Finding People Who Are Passionate About What They Do free essay sample

There is no dress code and employees make their own working hours; Responsibility is heavy and comes early, with a â€Å"just do it now†attitude that dispenses with long apprenticeships; Information is delivered as if with â€Å"a fire house,† and new employees are expected to commit their expertise and vitality to everything they do. New recruits are given a few weeks of intensive training, known as Trilogy University and described by participants as â€Å"more than business school. The company believe that, ‘People are everything ’ and the rapid growth they seek depends on having a staff of the best people they can find, quickly trained and given broad responsibility and freedom as soon as possible. Trilogy makes finding the right people (it calls them â€Å"great people†)as a companywide mission. Recruiters actively pursue the freshest, if least experienced, people in the job market, scouring college career fairs and computer science departments for talented overachievers with ambition and entrepreneurial instincts. Employees take top recruits and their significant others out on the town when they fly into Austin for the standard, three-day preliminary visit. One year, Trilogy reviewed 15,000 resumes, conducted 4,000 on-campus interviews, flew 850 prospects in for interview, and hired 262 college graduates (The cost per hire was $13,000). Although the working criteria’s seem different from the other companies, it’s an environment where people who are passionate about what they do can thrive. 1. Identify some of the established recruiting techniques that underlie Trilogy’s unconventional approach to attracting talent. Answer: Trilogy makes finding the right (great) people as a companywide mission. Its recruitment techniques are as follows: 1) Recruiters actively pursue the freshest, if least experienced, people in the job market. 2) Scouring college career fairs and computer science departments for talented overachievers with ambition and entrepreneurial instincts. Top managers conduct the first rounds of interview, letting prospects know they will be pushed to achieve but will be well rewarded. Employees take top recruits and their significant others out on the town when they fly into Austin for the standard, three-day preliminary visit. A typical day might begin with grueling interviews but end with mountain biking, Roller Balding, or laser tag. 2. What particular elements of Trilogy’s culture most likely appeal to the kind of employees it seeks? How does it convey those elements to job prospects? Answer: Trilogy Software, Inc. applies some unique approaches to conduct with the employees, such as: There is no dress code and employees make their own working hours; Responsibility is heavy and comes early, with a â€Å"just do it now†attitude that dispenses with long apprenticeships; Information is delivered as if with â€Å"a fire house,† and new employees are expected to commit their expertise and vitality to everything they do. As a result, all employees feel total freedom and bound to work efficiently, to supply with better software services within reasonable time. 3. Would Trilogy be an appealing employer for you? Why or why not? If not, what would it take for you to accept a job offer from Trilogy? Answer: Everyone wants to act as an employee in any leading company, to achieve a successive career and honor, as well as to ensure sufficient income for the purpose of meet up all necessary demands of one’s life. From this perspective, Trilogy Software, Inc. seems an appealing employment opportunity. Moreover, the facilities and working criteria’s of this company is also attractive. So, I will definitely prefer to Work as an employee at Trilogy Software, Inc. 4. What suggestions would you make Trilogy for improving its recruiting processes? Answer: The present recruiting processes of Trilogy Software, Inc. is quite different from the other existing software companies, but it seems so effective in its working environment. In general, we can appreciate the overall recruitment techniques, but it may be even more standardized. Some suggestions about improving these techniques may be like the followings: a) To generate more experience in the workplace, it can recruit more professional persons compared to the fresher’s candidate. ) It can appoint proper personnel to work at proper work position, or division of work may be more standardized to ensure increasing work efficiency. Chapter 03 Case No. 02 Case Incident: â€Å"Where’s My Czar? † Executive Summary In this case, we give the job descriptions which are closely related to this problem also we give the ideal of job specification for the person in this position. To perform this position candidate must be experiences more than ten years in manufacturing sector. There are many selection tools that we use in this problem such as Requesting for an application, Carrying out an interview and giving references. In this case, we think that the HR department of white house hired wrong person for the job. The primary problem in this case is that the management decision to give this position (the administration’s assistant commerce secretary for manufacturing) to a very irresponsible person who is not perfect for this job. And the lake of information about the market screening for this particular position, because we are not clear that wither they screened the market appropriately for the right candidate or not. Therefore their decision to hire Mr. Raimondo is not right for this position. The secondary problem is found in this case is that the Mr. Raimondo created job opportunities in china by outsourcing the portion of this business and running this business in Nebraska, which went against the strategies White house was implementing to create manufacturing jobs in US. Therefore if we see the major problem in this case from HR perspective, we found that the HRM department in white house lake the selection and recruiting tools for hiring a right person for this position. The solution for this problem is to develop a proper HRM system and then after properly screening the environment they must chose an appropriate candidates group for the position, by using the proper HR tools, e. g. the process of recruitment in which includes job description and job specification. And the headings must be the related to the position. 1. What should this position’s job description look like? Answer: The job description in this position look like, creating more manufacturing jobs in us by developing the strategies to promote manufacturing business and enhance their capacity. In short this job refers to a think tank sort of job, to achieve certain goals. 2. What are the ideal job specifications for the person in this position? Answer: The idea of job specifications for the person in this position is market experienced for more than ten years in manufacturing sector. The Person should be Master in HR or economic innovative or social relation. Also the Person should be intellectual and business executive to under economic cycle and its requirement with an influential status. 3. How should we have gone about recruiting and screening for this position? What selection tools, specifically, would you use? Answer: For this position we must have gone in a proper way according to the HRMS, we should have recruited the person by taking the right decision for the right person for this position. Therefore for this we must run the recruiting process, which includes: attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people and it must be done purely. The selection tools I would use for this position are: ? Requesting for an application Carrying out an interview. ? Giving references 4. Where do you think we went wrong? Answer: We think that the HR department of white house hired wrong person for the job, because conflicts occurred when the bush administration realized that they suppose to create manufacturing jobs in US not in China or in other countries, because MR. Raimondo was responsible for losing the job opportunities in US, which he shifted in China, by outsourcing p ortion of business. Chapter 04 Case No. 03 Case Incident: â€Å"The Out-Of-Control Interview† Executive Summary Maria Fernandez is a bright, popular and well-informed mechanical engineer. It is fairly clear that the panel interview was a stress interview designed to see how well she could handle difficult situations. Maria needs additional information. What she does know is the nature of the job and the clear fit with her training and skills. The additional information that she should seek involves the number of women who work at Apex. Many of the questions were clearly discriminatory and could be used against them in a gender-based discrimination suit. The fact that the entire interview panel was composed of men and their choice of questions leaves us with reservations about how she would be treated once hired. 1. How do you explain the nature of the panel interview Maria had to endure? Specifically, do you think it reflected a well-thought-out interviewing strategy on the part of the firm, or carelessness on the part of the firms management? If it was carelessness, what would you do to improve the interview process at Apex Environmental? Answer: It is fairly clear that the panel interview was a stress interview designed o see how well she could handle difficult situations. In this respect, it seems to have been a well-thought-out interviewing strategy, but there was a very clear element of carelessness on the part of the firms management. The panel was obviously not well-trained and was careless in the choice of questions that they used. Many of the questions were clearly discriminatory and could be used against them in a gender-b ased discrimination suit. 2. Would you take the job offer if you were Maria? If youre not sure, is there any additional information that would help you makes your decision, and if so, what is it? Answer: Maria needs additional information. What she does know is the nature of the job and the clear fit with her training and skills. The additional information that she should seek involves the number of women who work at Apex, the levels of management which they have attained, and the satisfaction of those women with their treatment by the Apex management. The fact that the entire interview panel was composed of men and their choice of questions leaves us with reservations about how she would be treated once hired. 3. The job of applications engineer for which Maria was applying requires: (a) excellent technical skills with respect to mechanical engineering; (b) a commitment to working in the area of pollution control; (c) the ability to deal well and confidently with customers who have engineering problems; (d) a willingness to travel worldwide; and (e) a very intelligent and well-balanced personality. List 10 questions that you would ask when interviewing applicants for the job. Answer: There are a wide variety of specific questions that could be posed to address these issues. Questions need to be job-related, specifically to the requirements listed above. They also need to clearly avoid any discriminatory areas. 10 questions that you would ask when interviewing applicants for the job i) What did you enjoy most about your last job? ii) What did you like least about your last job? iii) Why did you leave your last job? iv) Why should we be hiring you? v) What do you expect from this company? vi) What are your major strengths? vii) What are your major weaknesses? viii) What are your career goals for the next 3 to 5 years? ix) What do you prefer, working alone or in a group? ) Do you have any questions about the duties of this job you are applying? Chapter 05 Case No. 04 Case Incident: â€Å"Reinventing the Wheel at Apex Door Company† Executive Summary Jim Delaney, president of Apex Door, has a problem. Employees are been used to working the way they wish to work and according to their working styles it is due to organizational structure and culture. On e example is the door-design department, where the designers are expected to work with architects to design doors that meet the specifications. The order processing department is another example. The Apex Training Process is very haphazard. It says the company doesn’t have a training manual as well as out of date job descriptions for the employees who are supposed to be trained. The training for new people is all one the job. Job descriptions set the boundaries of jobs in terms of required knowledge and skills. It is a description of the task in adjusting the limits of work in terms with the necessary knowledge and skills. By understanding the job description, a trainer can define the learning requirements or the material requirements for new or transitioning employees. . What do you think of Apex’s training process? Could it help to explain why employees â€Å"do things their way† and if so, how? Answer: After reading the case study, the Apex Training Process is very haphazard. As from the case we can know the facts. It says the company doesn’t have a training manual as well as out of date job descriptions for the employees who are supposed to be trained. Employees are been used to working the way they wish to work and according to their working styles it is due to organizational structure and culture. It consists of activities such as task allocation, coordination and supervision, which are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims. Organizational structure affects organizational action in two big ways. First, it provides the foundation on which standard operating procedures and routines rest. Second, it determines which individuals get to participate in which decision-making processes, and thus to what extent their views shape the organization’s actions and is made up of all of the life experiences each employee brings to the organization. Culture is especially influenced by the organization’s founder, executives, and other managerial staff because of their role in decision making and strategic direction. Describing all this it shows that how the culture affects in the organizational working style. 2. What role do job descriptions play in training at Apex? Answer: Job descriptions set the boundaries of jobs in terms of required knowledge and skills. It is a description of the task in adjusting the limits of work in terms with the necessary knowledge and skills. By nderstanding the job description, a trainer can define the learning requirements or the material requirements for new or transitioning employees. The central problem is that Jim Delaney, president of the Apex Door Company, cannot get his employees to do specific tasks without messing up. The causes of the central problem are that when employees dont understand something. These problems come in front us clearly when it says about employers that â€Å"d ecide to do it their own way†. Here we clearly explore the lacking of Apex Door Company not to having a through guide line or job description about the job they are doing. Apex Door Company surely has a job description but it is surely out of date or not updated regularly. If so then the employees should remain ware of minimize the use of steel in mega constructions size as it will not only minimize the amount of steel but also increase the net profit for Apex Door Company. The role of job description of Apex Door Company should be clear, univocal and regularly cheeked to meet the latest market demand in quickest time with minimum expense. Alternative solutions are that each job has a training manual, and that new up to date job descriptions be written. . Explain in detail what you would do to improve the training process at Apex. Make sure to provide specific suggestions, please. Answer: We should start our training effort by carefully thinking about the organization’s strategic goals and objectives, our units goals and objectives, what work is to be performed, and the strengths and weaknesses of our staff by thinking carefully about the knowle dge and skills needed to do the job. Knowing what a job requires and how well we want it done will give us data to make training decisions. We should also look at broad performance issues and opportunities needed to change or improve the organization and the individual employees strength and growth opportunities. An individual needs assessment focuses on the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities required of each employee. Individual needs should be viewed within the context of strategic goals of the organization in order to ensure professional growth and development of employees within established career paths. Chapter 06 Case No. 05 Case Incident: â€Å"Appraising the Secretaries at Sweetwater U† Executive Summary Rob Winchester, newly appointed vice president for administrative affairs at Sweetwater State University, faced a tough problem shortly after his university career began. The recommendations would, in fact, encourage administrators to fill the forms out correctly. Using the more detailed form not tying the performance ratings to salary increases would allow the managers to feel free about rating the secretaries accurately. The major advantages of ranking method is, it is very simple very effective when there are relatively few jobs to be evaluated (less than 30). Although there are some problems in ranking method like; Difficult to administer as the number of jobs increases, Rank judgments are very subjective since there is no standard used for comparison, new jobs would have to be compared with the existing jobs to determine its appropriate rank. In essence, the ranking process would have to be repeated each time a new job is added to the organization. Rob Winchester if the development costs are not too great I must apply develop Behavioral Anchors Rating System (BARS) for secretaries. Behavioral Anchors Rating System (BARS) will permit researchers measuring the effectiveness of school administrators to utilize sound, ethnographic methods instead of relying on traditional, theory-based rating system. 1. Do you think that the experts recommendations will be sufficient to get most of the administrators to fill out the rating forms properly? Why or Why not? What additional actions (if any) do you think will be necessary? Answer: While controversial, the recommendations would, in fact, encourage administrators to fill the forms out correctly. Using the more detailed form not tying the performance ratings to salary increases would allow the managers to feel free about rating the secretaries accurately. There would, however, need to be some strong training sessions (both for administrators secretaries) to help them understand the new system. Since all secretaries have traditionally received the same salary increases, have been pleased with that, it would be advisable to consider lowering the maximum increase to an amount that could be given to all secretaries while staying within budget. Then all secretaries with a satisfactory rating or better would receive that increase. 2. Do you think that Vice President Winchester would be better off dropping graphic rating forms, substituting instead one of the other techniques we discussed in this chapter such as a ranking method? Answer: Off course, other methods should be used. He has already had a taste of what would result if he went to a forced distribution or other ranking method. A Behavioral Anchors Rating System (BARS) might be best, but it could be costly to develop if the clerical staffs have positions that are significantly different. Jobs are compared to each other based on the overall worth of the job to the organization. The worth of a job is usually based on judgments of skill, efforts (physical mental), responsibility (supervisory fiscal), and working conditions. The major advantages of ranking method is, it is very simple very effective when there are relatively few jobs to be evaluated (less than 30). Although there are some problems in ranking method like; Difficult to administer as the number of jobs increases, Rank judgments are very subjective since there is no standard used for comparison, new jobs ould have to be compared with the existing jobs to determine its appropriate rank. In essence, the ranking process would have to be repeated each time a new job is added to the organization. Jobs are compared to each other based on the overall worth of the job to the organization. The worth of a job is usually based on judgments of skill, efforts (physical mental), responsibility (supervisory fiscal), and working conditions. 3. What performance appraisal system would you develop for the secretaries if you were Rob Winchester? Defend your answer. Answer: By considering me as Rob Winchester; if the development costs are not too great, I must apply develop Behavioral Anchors Rating System (BARS) for secretaries. Because this system able to provide the strongest solution at the current situation. The Behavioral Anchors Rating System would make it more difficult to just rate everyone at the top. It would also help to eliminate the different interpretations of what the rating scales mean. Behavioral Anchors Rating System (BARS) will permit researchers measuring the effectiveness of school administrators to utilize sound, ethnographic methods instead of relying on traditional, theory-based rating system. Chapter 07 Case No. 06 Case Incident: â€Å"Boss, I Think We Have a Problem† Executive Summary Central Steel Door Corporation has been in business for about 20 years, successfully selling a line of steel industrial grade doors, as well as the hardware and fittings required for them. Mr. Fisher has some mistake in your organization. Fisher, I would have wanted a large pool of potential applicants, but given Fisher’s inexperience, he may have benefited from the use of an outside agency. Finally, Fisher’s stereotypes of European managers may have clouded his judgment with his existing pool of applicants. In which case, he will need to reinstate the employees and apologize. He will in all likelihood need to start over and find an appropriate sales manager with knowledge of the local culture and business practices. 1. Based on the chapter and case incident, compile a list of 10 international HR mistakes Mr. Fisher has made so far. Answer: Among his mistakes: i. Fisher has not properly identified candidates ii. Cultural sensitivity, interpersonal skills and flexibility have not been included as required job skills iii. There is no system in place to assess candidates for proper skills iv. The company does not have realistic cost projects for cross-border operations v. The company has not determined whether it would be cost effect to have an expatriate manager vi. There are no assignment letters documenting the scope of the job vii. There is no international compensation system in place viii. The company has not taken into account differences in foreign expenses ix. The company has not taken into account foreign taxes x. There is no formal relocation assistance program in place xi. The company has not considered the importance of family support xii. There is no cultural orientation program in place for expatriate mangers or their family members . How would you have gone about hiring a European sales manager? Why? Answer: I would have investigated the market to determine the appropriate level of compensation and benefits. Expropriate compensation packages should consider tax equalization clauses or other measures for dealing with differing costs of living. The company should also have retained consul on European labor laws or practices. The location of the office should be carefully selected for favorable labor and tax laws. Like Fisher, I woul d ave wanted a large pool of potential applicants, but given Fisher’s inexperience, he may have benefited from the use of an outside agency. Finally, Fisher’s stereotypes of European managers may have clouded his judgment with his existing pool of applicants. 3. What would you do now if you were Mr. Fisher? Answer: Fisher needs to seek legal consul in regard to his labor situation. He is likely in the wrong. In which case, he will need to reinstate the employees and apologize. He will in all likelihood need to start over and find an appropriate sales manager with knowledge of the local culture and business practices.