Human Resource Development: Recruitment and Orientation - Case Study Example

 Management refers to the act of operating and managing activities to achieve success in the business. It is a process of getting activities done through people in order to achieve the stated goals and objectives by the manager. It is a systematic process involving planning, organizing, leading and managing the energy of others and using available resource in achieving the company’s goals and objectives. Management is important for the manager as it helps the manager to integrate all the organizational efforts to attainment of success. Planning is an essential element of management for managers. Planning involves the process of making decisions prior on what is to be done, how to do it, as well as when and where is it going to be made. It is based on choice of the course of actions. Planning enables the manager or an individual to select from the available alternatives to achieve expected results. As part of planning, human resource, planning is very necessary. It is a process involving identification of personnel skills, occupational categories, performance and developmental needs of employees in an organization. Human resource planning includes the process of recruitment, selection and orientation of the new employee to the company. Effective planning is essential for managers to ensure success in attaining the desired organizational goals and objectives (Chermack & Swanson, 2008). Background The central problem for the ABC Company is ineffective human resource planning in the recruitment and the indoctrination process. Carl Robins is the organizations new recruiter and it was the first recruitment effort for the company. He had hired 15 new trainees who were to work for the company but before working, they were to be oriented to the activities they were to undertake in their positions. Orientation is a very crucial process of the indoctrination process to improve efficiency and effectiveness and save time and cost for the business. He drew an orientation schedule and planned for, the orientation to be made on 15 June hoping that all his new trainees would be ready to work by July. On May 15, Carl contacted Robins the operations supervisor on the training program, orientation activities, policy booklets, manuals, physicals, drug tests and other issues that robins were to coordinate to promote the recruitment and orientation process. However, Robins assured Carl that everything would be organized and arranged. On the day that the orientation was to be conducted June 15, Robins pulled out his new trainee file to finalize all the paperwork for orientation later in the day. To his surprise, he realized that some of his new trainees did not have their applications complete, some of the transcripts were missing on the files, and none of them had made physical and medical examination. When he searched for the orientation manuals, he realized that only three copies were available with pages and sections missing. Frustrated by the planning and organization, he went to check out for the training room where orientation was to be done. To his shock, he found Joe Williams a technology specialist setting up computer terminals. After reviewing, the schedule logs, he found out the room had been reserved for computer training seminars the entire month for a new database software implementation. Confused he went back to his office not knowing what to do. Robins when contacted by Carl a month before he had told him that all the things were was going to be organized yet the operations supervisor, he was not involved in planning and organization of the entire process thus frustrated on his last day. Organizational problems The organization is faced with a problem of shortage of employees and it wants to recruit new employees for the different positions facing shortages. However, the company is faced with ineffective human resource planning in the recruitment and the indoctrination process. As the organizational new recruiter, Carl Robins conducts his first recruitment effort for the company. He had hired 15 new trainees who were to work for the company but before working, they were to be oriented to the activities. The responsibility for the orientation program and activities lies on the hands of Robins as the operational supervisor. Robins does not take his responsibility and is never involved in the planning of the activities to be involved in orientation. He does not produce enough copies of orientation manuals to be used for the day. He promises Carl that everything was to be in order but still on the last day, some of his new trainees did not have their applications complete, some of the transcripts were lost in the files, and none of them had done a physical and medical examination. He never organized and communicated with Joe Williams on the scheduling and usage of the room for orientation during the day (June 15). There was no information in a company that recruitment and orientation were to take place as no preparations had been made since then (Breaugh, 2000). The recruitment process by the company is poor that even after selecting the new employees, some transcripts and application forms were lost and neither of the employees had been completed a medical examination. Medical examinations are required to determine the fitness of the applicants for the job as to avoid excessive future medical claims and insurance that can translate to losses by the company. It also important to avoid poor attendance records by employees that result to poor performance by employees. There is poor coordination and control between different departments in the company i.e. the training and recruitment department and human resource-planning department (Bryan & Crossman, 2008). Alternative solutions There are several solutions available for solving the problems that the company is facing. The company is facing shortage of employees and it needs to hire and train new employees for the different positions with shortage. To solve its problems in ineffective human resource planning, in the recruitment and the indoctrination process, the company needs to re-organize its human resources department. The company needs to set clear plans and objectives that need to be accomplished during recruitment and indoctrination of new employees. Robins is the cause of the problem that the company is facing, as he was not involved in planning and organizing of the activities. It is necessary to facilitate communication. Robins needs to involve other members in the company in solving his problems. Facilitating information does not mean holding meetings rather than notification of the relevant authority. Robin needs to let Carl know about the current situation. Involving other members is important in listening and brainstorming in determining of how to deal with the situation. The organization utilized a lot of resources, personnel and time in planning for the orientation activities. It is essential for a company to delegate the problem solving tasks for teams in the company (Holm, 2012). However, delegating problem solving to teams will consume much time, resources and effort to come up with the solution. Another alternative solution is rescheduling the orientation program to another day since no preparations have been made. However, this will be inconvenience the trainees as they were already prepared for orientation. Rescheduling will also affect the organizations activities since the organization is already faced with a shortage in the employees. However, the company can conduct the orientation as planned. By looking for another room to conduct the orientation activities and use the manuals that are available. This will be convenient to the company as well as the employees. Afterwards, orientation manuals ought to be produced and provided to the employees to save time and cost as well as help the employees in developing a positive attitude and culture towards activities and the company (Chen, Tian, & Daugherty, 2009). Proposed Solution Recruitment, selection and orientation of employees are paramount for success of any company. The purpose of recruitment is to people to jobs and not jobs to people. Recruitment process aims at obtaining at minimum costs the number and quality employees to satisfy the human resource needs for the company. Orientation is essential to strengthen the company culture, alleviate anxiety to the employees, save time and cost for the business as well as improve efficiency and effectiveness for the company. The company needs to take the recruitment and orientation process seriously. In order to attain a good and positive approach to the business and organization, it is important to reschedule the company program to a later date the following week. To provide adequate time for reorganization, planning and controlling the activities required the best solution is to reschedule the activities to the coming week. The organization, however, needs to establish clear goals and objectives need to be accomplished during recruitment and indoctrination process of new employees. This is the best solution as little money, resources will be wasted and it will only take a few days to conduct a thorough recruitment and orientation process (Covin, Green, & Slevin, 2005). Recommendations Robin’s relationship with Carl will change. As the in charge, Carl will take some measures on robin behavior. Robin needs to take recruitment and orientation programs seriously as they influence greatly on the performance of employees. For the employees to perform adequately they need to know they key roles and responsibilities thus, they are the backbone for effective performance. The company needs to set clear process, goals and objectives of recruitment and orientation process. The problem identified will affect the company’s performance negatively. The activities and productivity of the organizations will be reduced, as the problems will disrupt the organization function. Already the company is facing a shortage of employees. Robin ought to take responsibility for planning and organizing the orientation activities. This is by collecting the missing application forms and transcripts from the employees as well as ensuring that the employees go for medical examination to determine their fitness. Robins need also to organize for the orientation room with Joe Williams. Good communication need to be established between Carl and robins, as well as other departments in the company (Willaert, Van den Bergh, Willems, & Deschoolmeester, 2007). References Breaugh, J. A. (2000). Research on Employee Recruitment: So Many Studies, So Many Remaining Questions. Journal of Management. Bryan, B. A., & Crossman, N. D. (2008). Systematic regional planning for multiple objective natural resource management. Journal of Environmental Management, 88, 1175–1189. Chen, H., Tian, Y., & Daugherty, P. J. (2009). Measuring process orientation. The International Journal of Logistics Management. Chermack, T. J., & Swanson, R. A. (2008). Scenario Planning: Human Resource Development’s Strategic Learning Tool. Advances in Developing Human Resources. Covin, J. G., Green, K. M., & Slevin, D. P. (2005). STRATEGIC PROCESS EFFECTS ON THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION-SALES GROWTH RATE RELATIONSHIP. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings. Holm, A. B. (2012). E-recruitment : Towards an Ubiquitous Recruitment Process and Candidate Relationship Management **. German Journal of Research in Human Resource Management, 26, 241–259. Willaert, P., Van den Bergh, J., Willems, J., & Deschoolmeester, D. (2007). The Process-Oriented Organisation: A Holistic View Developing a Framework for Business Process Orientation Maturity. In Business Process Management: 5th International Conference, BPM 2007, Brisbane, Australia, September 24-28, 2007 Proceedings (pp. 1–15).  Read More