On-Line Human Resource Management Experiences
Strategic Recruitment: Finding the Right People for Graphics Design, Inc.
It’s time to start trying to attract potential employees to fill the newly created positions with GDI.
You have many decisions to consider, including which recruiting sources to use, what skill scope
is needed, and what type of message to convey to applicants. You also need to consider the HR
planning process and the fact that the basic HR strategy of GDI is that of Loyal Soldier. What will
be your first recommendation to the GDI management team when you meet with them in the next
several days?
What Action Do You Take?
A.
Focus on finding employees who fit the organizational culture and who will stay a long
time; strive for lots of applicants as no specialized skills are needed; promote from within
when possible; provide realistic job previews.
B.
Focus on finding employees who fit the organizational culture and who will stay a long
time; keep the number of applicants small since loyalty is a key; promote from within
when possible; provide idealistic job previews.
C.
Focus on finding employees who have specialized skill sets and who will stay a long time;
strive for lots of applicants; hire externally as often as possible to avoid taking proven
resources from within promote from within; provide realistic job previews.
Incorrect Responses
B. This answer has some correct components
but the Loyal Soldier strategy would not want to
minimize the number of applicants and would
not provide idealistic job previews.
C. This answer has some correct components
but the Loyal Soldier strategy would not want to
focus on specialized skills sets at the expense
of fitting the organization’s culture and would
not want to hire externally if there are qualified
employees internally who could be promoted.
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On-Line Human Resource Management Experiences
Strategic Recruitment: Finding the Right People for Graphics Design, Inc.
Summary of Steps Taken:
1. GDI should focus on finding employees who fit the organizational culture and who will stay a
long time; strive for lots of applicants as no specialized skills are needed; promote from within
when possible; and provide realistic job previews.
The above features are all in alignment with a basic HR strategy of a Loyal Soldier. This broad
skill scope strategy seeks to recruit people with specialized skills and abilities and aligns with
other cost strategies. Internal recruiting will help form long-term relationships with employees.
Realistic job previews will share both positive and negative information about the organization
and job, thus helping employees develop accurate expectations and subsequently reducing
turnover. Recruiting practices are shown to be more successful when they are aligned with the
organization’s HR strategy.
In terms of the HR planning process, GDI has finished assessing the current employment levels.
The owner asks what they should do next.
What Action Do You Take?
A.
Recommend that GDI next predict employee movement.
B.
Recommend that GDI next begin planning external hiring.
C.
Recommend that GDI next predict future needs.
Incorrect Responses
A. Predicting employee movement is the third
step in the HR planning process. These
predictions are based on the assumption that
past patterns will be repeated in the future.
Historical data is assessed to determine how
many employees in each job category can be
expected to quit or be terminated in the near
future.
B. While very important, planning external
hiring is the fourth and final step in the HR
planning process. It simply can’t come any
sooner in the process as it combines the
information from the first three steps. The
difference between the number of people
needed and the number available is the
estimate of the number of external hires
needed.
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On-Line Human Resource Management Experiences
Strategic Recruitment: Finding the Right People for Graphics Design, Inc.
Summary of Steps Taken:
1. GDI should focus on finding employees who fit the organizational culture and who will stay a
long time; strive for lots of applicants as no specialized skills are needed; promote from within
when possible; and provide realistic job previews.
2. In terms of the HR planning process, GDI has finished assessing the current employment
levels. You recommend that the next step be for them to predict future needs.
The second step in the HR planning process is indeed to predict future needs. This process
begins by assessing environmental trends. One common method for making employment
predictions is to assume that HR needs will match expected trends for goods and services. The
overall goal of the second step is to combine information from the environment with the
organization’s competitive objectives in order to forecast the number of employees needed in
particular jobs.
The GDI management team has completed the planning process and knows it must start the
search for several external employees. Based on Loyal Soldier strategy, which type of person
looking for work do you recommend they target?
What Action Do You Take?
A.
Recommend that GDI focus their searches primarily on people who have been in the
workforce but are currently unemployed.
B.
Recommend that GDI focus their searches primarily on people entering the workforce for
the first time.
C.
Recommend that GDI focus their searches primarily on people employed but seeking a
different job.
Incorrect Responses
A. There is a lot of academic research that
explores the negative attitudes associated with
being unemployed. This includes decreased
physical and mental health, lower life
satisfaction, and increased marital and family
problems. Companies with a Bargain Laborer
strategy who have a constant need for new
employees willing to work for low wages may
benefit from recruiting unemployed people.
C. People who search for alternative jobs
while still employed tend to be intelligent,
agreeable, open to new experiences, and less
prone to worry. A constant need for people
with highly specialized skills makes efforts to
recruit people currently working an important
target for companies with a Free Agent
strategy. Be careful to avoid talent wars
though and remember that the employees
could leave you just as easily.
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On-Line Human Resource Management Experiences
Strategic Recruitment: Finding the Right People for Graphics Design, Inc.
Summary of Steps Taken:
1. GDI should focus on finding employees who fit the organizational culture and who will stay a
long time; strive for lots of applicants as no specialized skills are needed; promote from within
when possible; and provide realistic job previews.
2. In terms of the HR planning process, GDI has finished assessing the current employment
levels. You recommend that the next step be for them to predict future needs.
3. When searching for external employees to fill open positions, recommend that GDI focus
their searches primarily on people entering the workforce for the first time because of its
Loyal Soldier strategy.
Although the Loyal Soldier strategy has a preference for filling open positions from within the
organization, it’s simply not possible to do that with every open job. When they do need to look at
external candidates, GDI should place considerable emphasis on people just graduating from
school and entering the workforce for the first time. Applicants and organizations at this level are
expected to carefully examine the potential fit that is critical for long-term relationships.
Not all open jobs needing external candidates can be filled by new graduates. When GDI needs
to use other common recruiting sources to attract quality candidates, which approaches would
you recommend that will most align with their Loyal Soldier strategy?
What Action Do You Take?
A.
Recommend a combination of print advertising and internal job postings.
B.
Recommend the use of private employment agencies and internal job postings.
C.
Recommend employee referral programs and internal job postings.
Incorrect Responses
A. Internal job postings are obviously correct
for the Loyal Soldier strategy, however,
newspaper advertising works especially well for
the broad recruiting associated with the
Bargain Laborer HR strategy. Advertising in
specialized journals, on the other hand, is most
helpful for companies with a Free Agent
strategy.
B. Internal job postings are obviously correct
for the Loyal Soldier strategy, however, private
employment agencies (search firms) specialize
in being able to recruit people who are
employed but not actively seeking new
positions. Because of their targeted approach,
these agencies can be quite helpful for
organizations pursuing a Free Agent strategy.
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On-Line Human Resource Management Experiences
Strategic Recruitment: Finding the Right People for Graphics Design, Inc.
Summary of Steps Taken:
1. GDI should focus on finding employees who fit the organizational culture and who will stay a
long time; strive for lots of applicants as no specialized skills are needed; promote from within
when possible; and provide realistic job previews.
2. In terms of the HR planning process, GDI has finished assessing the current employment
levels. You recommend that the next step be for them to predict future needs.
3. When searching for external employees to fill open positions, recommend that GDI focus
their searches primarily on people entering the workforce for the first time because of its
Loyal Soldier strategy.
4. Other common recruiting sources you can recommend to GDI to align with their Loyal Soldier
strategy include employee referral programs and internal job postings.
Great work! Internal job postings can be a great source for either the Loyal Soldier or Committed
Expert strategies because of their focus on internal recruiting strategies. A good possibility for
recruiting success from outside the firm is the use of employee referral programs. In fact, a
majority of HR professionals believe that employee referrals are the single most effective method
of recruiting as it is assumed that employees will not refer someone that may make them look bad
to their employer. Referrals can be effective for organizations pursuing any HR strategy, as can
electronic recruiting for that matter. If recruiting efforts do not focus on the right types of
applicants, it is hard for any organization to find success over the long-term. The person you hire
is only as good as the applicants you attract for the open positions. Next up, we will return to
selection practices.
For More Information:_________________________________________________________
A number of Web sites are available for more information on the HR planning process, types of
job seekers, common recruiting sources, and measures of recruiting effectiveness:
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http://www.shrm.org/ - Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) website that
provides information on a variety of HR disciplines.
http://www.workforce.com/section/06/ – Information on a variety of HR functional areas and
employment law topics.
www.hr-guide.com – Information on a variety of HR functional areas and employment law
topics.
www.monster.com – Job search and employer recruiting website.
www.careerbuilder.com – Job search and employer recruiting website.
www.hotjobs.com - Job search and employer recruiting website.
www.recruiting.com – Variety of recruiting resources.
www.recruitersnetwork.com – Variety of recruiting resources.
http://humanresources.about.com/od/recruitingandstaffing/Employee_Planning_Recruiting_S
electing_Staffing_and_Hiring.htm - Recruiting and Selection website.
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