Write the memo by following the instruction

Hiring Recommendation Memo Assignment Description

ENGR 2367 • Herman

ENGR 2367 • Herman

Page 4

Hiring Recommendation Memo Components	Points Per Component
Hiring Processes Recommendation Memo	100 points
Complete Draft of Proposal and Peer Review	25 points
Diversity Reflection Memo	30 points

You have received an email from your boss (attached) asking you to do some preliminary reading, perform additional research, and write a recommendation report for an internal committee. This is your chance to shine with members of the leadership team!

Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to:

· Engage critically with issues of diversity and access in professional situations and workplace environments in the United States;

· Read and synthesize information from various sources;

· Produce clear, concise writing based on an understanding and analysis of source material, using evidence to support your claims effectively;

· Format documents for readability and learn the conventions of writing professional memos

Audience

Your audience is your boss and the managers and decision-makers responsible for creating and implementing hiring processes and policies at your place of work. Consider how you can organize the document and use typography and visual hierarchy to highlight the most important concepts. Consider, too, how you can explain the relationship between the source information and the values and interests of your company and their goals.

General Requirements

· Write a 2-3 page memo, single-spaced, 11 point Calibri/12point Times New Roman (or comparable), 1” margins, left-aligned paragraphs, single space between paragraphs.

· Follow appropriate memo conventions as discussed in class. Refer to pp. 371-374 in TC for additional information. Be sure to include the general headings with a specific, pertinent subject line (“Recommendation Memo” is not a compelling title) and a clear statement of purpose introducing what the memo will discuss or propose.

· Include headings appropriate to a recommendation report (summary, discussion, recommendation) and any additional subheadings necessary to increase your report’s readability. See: OWL Purdue’s discussion of the summary and discussion segments of a memo. Remember that in order to write a coherent summary, you must understand the content of the original sources and be able to identify the main points and evidence for or illustrations of those points. Take careful notes as you read your articles. See pp. 610-613 in TC for help with summarizing.

· Use 1st person (“I recommend…” “we should…”) to clearly and professionally articulate your perspective

· Write well – use specific vocabulary, support your claims with (cited) evidence, be thoughtful in your analysis and discussion.

· Enhance your analysis with at least two additional sources of information

· Clearly cite your sources using APA style citations, including quotations and paraphrased material. See pp. 614-632 in TC. Be sure to include your references at the end of your memo.

· Draft the memo entirely before attending to formatting and editing. The final version should be a well-crafted document. Always double check formatting and proofread documents before turning in for a grade

Instructions for Writing the Recommendation Memo

Step 1: Understand Context and Background

Carefully read the attached email from your boss, including the provided links. You should also review the company’s profile sheet. Take careful notes; create an outline of the main points and key information contained in the articles your boss provided.

Capture any specific quotes or information that stand out in the provided articles. You will need to scan all articles and then narrow your focus to one or two that you want to use in your memo.

Ask yourself, “What is my boss asking me to address? What information do I need in order to successfully respond to this request? What gaps in understanding or questions do I have about diversity? What preconceptions or bias do I have related to this issue?”

Step 2: Find Additional Information & Resources

Once you have developed an understanding of the context for your boss’s request, spend some time searching for answers to those questions or additional information that will help you form your recommendation.

HINT: If the articles provided by your boss cite other sources, start there. Take notes and keep track of your sources as you go along. Your goal is to find two additional sources of information to enhance your understanding of the issue and develop and deepen your own analysis. You will want these sources to be compelling and persuasive for your audience.

Step 3: Draft the Memo

Now, draft your recommendation report in the form of a memo as directed by your boss. Consider this a freestanding report. Remember to carefully support your recommendations based on your research from Step 2.

As you write, also think about employing writing strategies that support the purpose. You want the information to be easily accessible for your reader, easy to understand the first time through, and engaging. Use the following formatting elements (as appropriate) to assist:

· Bulleted lists

· Short paragraphs (7-10 lines max)

· Clear, engaging topic sentences and transition statements

· Meaningful title and headings

NOTE: There is more than one right way to approach this assignment. Based on your interests and the focus of your investigation, you might end up with very different recommendations than your classmates – that is okay.

Your goal is to produce a concise set of ideas for ways to transform hiring practices, given what you know about the boss’s goals and the company’s situation.

From: Your Boss [email protected]

Date: Friday, September 1, 2017 at 1:23pm

To: You [email protected]

Subject: Hiring Practices Recommendation Requested

Hello,

As you heard in the annual meeting last week, we are poised for growth across all divisions in the next 18-24 months. Our aim is to increase our number of employees by about 150% so we can better support our clients’ needs and take advantage of some key opportunities. As a result, our hiring practices are an area of focus and concerns that require scrutiny and re-evaluation. The newly formed Leadership in Hiring Committee is asking you to take the lead on conducting a preliminary investigation on best practices for hiring and recruitment to ensure that we are establishing processes that will make our company competitive during this growth phase and beyond.

Since we have grown rapidly from a small start-up over the past 3 years, our hiring practice have been based on filling immediate needs, which means that we have often found and hired new employees through the connections and recommendations of current employees. Our core team is strong but this habit has limited the diversity of our pool of potential employees, and I think we can all notice that many of our teams are homogenous.

The lack of diversity (in the many sense of the word) is not unique to our company; it is something most tech companies struggle with. However, the homogeneity is a risk not only for the industry but specifically for our company, and we need to do more than simply talk about diversity. We risk missing out on new ideas and innovation, and we risk losing opportunities with our current and new clients if we don’t better reflect the diversity in our community and industry. It has been consistently shown that a diverse workforce is more innovative and adaptable, and diversity tends to breed better decision-making. Our task now is to establish a proactive and progressive hiring process that will help us achieve our goals.

Please research this issue and make an initial recommendation for some core policies and practices relating to recruitment and evaluating candidates that we might adopt, from reviewing applications through the interview process. You should take some time to explore options, innovations, and industry best practices, keeping in mind that we are trying to achieve the following:

· Build a diverse workforce in terms of basic demographics, but also allow for diversity of expertise and skillsets, including issues of disability and invisible differences. We want out team to be reflective of the diversity in our community and better match the profile of the talent pipeline, and we want to actively combat the impact of unconscious biases (including biases that seep into our technology) on our decision-making. The National Science Foundation is just one of the organizations committed to this issue, recently awarding a grant to address bias in computer programs.

· Be competitive and forward thinking in our recruiting practices to attract the best talent and create an environment ripe for innovation. As part of this, we want our hiring and recruiting practices to have a positive impact on the diversity of the talent pipeline itself as we plan for the future.

· Establish our reputation in the industry and community as a positive and inclusive workplace. Our teams should be made of up of the best talent. We want to create an environment that is inclusive and welcoming, where individuals can do their best work and they want to do their best work.

We do not intend for this examination of our hiring practices to be superficial or one-dimensional. There are serious dangers in using “diversity” as an empty buzzword or marketing ploy. One way to ensure our focus on diversity has the intended impact of improving our company is to have conversations about ways to promote inclusivity in our company culture and reduce the role of unintended bias in our decision-making. However, turning the focus to our hiring process is a critical first step.

Plan to submit your recommendations as memo to the Leadership in Hiring Committee. We may schedule a follow-up meeting to discuss your findings, but the memo should stand alone to thoroughly explain and support the reasoning behind your recommendations. The company fact sheet is attached and I have linked several articles throughout this email that I have found useful. I expect that you will easily find more, as this is a much-talked-about topic in recent years.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this important matter. Let me or members of the Leadership Team know if you have any questions.

Regards,

Your Boss

iNOVA

where innovative tech meets social responsibility

2359 Executive Parkway

Columbus, Ohio 43215

Mission: iNova is a local company invested in the continued growth of our Columbus, Ohio community.

We strive to be a global leader in bridging the gap between humanitarian ideas and the tech designs

necessary to make those ideas a reality.

Founded: 2013

Employees: 103

Employees by Job Title

Executive Leadership 3

Leadership/Management 10

Technical 50

Administrative/Support 14

Marketing/Customer Service 26

Ethnicity

Number of Employees

Employee Ethnicity Demographics