Executive Summary
This report provides information regarding the reorganization of the company HR Department. The purpose of this report is to assist the BOT with the important decision of whether to include the HR Manager in the downsizing of the HR department beginning January 2009 or hire a temporary manager.
Introduction
HR manager is an important part of the human resource department for ensuring a regular flow of work. HR manager is responsible for the good treatment of people in an organization. He is also responsible for bringing people into the organization, helping them to perform their best, compensating them for their labor, and solving their problems and issues. Hiring itself is the duty of the HR department and is an ongoing process that ensures timely supply of the right person at the right place if proper care is taken at the hiring process. The HR manager needs to meet many challenges such as employee turnover, low productivity, illegal activities of employees, and so on. The hiring process is the strategic managerial decision and is an area where managers can reduce costs and can increase their productivity. Employees stay and leave an organization for several reasons. The reasons may be personal or professional, and the employer should be aware of the same. Now a day’s organizations are aware of these reasons and they adopt many strategies for talent retention as well as talent hiring. For the managerial position, it is better to appoint a permanent manager as his duty involves important managerial decisions and should be held responsible for a long period.
Background
The first and foremost thing is to analyze whether the organization requires a permanent HR manager or temporary manager to fulfill organizational targets. Other factors which need to be considered include whether a full-time manager or just a part-time manager will serve the purpose. Sometimes termination decision is also to be taken even if the manager fails to perform. Termination of existing employees is essential for recruiting new staff, whether temporary or permanent, those who are more talented. Legal issues and costs are involved in termination and the cost of keeping them is to be considered while taking this decision. “The smartest employers, who hire the best people, recruit a pre-qualified candidate pool of potential employees before they need to fill a job” (Heath field, 2008).
The organization is required to analyze its short-term and long-term goals and can decide whether a full-time manager or part-time manager is required. The job description needs to be specific, providing key responsibilities and objectives of the required position. Several agencies provide employee leasing services, service contracts, and temporary services, and so on. Services of these firms can be taken at the required stages. “An employee leasing company can handle administrative duties like payroll and employee benefits.” (Hiring new employees: A dozen reasons why, n.d.).
It is a fact that even excellent hiring will not serve the company’s purpose. Employee screening can be excellent but the same screening test when adopted for all the employees for various jobs can fail. A proper screening tool is to be used for the assessment of the prospective employees for the various job position required. In addition, it is essential to follow other laws and practices. “A variety of state and federal laws govern what you can and cannot do during all phases of the hiring process, including interviewing, investigating, testing, and selecting new employees.” (Hiring Employees FAQ: What law must I follow when hiring employees, 2008, p.1).
Most important thing is to make the pre-employment test effective at an affordable cost to ensure that employees are hired only after assessment with adequate information. Then only it can be seen as correct human capital allocation. For this, the HR manager or hiring manager needs to collect essential data on hiring as well as suitable skills and knowledge that is essential for doing a particular job and so on. The primary area that a company looks at to realize the projected return on its investment is the company’s level of staffing. If a company has excess staff resulting in excess cost, it is more likely that it will affect the earnings of the business. Staffing permanently is not at all advisable at these stages, and temporary workers can be appointed to do the job in critical stages. Organizations can also adopt promotional measures by assessing the abilities of the employees to handle responsibilities. It is essential to recruit permanent employees with appropriate talent measuring tools, equipment and by proper evaluation. If there is no time for recruitment and training, it is advisable to recruit temporary employees with the appropriate job description.
“The hiring manager can be a very weak point in the recruitment process. The hiring manager has to agree with the job profile and he has to agree to decide quickly about the final job offer for the winning candidate. The hiring manager has to be aware of the danger of being late in inviting the job candidates and the late decision taken.” (External recruitment process: Key issues, 2008).
Managers can be permanent or temporary. Appointing a full-time manager is essential in some areas and usually, it involves huge costs as well as risk. However, temporary managers are proved as useful in various job requirements in a company during the development stages of the company. But, a permanent HR manager is essential for an organization to deal with several important aspects of the business.
Table 1. A Table showing Permanent Vs Temporary Manager and recommendations
Advantages of Permanent manager are more than temporary manager. Appointing a permanent manager is very essential for meeting the long-term objective of the organization. Development expenses spend for increasing the efficiency of a manager are not going to be a waste when appointing a permanent manager. Maintaining public relations and confidential information is best to be handled by a permanent manager.
Advantages of Temporary Hiring is that it will serve the purpose without hiring a permanent manager when the workload is high. It is a fact that a company’s workload is not always the same throughout the year. It usually fluctuates from time to time. It is better to appoint a temporary manager to fulfill these changing demands. Otherwise needs to pay them even without much workload. A temporary manager offers flexibility in many areas. It is possible to assess the performance of the temporary manager and can be appointed for the full-time permanent post. This is the most appropriate method for selecting the right employees to suit the right job. Thus, a temporary manager will serve the short-term goals of the company without much cost and time involved in the recruitment process.
The disadvantages of temporary hiring are that it is not suitable for the long-term objective of the company. It is not advisable for keeping confidential information of the company by temporary managers. Temporary managers will not be that much conscious of their commitment or quality of work, as they are least bothered about punishment or losing their job. In some cases, even the unsuitable managers need to be kept in the organization for the stipulated period mentioned in the contract of temporary employment. It is always essential to look into the matters such as the cost of training and development and other related cost involved in the appointment of a permanent manager.
Conclusion
It is important to maintain a skilled and trustworthy permanent HR manager to deal with confidential matters of the company. The HR manager must reduce the risk of losing confidential information, trade secrets, and other important information. It is not at all advisable to handle any matters, which involves security issues, by people outside the organization. It is always essential to keep the secrets of technical know-how of the company to its permanent staff as much as possible. The important matters to be considered while selecting a new permanent manager are the skills and knowledge acquired, and assessing past performance. An organization can choose permanent or temporary employees for its various operations of business activity. It depends on the nature of the job and the urgency of the job fulfillment. But the manager selected for HR must be permanent staff as their duty involves handling a lot of confidential information and deals with outsiders. Appointing an HR manager is essential as HR is a crucial part of the organization. A permanent HR manager in an organization has several advantages. So it is recommended to appoint a permanent manager to fulfill the needs and goals of the company.