while possibly operating at break-even or even at a profit. The revenues and expenses could not be determined because of the absence of the same in the case facts.
Continue the project but with 30 employees as what Bob has determined without offering to employees to be recruited better salary, accommodation, and benefits
This option would amount to not having completed the project since according to camp managers the conditions of the work because of extreme and heat and salaries and benefits, nobody may be willing to work with the company. This would in effect result in the same consequence as in option 1 where the company would have to pay damages to the government for breach of contract because recruiting 30 seems impossible.
Conclusion
This paper has found things that could have been prevented if management knew its business. Liberty was found facing a problem because of its failure to anticipate problems brought about by bidding with government projects which the company did not have the necessary experience and to enter into when it wins the bidding. It is a simple lesson of lack of prudence for going to war without counting the cost. Business is not just about getting contracts with the government or any other client to that effect; it is also about the profitability of any contract that may be entered into. A company doing what Liberty Engineering had done is in a very risky situation.
After evaluating, therefore, the three options, the only possible thing is to recruit a smaller number of employees that could deliver the needed information by the government. This could however be done only by offering the employees to be recruited with better conditions of work, better pay including insurance, and provision of more incentive just to complete this project that the company may have won by accident if not by negligence.
Reference:
Nkomo, et. al, Human Resource Management Applications: Cases, Exercises, Incidents, and Skill Builder, Sixth Edition – Case No. 33 – Recruiting Recreational Vehicle Surveyors, 2007.