Case Study #1 FINDING PEOPLE WHO ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT THEY DO Trilogy Enterprises Inc. of Austin, Texas, is a fast-growing software company, and provides software solutions to giant global firms for improving sales and performance. It prides itself on its unique and unorthodox culture. Many of its approaches to business practice are unusual, but in Trilogy’s fast-changing and highly competitive environment, they seem to work. There is no dress code and employees make their own hours, often very long. They tend to socialize together (the average age is 26), both in the office’s well-stocked kitchen and on company-sponsored events and trips to places like local dance clubs and retreats in Las Vegas and Hawaii. An in-house jargon has developed, and the shared history of the firm has taken on the status of legend. Responsibility is heavy and comes early, with a “just do it now” attitude that dispenses with long apprenticeships. New recruits are given a few weeks of intensive training, known as “Trilogy University” and described by participants as “more like boot camp than business school.” Information is delivered as if with “a fire hose” and new employees are expected to commit their expertise and vitality to everything they do. Jeff Daniel, director of college recruiting, admits the intense and unconventional firm is not the employer for everybody.” But it’s definitely an environment where people who are passionate about what they do can thrive.” The firm employees about 700 such passionate people. Trilogy’s managers know 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. CEO Joe Liemandt says, “At a software company people are everything. You can’t build the next great software company, which is what we’re trying to do here, unless you’re totally committed to that. Of course, the leaders at every company say, “People are everything.” But they don’t act on it.” Trilogy makes finding the right people (it calls them “great people”) a company-wide mission. Recruiters actively pursue the freshest, if at least experienced, people in the job market, sourcing college career fairs and computer science departments for talented overachievers with ambition and entrepreneurial instincts. Top managers conduct the first rounds of interviews, letting prospects know they will be pushed to achieve but will be well rewarded. Employees take the recruits and their significant others out on the town when they fly into Austin for the standard, 3-day preliminary visit. A typical day might begin with grueling interviews but end up with mountain biking, roller blading, or laser tag. Executives have been known to fly out to meet and woo hot prospects who couldn’t make the trip. One year, Trilogy reviewed 15,000 resumes, conducted 4,00 on-campus interviews, flew 850 prospects in for interviews, and hired 262 college graduates, who account for over a third of its current employees. The cost per hire was $ 13,000; Jeff Daniel believes it was worth every penny. Questions Questions please use direct examples from the case study when drafting each question using Harvard referencing system 1. Identify some of the established recruiting techniques that apparently underlie Trilogy’s unconventional approach to attracting talent. (5 marks) 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? (10 marks) 3. What suggestions would you make to Trilogy for improving its recruiting processes? (5 Marks) Sources : Chuck Salter,”Insanity,Inc,”Fast Company,Jnuary 1999,pp.101-108; and www.trilogy.com/sections/careers/work. Accessed August 24,2007. Case Study #2 Organization and Role of HR THE HR FUNCTION AT CONRAD VALVES The case Conrad Valves Ltd is a specialist manufacturer located in Houston, Texas, of various kinds of valves and pumps originally for the motor industry but more recently for other branches of the engineering industry, for example aerospace and marine. A healthy export trade has also been developed. Under its Chairman and Managing Director (who is the major shareholder) the business has expanded its workforce from just under 150 to over 250 in the last three years. However, there have been problems recently to do with quality and a number of complaints have been received from customers. As Conrad Valves depended on its reputation for high quality, this was alarming. The Chairman has recently taken over another business and has therefore appointed a Managing Director for Conrad Valves. His function is to concentrate on running the company under the overall guidance of the Chairman. The new Managing Director The Managing Director was appointed from outside and quickly identified employee problems in regard to quality of product, employee relations, employee turnover, and other issues. Since Conrad Valves did not have a functional Human Resource Department, the new Managing Director decided to engage an independent HR consultant to find out how people matters were being dealt with, to examine the case for creating an HR function, and if one was needed, to recommend what it should look like. The consultant’s findings on the present organizational employees were as follows: 1. Recruitment – each of the functional departments at Conrad carry out their own recruitment, having agreed with the Managing Director on the engagement of additional people and what they should be paid. Some use is made of recruitment agencies for administrative staff but sales representatives, production engineering staff, operatives and technical staff are mainly recruited by advertisements. Interviewing techniques, as observed by the consultant, were crude to say the least. 2. Labor turnover – this is fairly high: 20 per cent for operatives and 15 per cent for technical and administrative staff. The failure to retain a number of recent technical and operative recruits is worrying and may have contributed to the quality problems. 3. Training – there is no formal training; people are recruited with, it is hoped, the required skills and experience and learn the Conrad way of doing things on the job. Some supervisors carry out orientation training conscientiously but the majority don’t. Again, it was considered that this prejudiced the achievement of high-quality standards. 4. Pay – operatives were paid the local going base rate (no payment by results) and staff were paid whatever it was believed necessary to recruit and retain them – there was no formal grade and pay structure. Pay was reviewed once a year, generally to keep pace with inflation and in particular to ensure that key staff were paid competitively. Some cash bonuses (usually not more than 10 per cent) were paid to some staff as authorized by the Chairman. There was no performance management or appraisal system. 5. Employee relations – There were no formal consultation or communication processes with employees. Managers lacked the proper skills to motivate and engage employees. Based on the above findings of the Human Resource Consultant, what solutions would you recommend for each of the 5 issues identified? Utilize information discussed in class and formulate responses that offer logical HR problem solving methods. Questions please use direct examples from the case study when drafting each question using Harvard referencing system. 1. What recommendations would you make to improve recruitment efforts and interviewing skills? (5 marks) 2. What retention strategies can be explored to decrease the high-turnover of skilled employees at Conrad Valves? (5 marks) 3. How can HR improve training and development programs? How should the orientation program be implemented for maximum effectiveness? (5 marks) 4. How can Conrad develop fair and equitable pay grades and structures? What type of incentive plans can be implemented to better motivate employees? (5 marks) 5. What type of Employee Relations practices should be developed to better motivate and engage employees? (5 marks) Sources: Clardy, Ph.D. Advantage Human Resources, HRD Press, Amherst, MA