A review of the human resource department for the firm operating in the county of Loudoun, VA reveals that the company has complied with local regulations and various laws. However, the company suffers from complicated hiring practices that have made the firm experience negative press, which undermines the brand’s positive name among customers. I was hired to work with the HR department to identify the main problem and come up with solutions that can turn around the negative press reputation.
Problem Identification
After reviewing the HR department, I realized that the manager communicated late to the state and local agencies concerning newly hired individuals, which interfered with the processing of child support. This was easily discussed, and the manager agreed to inform local agencies immediately after hiring, which would give the state at least enough time for logistics. However, the problem associated with experiencing negative publicity complicated concerning negative press for hiring employees with shady past employment records, I had to develop a new hiring practice that would make the company attract responsible employees. Likewise, I realized that there was a problem with several workers’ technical skills, which hindered them from completing their tasks. I looked at the job description and the job review notes and concluded that the firm lacks training activities that would ensure that employees have vital skills for completing their tasks.
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Solutions
The solution seeks to address the recruitment and training function of the HR department to ensure that the firm attracts required talented workers who have the capacity and competence to deliver on organizational goals. The first procedure was to establish the recruitment objectives, which is to fill the open position. In this stage, the HR manager has to determine the type of applications that it wants and identify the levels of education, knowledge, and skills, and values. This is critical in addressing the need to avoid hiring people who have past blemishes in their records. I realized that the firm uses such individuals because they can take lower salaries or wages and advised the HR manager to find new workers and pay them competitive compensation that matches the current market rates. The second step was to develop a recruitment strategy, which seeks to attract new talent within a specific timeline, which includes setting the date when the position must be filled and the desired type of candidates. In this step, the firm must use advertisement strategies that can help in identifying the right people. The firm must communicate the recruitment message to the correct platform and seek for relevant talent.
The third step is carrying out the recruitment activities that involve identifying where to find potential candidates. This can include adverting on electronic media and online, hosting receptions at university campuses, and employing recruitment agencies’ services. The last step is reviewing the recruitment results to find out if the applicants meet the expectations of the firm. The HR manager must assess the records of each candidate to determine their appropriateness of filling the open position. The evaluation also focuses on reviewing the time it takes to hire, the cost of filling the open job positions, retention rates, performance level, and the level of satisfaction with the new workers in reducing negative press against the company.
Ways in which the firm can improve the hiring process are by increasing visibility and the company’s attractiveness to keep new and old workers. After the evaluation, I realized that the firm lost the best workers to competitors who provide better compensation packages and advised the manager to pay the new workers competitive rates in the market. That demands the HR manager to increase the company’s visibility through aggressive advertisement measures to attract more applicants. Likewise, the HR manager has to increase the attractiveness of the company by offering better salaries or wages to increase the rates of retention. That includes reforming the communication platform, providing work-life balance, and a safe working environment.
I identified the performance problems from observing workers performing their tasks, interviewing them, and studying routine reports and performance reviews. I realized that workers who gave the company negative press had a negative review in their work due to lacking critical skills for accomplishing their tasks. Consequently, the performance problems were attributed to the lack of proper training programs. I suggested the following approach as the best for overcoming the persistent mismatch between technical skills and performance. The first step is defining training programs and learning outcomes because every worker exhibits a different need (Holland, 2012). I did need assessment and used the approach of observation of measurable action to determine skill gaps. I advised the HR manager to create and implement training programs, which is the second step in solving the matter. I realized workers required short-term placement in academic institutions to acquire critical skills. Some also would benefit from non-classroom-based interventions that include on-the-job training, coaching, and mentoring programs (Holland, 2012). Likewise, the HR manager must conduct continuous performance improvement reviews to assess the impacts of training in increasing the competency of workers in engaging in their tasks. After achieving competence, I helped the manager in designing a new competitive compensation structure that would use job analysis and evaluation to align salaries to skills. This would motivate workers to work towards delivering organizational objectives knowing that such actions determined their pay.
Conclusion
Implementation of the designed solution during recruitment and training can reduce the issue of negative press that adversely affects the firm. Poor recruitment strategies made the company hire the wrong people who frustrated management and customers. Strategic recruitment will attract and keep only qualified candidates to eliminate unwanted talent. Likewise, training is critical in helping newly selected workers in attaining competence to deliver on their tasks. Proper training programs will align workers to their tasks and make it easier for the firm to achieve its goals.
References
Breaugh, J. A. (2009). SHRM foundation’s effective practice guidelines series: Recruiting and attracting talent. SHRM Foundation . Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/special-reports-and-expert-views/Documents/Recruiting-Attracting-Talent.pdf.
Holland, R. (2012). Designing and implementing training programs. Management Science for Health . Retrieved from https://www.msh.org/sites/msh.org/files/mds3-ch52-training-mar2012.pdf.
