HR Management Assignment

Recruitment and Retention Plan

MBA 533

January 25, 2015

Recruitment and Retention Plan

Given the increase in product demand, I would need to hire a number of employees in different functional areas. Since the emphasis of Motors and More is on innovation, growth and product development, the areas that will require a huge number of new employees include marketing and sales, manufacturing, operations, customer relations and HR. In order to meet the 96% output requirement, there will be need for hiring an additional five employees in the manufacturing and operations departments. Because of high automation in the company, this number of employees will be enough in streamlining operations. The employees in the manufacturing and operations departments will be responsible for new product developments and making modifications to guarantee production efficiencies (Arthur, 2004).

There will also be the need for increasing the sales and marketing personnel by 25%, which will involve hiring an additional 6 employees to cater for the needs of the expanding market. Employees in all the departments will come from different demographic backgrounds. Motors and More will also hire two additional customer service representatives. The primary function of these representatives will be responding to and resolving customer queries. Lastly, the HR department will require four additional employees responsible for formulating policies and procedures, conducting employee appraisals and formulating training programs.

The turnover rate at Motors and More has currently been higher than normal. This might be due to a variety of reasons. First, the high turnover rate might stem for unfair promotion practices in the company. Even though approximately 48% of Motors and More employees are minorities, the senior and supervisory positions are primarily held by Caucasian men. This lack of inclusivity might be demoralizing some employees and make them feel detached from the company. According to Truss, Mankin, & Kelliher (2012) lack of inclusivity can lead to high turnover rates. Furthermore, the company might not have proper reward structures for compensating the employees. Failure to provide necessary incentives can reduce job satisfaction and increase the turnover rates.

Lack of flexible working arrangements is another factor that might be contributing to increased turnover in Motors and More. Employees might feel overburdened due to the high expectations to meet consumer demands, a factor that might decrease their commitment at work (Arthur, 2004). The absence of a functional HR Department also implies that the company has deficient training programs. This can also increase turnover rates. It is worth noting that turnover can have negative costs and implications for the organization. Monetary costs might stem from advertisements to fill vacant positions, induction of new employees and leaver administration costs. Some other costs of turnover might include reductions in productivity, interruptions to workflows and a drop of staff morale (Truss et al., 2012).

In order to recruit the appropriate candidates at Motors and More, I will conduct various types of interviews. One will be a personal interview with the prospective employees at a private office. There are various benefits of this type of interview. Mathis, Jackson, & Valentine (2013) assert that personal interviews endow both parties with an opportunity to seek further clarification. It also provides firsthand information, which might be more accurate and reliable. Furthermore, the face-to-face interview provides an opportunity to read from the nonverbal behaviors of the interviewee. According to Arthur, (2004), nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, gesture and posture can help to unravel the personality of an interviewee. The other interview technique that I will employ is phone interviews. This will entail calling the prospective candidates and asking them the interview questions. Some of the reasons that I will use this technique include geographical distance of some applicants, cost effectiveness and its usefulness in screening potential employees.

In order to recruit the appropriate applicants, it will be crucial to come up with some ingenious strategies. A major strategy will be through employee referrals. This will involve encouraging employees to recommend potential candidates from their existing professional and social networks. Since the employees have a better understanding of the skills and abilities of the recommended candidate, they are more likely to refer qualified people. Employee referrals are also efficient and cost effective ways of making quality hires (Truss et al., 2012). Nevertheless, this could also open up some avenues for discrimination. For example, since many of the senior executives are Caucasian men, they may tend to favor referrals for white males.

Apart from employee referrals, other recruitment strategies will be mainly internal. Motors and More will advertise the job openings through electronic and physical job postings as well as in organizational memos and newsletters. Furthermore, the company will publicize vacancies in internet job boards and local periodicals. Motors and More will also utilize audio and visual media sources aimed at encouraging walk-in applicants. These strategies are also cost efficient and reach a wider target base (Mathis et al., 2013). Representatives from the HRM department will conduct the interviews and select the candidates with the best match for the vacant position. Some of the main aspects that the interviewers will be looking for in the applicants include level of education, skills, communication capabilities, wok experience and special factors such as willingness to travel or willingness to work under minimal supervision.

In order to retain the current employees at Motors and More, it will be vital to initiate various measures. The first measure will be introducing vibrant training and career development programs at the organization (Arthur, 2004). The training will focus on various topics including multicultural awareness, conflict resolution skills, communication skills and the regulatory framework governing the automobile industry. In addition, the training will equip Motors and More employees with the necessary skills and competencies required to perform their duties optimally. As Truss et al. (2012) vividly point out, the training and career development programs are important because they empower employees to build on their strengths and increase their chances for promotion in the organization. The programs can also lead to increased employee motivation and commitment to the organization.

Another applicable measure for retaining current employees will be providing incentives, which can take the form of nonmonetary or monetary compensation (Arthur, 2004). Increasing basic wages, offering health coverage and providing paid vacations can help to increase contentment among employees from Motors and More, which can lead to higher retention rates. Providing flexible working hours and better working conditions will also be essential for improving retention rates at the organization. It is worth noting that in order to ensure the success of the retention strategies; the senior management should play a central role. According to Mathis et al. (2013), senior executives should be responsible for communicating the vision and mission of the company to employees, providing appropriate mentorship and coaching, serving as role models and ensuring proper allocation of resources towards the initiatives. The participation of the senior management will help to give employees direction and assurance that the company is catering to their needs. Overall, high retention rates will lead to increased productivity, fewer conflicts and alignment of goals to business strategy. In assessing the effectiveness of the recruitment efforts, I will rely upon various metrics such as recruitment cost ratios and turnover ratios. The lower the ratios, the more successful the efforts will have been.

References

Arthur, D. (2004). Fundamentals of human resources management (4 ed.). New York, N.Y.: American Management Association.

Mathis, R. L., Jackson, J., & Valentine, S. (2013). Human Resource Management. New York: Cengage Learning.

Truss, C., Mankin, D., & Kelliher, C. (2012). Strategic human resource management. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press.