SITUATION - Recruiting Case
As the company grew, it relied predominately on referrals from existing employees and ad hoc recruiting.
Now, however, the pace of growth and acquisitions has outpaced the ability of Midwest Education to rely on these
methods. The HR department has been tasked with developing recruiting plans to hire employees who will prove to
be long-tenured, productive employees – in other words, employees who fit the corporate culture of Midwest and its
various divisions. This task is further complicated by the differing skills, abilities, and output required by each
division. Wilson and his staff have met to discuss the needs of each division in its recruiting efforts.
“Welcome to Kansas City – I know for some of you, August in KC is a sweltering change from the usual.
“We‟ve got a big task ahead of us. By the end of this week I‟d like to have a preliminary recruiting plan for each
division to take to the executive committee meeting scheduled for late next week. Our agenda for today‟s session is
to talk about the requirements of each division and brainstorm how we might target each division‟s recruiting
efforts. I want to emphasize that we will not be abandoning our reliance on hiring referrals from current employees
– in fact, I‟d like us to play with some way of systemizing our referrals and encouraging more. Let‟s go ahead and
get started. Janine [HR director for the Manufacturing Division] can you tell us about our manufacturing needs?”
Janine: “Thanks, Lawrence. I think our staffing and recruiting requirements are pretty basic. We have about 160
positions on the line. These are divided into ten teams with each team focusing on manufacturing and packaging a
specific product. When we hire for these positions, we aren‟t looking for previous experience as much as we are
looking for the ability to work with a group. I rarely actively recruit externally. We really rely on current employee
referrals to fill any empty position. Not only do I tend to get a better employee, but the referring employee will help
ensure that the new employee is successful -- peer pressure can be a great thing!”
“I am starting to see some issues with my hiring of supervisors. We are starting to see more Hispanic immigrants
(legal, of course) on the lines, and I‟d like to reflect that in my front-line supervisors, whether through promotions
or new hires. We know that recruiting for Hispanic persons can be quite different, largely because of the role their
family orientation plays.”
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“One last thing: one of the reasons we don‟t see much turnover in our line people is because of Max. He really sets
the tone in the division and our staff likes working for him. We don‟t differ in our pay or benefits from other places
our employees could work. What makes the difference is the culture at the plant. We really need to emphasize this
in our recruiting efforts and the different activities we pursue.”
“Thanks, Janine,” Wilson said. “Your current situation seems well-in-hand; however, please consider what it would
mean if we were to increase production by 25-40%. Could you handle the staffing requirements through referrals?”
Janine looked very doubtful. “OK. Start thinking about how you might recruit applicants for new positions – both
line and supervisory. Amelia, you‟re up.”
Amelia Chi [head of HR for the Creative Development Division]: “Our situation in Creative differs significantly
from Manufacturing. We strive for innovation, and we need to hire for a combination of creativity and programming
skills. We look for evidence of these in previous projects, types of experience, and training and education. I‟ve got
three big issues: making the right hire, developing the right work environment, and office space.”
“My biggest concern is making the right hire – these folks aren‟t only high salaries, they‟re also expensive to source
and recruit. I need to somehow make sure they have the skills and abilities we need and to make sure they can fit
into our work environment.”
“I also have to make sure that I can keep those creative and programming juices flowing. These aren‟t typical 9-
5ers – they tend to work crazy hours and are demons for sugar, caffeine, and games.
“My final concern is office space. As you know, our division is located in two of the most expensive locales in the
country – Silicon Valley and Massachusetts. I‟d like to explore some telecommuting options as well as job- and
office-sharing arrangements.”
“Finally, I‟d like to explore the possibility of using contract employees. This could be a way for us to provide a
realistic job preview for prospective employees and for us to get to know them before we hire them permanently.”
Wilson turned next to Salvador Vasquez [director of HR for the Transportation, Service and Maintenance division].
“You‟re up, Sal.”
Salvador Vasquez. “Thanks, Lawrence. Our focus in TSM is on cost efficiency – „we ship cheap‟ is our unofficial
motto. We‟ve found that inexperience hurts: we hire people who have warehouse and trucking experience, but we
also need people who can work with automation, as we have automated as much as possible. We tend to get the best
hires for our warehouse positions when we hire a supervisor from another distribution center (whether its a center
like Wal-Mart or Sysco) and the new supervisor brings his or her best people along. “
“What we try to do is to keep processes and working conditions in each of our three branches as similar as possible
– it helps that Mark [Derrick, president of TSM] hires managers for all the branches.”
“As to being ready for an increase of 25-40% of product moved, we already operate at capacity. We‟ll need to hire
more people and increase our investment in capacity.”
Wilson put his pen down and stood and stretched. “Let‟s take a break. We‟ll reconvene in 15 minutes and start
brainstorming.”