Training at MRM Recruitment Consultants - Essay Example

Training at MRM Recruitment Consultants Abstract Organizations are vying with each other to take a leaf out of Michael Porters’ ideology, the competitive advantage. (Porter,1990:30). After the revolution in manufacturing, we are faced with the typhoon of Information Technology. It’s considered absolutely necessary to know, not only your product/service, but also your consumer, his preferences and interests. Information required to run a business in the 21st century has reached explosive proportions. It’s a matter of survival to develop better systems for the management and use of information. The use of electronic devices (telephones, fax, computers) started early to play a major role on how the data was to be retrieved and sent. However, now what is required is finding new ways of filing and storing data, of processing it and making informed decisions based on it. Electronic data management largely facilitates all this. Organizations that turn to EDM have to strategically plan for it, especially the training needs of the staff, as the systems may be efficient, but it’s the employees who’ll be operating them. It’s important to chart out the training needs, tools and scope, while always keeping the organization culture1 in mind so that the staff is slowly inducted into the new technology. (Clarke, S. 2001). Taking the case of a recruitment organization, The MRM Recruitment Consultants3, the scope of EDM can be studied, and a program for value-addition to the existing chain of processes identified. All this has to be complimented by using a strategic approach to the training of the employees so that when the firm is ready to switch over to the electronic mode, the personnel is well adjusted and enthusiastic. This paper makes a case of the potential use of EDM in a small firm, and tries to elaborate how electronic management of data can result in quicker and efficient operations, and hence will bring prosperity to the business even if some initial investments are to be made. Electronic Data Management Using a Strategic Approach to Training at MRM Recruitment Consultants Introduction To EDM and Importance Of Strategic Approach to Training Since times immemorial, businesses have been striving to better manage their processes, to become more efficient, and to reach out more to their customers. The latter part of the last century saw a many-fold increase in the data and information generated during the course of business. Managing information sources, so as to make deliberate and rational decisions, is now a matter of competition. Today, only those businesses survive who are able to manage data on their products, markets and customers, better than their competitors. The burgeoning data generation (a typical 40 employees media company deals with about 500 reports for the middle management’s consideration per week) and the management’s need to be well informed can only be managed using the help of Information Technology. From the inclusion of phones, faxes and the net to the use of EDI, and live-time transactions, the information is now increasingly being managed using electronic devices and information technology. (Robbins, P. S. 1999). However, the way business is being run now, it is impossible to even envision a completely paperless office. The fact is that today, and in the near future, we are going to be balancing the physical and the virtual data bases, and therefore its best that we understand both the management of electronic data (managing online resources, maintaining virtual databases), as well as the electronic management of data (how to organize, file and store data electronically). The past decade has seen more and more enterprises going the IT way: Manufacturing organizations adopting CAD/CAM, ERP; Financial Services using Risk Assessment Modules and DSS for making informed decisions on investments and market health; Legal Services2 going online with consultancy and assistance provided through online live; retail business selling their wares online; Universities carrying out e-learning through programs like Blackboard; and Banks starting e-banking options. Whatever the organization, it is imperative that when it adopts to go the electronic way, it requires to get its systems in place. Not only the staff and workers are to be given training and support for the new way the operations are to be carried out, the customers too are to be educated for the same. The use of new technology also demands that the management does a thorough analysis of the scope, and the importance and penetration of IT as specifically required by the organization. Once the above points are clear, a search for the system tools, vendors, and implementation service providers is undertaken. (John, D. 1975). Once the hardware and software requirements have been determined and the architecture developed, comes the most crucial phase – the training of the end users. There are several issues that complicate this seemingly simple training process. Glaring among them is the very actual fear of downsizing and losing loss of jobs. This impedes the workers in keeping an open mind to the change; they fear becoming redundant. Also, it’s always not very easy for people to adapt to new ways of doing things that, according to them, have been done quite well without the new tech. It becomes essential that even before concrete plans are made for going the electronic way, people be sold to the idea that it is going to work out the best for them. In addition to this, a full fledged and systematic training program should be executed to initiate the staff into the new technology. (Bloor, D, 1983) Since, a repertoire of the data and its description and classification are to be evaluated and then the module transferred to the electronic mode, a thorough analysis of the existing data resources, retrieval requirements and filing methods has to be made. The organization also has to decide which parts of its functions it wants to manage electronically. Secondly, it also has to look forward into the future; what prospective functions could be added with time so that the software and systems could be set in place right now to take advantage of the economies of scale. The Organization: MRM Recruitment Consultants MRM Recruitment Consultants are the leading consultants specializing in the Retail Sector: Fashion, Hospitality and Catering, Food, Electrical and DIYand other Multi-Product organizations. They typically help in placement to the posts like Deputy/Assistan Manager, Department Manager, General Manager, Area Manager, Regional Manager and Operations Manager. MRM has offices nationwide, but it deals with the local job-market at each location. A typical office of the organization has around 30 employees, which include resource managers, administrators, telemarketing agents, field personnel, customer-care executives, and managers. MRM prides in being able to rope in the best available talent and to bring the recruiters and the prospects together. The firm has been regularly advertising through the local media, newspapers, cable TV etc. They also send their marketing agents to the schools and colleges to disburse pamphlets and brochures. A job seeker can get registered through filling a form, and placing his resume with one of the consultants. This way, MRM collects and compiles a database of prospective candidates. MRM administrators go through these applications and file the resumes according to the market sector, cross-referencing it with the experience, and expected emoluments. The Marketing Manager at this organization is in charge of analyzing the job-market and maintaining contact with the recruiters. For this purpose, a task-force of 3 executives is available to make field trips, dropping at the offices of business houses, corporates and even retail business owners. 2 tele-marketing personnel, whose job is to find leads for them, back these field agents. Once an interview is fixed with the recruiter, he is requested to register, through an application form detailing the job specifications and description of the desired candidate. The most difficult part comes the next. The resource managers are tasked with the job of matching the profile of the candidate with the requirements of the recruiter. This involves using an immense amount of paperwork, as loads of files have to be moved and referenced before a seeming match is detected. Once this is done, MRM arranges a meeting between the two parties (recruiter and the job-seeker), but not before MRM customer care agents have been through a personnel interview with the candidate. If the candidate gets the job, MRM earns its fees as a commission, a percentage of the first month salary. The Situation Currently the organization is using the ana-blog system of operations – totally paper dependent. They use thousands of registers, files, cabinets, lockers, all amounting to their stationery bills overflowing the banks. But that is not their main problem, it’s the complexity of the task involving following a paper trail that almost makes the personal lament with frustration. This leads to loss of time and hence business, loss of important data, overworked employees, and an office that is full of clutter. The situation can be vividly imagined if we follow the typical operations of the organization in a sequential manner. Breaking down its process in four distinct steps, it can be seen that MRM is involved in: 1. Getting the job seekers to register with itself 2. Getting the Recruiters to enroll 3. Preparing a data base of the above two, matching the requirements, and arranging for the meeting/interviews 4. Closing the account and collecting commissions The above operations involve almost 30 people, and take an average of 20 days (matching the profile with the job). The task of getting the candidates and the users to register requires field and telemarketing efforts, and results in the generation of daily reports by the above two classes of employees. These reports are passed over to the Marketing Manger, who then transfers them, along with the resumes and personal details, to the administrative department. The admin assigns the task of talking to the candidates (and releases the above reports, data, resumes etc.) to the customer-care agents. As can be seen from the above, the trail of data is quite lengthy, involving as many as 3 to 5 different people to receive and forward it. Secondly, once the data is taken over by MRM, the difficult task of compiling it in a comprehensive manner remains. The personal details of each candidate are filed, and kept in folders indexed with the business sector to which he wants to apply. This leads to a broad classification, as the candidate might miss out in being selected according to some other criteria, skills, experience etc. So, the present system is handicapped as far as more intelligent search/match is desired. Also there are retrieval problems, like when a recruiter requires very specific set of skills or training, it becomes difficult for the administrators to narrow down to the candidate exactly, or at least the best matching, candidate. Finally, MRM also maintains a database of the recruiters, all manually, through filling system based on industry and time framework specified by them. This again requires tedious documentation, physical storage and retrieval problems. Also, MRM’s different branches do not share their databases due to physical transfer inhibitions, and hence there are no economies of scale to be harnessed. Using EDM and Strategic Training Approach at MRM At MRM, there is tremendous scope of using Electronic Data Management, to not only to improve the efficiency of the processes, but also to enjoy a greater penetration in the market and hence more business. The potential benefits are numerous provided the implementation of the EDM is done through proper planning and a strategic approach is maintained towards the training of the staff. The foremost requirement is to make a blueprint of the existing operations, to trace what is done by whom, and to find out what processes can be converted to electronic mode. Simultaneously, it is mandatory that at each step, the potential training areas are identified, and preparations made for adequate training. Next, it is required that MRM put its systems in place. They should introduce PCs connected through the LAN for their employees. Adequate office automation software including a central database management tool like DB2 database on Pentium 4 dual OS should be used. Services of a vendor should be used to deliver the systems, implement the project and train the employees. Before the actual training could commence, a Training Need Analysis is called for. (Training Strategy, NPIFT- London Cluster. 2005). Individuals and their different training needs should be identified, so that MRM can carry forward a targeted approach to training. This is required because those who are involved in the collection of the data will require different skills from those who are doing back-end operations like searching for a candidate-job match from the available database. MRMs field executives come back with leads, targets and prospective candidates’ personal data. This, they hand over to the administration in a physical form. Instead, their inputs can be submitted in the form of a soft copy, and more precisely, in the form a filled questionnaire with fields like the candidate’s name, age, experience, key skills, present and expected emoluments, and other personal details (academic, and work experience, certificates etc.) This has to be submitted through data entry directly into computers. For this, the field executives would be required to undergo training in basic keyboard skills so that they are able to make error-free submissions. In addition to this, the telemarketing agents and those targeting the recruiters can follow the same procedure – direct entry into the computers. All the collected information has to be fed into the central database, and made available to all those who are concerned with the handling of this data. The administrators, who first go through the record of the candidates should be well-equipped to deal with the electronic information. While compiling the data on the local server, it is extremely important that Taxonomy (working set of definitions of words used; eg. the field, key-skills, should fall among any of the predetermined concepts like communication, technical, mechanical skills, and not good at sports, music et.) should not only be specified, but also followed religiously. Metadata (information about a particular data set which describes how, when, and by whom it was received, created, accessed, and/or modified and how it is formatted) should be carefully crafted as it is essential for understanding the information stored. Similarly Controlled Vocabulary (a set of official descriptors assigned to a particular entry in a database, illustrating the relationship between synonyms and preferred usage terms) should be intelligent as using controlled vocabulary to search provides more focused results. Controlled vocabulary terms are used for categorizing content, building labeling systems, and creating style guides and database schema. Hence, these are relevant for data Retrieval (the ability of a database management system to get back from computer memory records that were stored there previously.) The administrators are required to be well aware about the above terminology and should be able to use it in order to search through the database. They also need training in DBMS, along with a general course on IT. The customer-care agents, as well as the managerial staff will be required to learn general computing skills and some networking fundamentals. For these varying needs it becomes useful to start with in-house classes, where basic training can be given in the use of computers, and a general framework studied about the database and how the system is supposed to work. Advance training in DBMS can be given to some of the employees who are basically charged with the handling of the internal data and reports. This will facilitate in easy transfer of understanding from the physical to the electronic, as these personnel are already intimately dealing with the documents. In addition to the above training requirements, the managerial staff has to learn to plan, moderate and control the working of the organization using electronic tools. They need to convert all the employees’ personal data, salary details, and appraisals online. For this, they need to be trained in specific performance appraisal tools available, as well as develop knowledge about the planning and controlling methods that can be applied through the computers. Once the Training Need Analysis is done, a comprehensive program has to be enacted. A suitable Learning Management System can be selected to carry out the strategy-based training of the employees. Care should also be taken so that at least 2 employees are given training in Networking and Systems, so that they can take over as the System Administrators once the implementation service providers have left. Even before the training starts, and throughout the training, it is necessary that the employees should understand why it is important for the organization, as well as for them, to upgrade to the EDM. They should be adequately prepared, not only physically but also mentally, to get accustomed to the newer method of operations. Senior employees are more prone to be inhibited by the use of technology, and hence they should be specifically targeted for counseling. It is better to take a change management approach to the training and implementation project. Employees should be made to see that with the EDM, they are going to be the end-beneficiaries: increased efficiency, decreased clutter, and ease of access to the vast database from a single point. The customers, who are basically the recruiters, also need to be educated on how they can send their information electronically. If MRM expands the EDM to include a website, it can help the recruiters as well as the candidates to register, and submit their requirements without the trouble of coming physically to MRM. However, for this to materialize, MRM would need the services of web-developers and web-hosting service-providers. It might also need to spend considerable amount on making the site secure, as it’s internal server will become vulnerable. Once the site is operated, MRM’s external links (to the recruiters, candidates, and the field agents) will be speeded up. The field force will be able to submit its data online from anywhere, and the customers will be able to check the status of their applications from their homes. Again, MRM will require trained personnel for monitoring the inflow of the online data, and responding to the queries in a comprehensive manner. Value Addition With EDM There are several potential immediate and long-term benefits to be derived from the use of EDM, as contrasted with the original paper-culture of the organization. As can be seen from the following, there are several strong-points in favor of EDM as opposed to the managing of physical documents manually: 1. Using electronic data management, MRM employees are able to process the applications much faster and more efficiently that before. 2. It solves the storage and retrieval problem. Dealing in paper work required appropriate measures to protect the documents from physical harm, and their longevity was not assured. 3. There was a massive storage problem using the numerous files, registers and references. EDM solves that, as even the back-ups can be stored in minimum space (CDs and floppys). 4. Using the physical and manual mode of operations, it was extremely cumbersome to search for the relevant documents. With EDM, the search becomes just too easy – the employee is required to enter the keywords and viola! He gets what he wants displayed on his screen. He no longer needs to consult his colleagues or jog his own memory. EDM does the work for him. 5. The mobility of the data increases many-folds. Instead of files hopping from one desk to other, everything is on the server and almost everyone who is authorized, can use it sitting at his own corner. 6. Access to the information can be restricted, using passwords and authorization codes – thus ensuring the integrity of the data. This is almost impossible with the physical documents – unless MRM keeps everything under lock and key and thus needs a fulltime worker to guard it. 7. EDM will result in time saved, as physical tracing of the documents will not be required. Instead, what is needed can be had with a click of the mouse. 8. It will increase the efficiency of data collection, compilation and reference. 9. It will result in better customer relations as the recruiters and candidates will feel the increased pace of process, and will be happy to be serviced better. However, to reap the above benefits, it is required that individuals at all levels should be appropriately trained, and also that the systems are managed to preserve the integrity of the database. The need of an efficient System’s Administrator cannot be stressed less; MRM can not survive a system breakdown which results in loss of database. As such, it is evident that a strategic, well thought out approach should be applied to the implementation of EDM and the training of the employees. Conclusion MRM Recruiter’s can take advantage of EDM to increase their productivity, enhance employee performance, and give better service to their customers. What is needed is a well chalked out training program, so that the training could be role-oriented – who needs training in what. Once this is identified, using appropriate LMS, specific and targeted training can be meted out to the employees. This way, the staff will acquire the skills to run the EDM simultaneously as the systems are being introduced in the organization. With the proper implementation of the training program and change management, MRM will be all set to expand its market share based upon the value-addition that will result due to EDM. Footnotes 1. See Robbins P S. (1999). Organizational Change and Stress Management, in Organizational Behavior. India: Pretince-Hall of India Ltd: 625-664 2. See www.ernie.ey.com established by Earnest & Young. 1998. 3. MRM Recruitment Consultants is a hypothetical organization. Reference List 1. Porter, M. E. (1990). The competitive Advantage of Nations, London: Macmillan. 2. John, D. (1975). Business in the Age of Information. Harvard Business Review. 3. Clarke, S.(2001). Information Systems Strategic Mangement, NY: Routledge. 4. Robbins, P. S. (1999). Organizational Change and Stress Management, in Organizational Behavior. India: Pretince-Hall of India Ltd 5. Bloor, D. A Social Theory Of Knowledge. (1983). ISBN 033300165. 6.Training Strategy, NPIFT- London Cluster. 2005. 7. 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