Means of Hiring and Testing New Employees: Red Construction Company - Case Study Example

MEANS OF HIRING AND TESTING NEW EMPLOYEES Contents Contents 2 Letter ization 3 Letter of transmittal 4 Executive Summary 5 Introduction 7 Findings 7 Testing of shortlisted employees 8 Conclusion and recommendation 10 Letter of authorization Stewart Moyle Manning Construction Company Los Angeles, CA 54701 February 13th 2014 Xxxxx Rock Construction Company Los Angeles, CA 54600 To whom it may concern, I, Stewart Moyle, Manager HR department, authorize xxxxx to access information in our department data base about hiring and testing of employees which is part of his research on the same. This is to be done the help of any freely available records officer assigned to him. Any assistance given to him will be highly appreciated by the Rock Construction Company. This authorization shall remain valid from today to the 23rd of February 2014. Thank you for your assistance in this matter. Sincerely, Stewart Moyle Letter of transmittal Dear Miss Howard, The Manager, HR Department, ROCK CONSTRUCTION COMPANY Enclosed, find the report on the findings of the research you commissioned on the 3rd of March 2014 on the different ways of hiring and testing new employees at the company, as successfully applied in other construction companies. The major findings of the research are: Hiring: Clearly defining what we’re looking for. Creating a competition of competencies amongst candidates. Broadening the horizons for qualifications. Talking to the candidates each in person. Ensuring the candidates really want the job. Looking for interest, not just perfect qualifications. Looking much into personal characters that are clearly brought out. Testing: Assigning internal projects to new employees. Setting clear benchmarks for success Instituting a probationary Period Hiring employees on a short-term first. Hiring potential employees as interns first. Setting up project competitions for new employees. Instituting incentives for certain small things well done. It will not be right if I fail to acknowledge the HR manager at Manning Construction Company, Mr. Stewart, who did much in helping me with part of the information herein given. I am also grateful for the opportunity given to me to conduct this research at a very early time in my employment career. It has helped me much in widening my skills of employee analysis during hiring. All due regards, xxxxxxx. Executive Summary Very wrong employee behavior trends have been arising at the Rock Construction Company triggering the management to commission for a research that would go a broad way to explain the possible reasons for these tendencies and to provide solutions for these problems too. The research was done through studying employee acquisition methods at the company and at the Manning Construction company to compare the two so as to identify successful operational methods applied at Manning that could also be successful at the company (Arthur 134). The findings have been highlighted herein. It was found that through clearly defining the kind of employee that the company was interested in, the process of acquiring employees would be made easier since only suiting employees would employ thus making the employing body’s work very easy. It was also indicated that employers should look for more than papers in seeking worthy employees. It was proven that there’s more in capabilities than what’s indicated in papers. Competition amongst candidates was also cited as a con in the process if positive. It was identified that it helps bring out different creativities that exist amongst the workers seeking an employment (Jackson, Schuler, Werner and Jackson 113). Talking to the candidates each in person was found out to be a way through which the management was able to learn more about its prospective employees. The employers should also ensure that they are dealing with a lot that really wants the jobs in question. It should take more interest than qualification for an employee to earn employment in the company. After prospective candidates have been shortlisted, it will be necessary for the company to put them into a test to prove that they are worth working at the company over a long period of time. The company could do so through methods which have been observed to be successful in other construction companies that are known to be having very effective HR departments. These methods could include assigning internal projects to the new employees to see how they’ll handle them. It would also be relevant to set very clear benchmarks for success and instituting a probationary period. Hiring employees on a short term basis and employing former successful interns has proven to be another successful way of hiring employees. Setting up competitions for the prospects and giving incentives for small things well done also helps in indicating the suitability of employees at the company. It is the company’s wish that employee acquisition will be a highly professional and successful process in the near future. It is therefore my recommendation that some of these findings could be implemented at the company so as to assess their possibilities of helping the company get where it wishes. Introduction It has been observed and reported that Red Construction Company has been experiencing problems that are employee related. This has been attributed to the employees employed and the employment process used. The management realized that this could be a possible problem and requested for a research on the possible problems and solutions so as to ensure the problem does not come up again in the near future. The findings of the report are herein discussed. Findings It has been found out that in the past; at times the company’s advertisements on expected qualifications were very ambiguous. That made it very difficult for the interviewing panel to assess the applicants as very many applications were found. Many applicants applied for the positions advertised without knowledge of what was really wanted. In view to that, the department is advised to outline clear qualifications for expected applicants so that those who show up have the right qualifications expected of them. That will go a long way in hastening the process of recruitment and lowering the massive number of applicants to a manageable figure. It is always in order to check references for information issued by candidates in their qualification documents to ensure correctness of all of them. This will ensure the company does not employ fakes in important job positions. Prior to hiring of employees, it would be very good for the company to ensure an environment of positive competition amongst the applicants is created so as to see how all of them will deal with that condition. Furthermore, it will also ensure that only those with very positive curriculum vitae will feel comfortable applying for the positions indicated. The competition, maybe on design of concrete structures, may go a long way in bringing out abilities of prospects that were not very clear from the papers they issued. During the actual interviewing process, it would be very unfortunate if the panel thrives much on the degrees, resumes, internships and experience only. There are so many qualifications and negative attributes of employees that may not be indicated through all of these (Magoon and. De 123). For example, an candidate with zero working experience may end up being better than a candidate with a working experience of over ten years. It is all about passion, interests and willingness to learn. The levels of degrees acquired in college by the candidates are also not a correct criterion in gauging their capabilities. There are so many abilities that employees may exhibit if given the chance to. If the employing authority takes time to talk to the candidates each in person, a wider view of the candidates’ inner personalities and hidden capabilities will be opened up to him/her. There are candidates who may not be confident enough to express themselves clearly before a panel and the company may end up letting go of very important expertise. When looking for prospective employees, it should also be ensured that the candidates have the interest for the job. That they really want the work offered. It should not be based only on the qualifications as the company may end up employing a genius whose interest is not in the company at all. Testing of shortlisted employees When the employing body has identified the employees that it feel are qualified for the job categories advertised for, it should follow that these employees undergo a quarantined period of time in which their integration levels into the company will be tested. The shortlisted candidates should thus be put into test using criterions such as those discussed herein. The shortlisted candidates could be given projects that are relevant to the company’s functionality in their areas of specialization as the management watches to see how they’ll cope with the situation. The outcomes of the projects are used to assess the abilities of the candidates to perform in controlled new environments. Trial periods are great as they give both the employer and the candidate chance to review whatever they want. The department should therefore, at this time, make it very clear to the candidates to what levels success is expected of them. It is at this level that candidate will understand that, if employed, certain aspects of his work will be used in assessing their work. The department could go on to clear the ambiguity of how successes are rewarded at the company. This will bring a very clear picture of the company, in terms of HR, to the candidates (Hochel and Wilson 98). Hiring employees on a short term basis first before deciding whether it would be okay to have them around for a long time is definitely a great idea for the company. During this short period, the company would have been able to identify if keeping the employee would be necessary. The time will make it possible for the employee to exhibit the habits that they did not want displayed. Another possible way is start up with interns who spend a given period of time at the company that will be enough to be able to study them and know if they will be able to work on a long term basis at the company (Podmoroff 112). Engineering and interior design interns spending most of their time at the company will exhibit characteristics that will help the department in determining their suitability as permanent employees of the company. Shortlisted candidates could be put into a test to measure their abilities that were not displayed in their papers. The company could come up with a common problem that requires solution and see how all the candidates will work for a solution. The best solution could be rewarded to see how the candidate and the others will react to it. Conclusion and recommendation The methods herein discussed have been found to be successful in other companies such as the Manning Construction Company. These procedures are however, subject to failure if they are not followed diligently and strictly. I recommend that a lot of discipline is put into the process as it affects the overall performance of the company. The management of Rock Construction Company should ensure that all employees acquired by the company are highly qualified and with success stories. It is also recommended that performance contracts are signed by both the employees and the employing body as soon as the employment has been approved. References Arthur, Diane. Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting & Orienting New Employees. New York: American Management Association, 2012. Print. Hochel, Sandra, and Charmaine E. Wilson.Hiring Right: Conducting Successful Searches in Higher Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2007. Print. Jackson, Susan E, Randall S. Schuler, Steve Werner, and Susan E. Jackson.Managing Human Resources. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. Magoon, Linda M, and St A. D. De.50 Plus One Tips When Hiring & Firing Employees. Chicago, Ill: Encouragement Press, 2007. Print. Podmoroff, Dianna. How to Hire, Train & Keep the Best Employees for Your Small Business. Ocala, Fla: Atlantic Pub. Group, 2005. Print. Read More