ABC, Inc. Case Study
Charles Ramsey
Comm/215
Sept. 29, 2014
Margaret Mehl

ABC, Inc. Case Study
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Introduction
Hiring 15 new employees in early April as part of his first recruitment effort, Carl Robins is the new campus recruiter for ABC, Inc. Hired to work for Monica Carrolls, Operations Supervisor, these new potential employees require training on company policy, being oriented to the organization, and screened for drugs. Carl himself is behind on their training, has not completed all the required processing, in addition to the fact that some of the employees haven’t even completed applications, nor have submitted transcripts. Orientation needs to be arranged somewhere other than the original location, due to double booking conflicts. The training material also needs to be reviewed and confirmed for the employees prior to the seminar. Mr. Robins is quickly falling behind, so he needs to formulate a plan of action, and implement it concisely.
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Background
Having successful hired 15 new people in early April, Carl had plenty of time to prior to June 15th in which to organize everything, but procrastinated until it became a scramble to handle everything at once. While he is in fact fairly new to his own job, having only been with ABC for six months now, he should still be able to handle this workload, and produce the desired results. This inexperience can explain some of the improper planning, and his lack of knowledge about how long it actually takes to complete his task, but does not excuse it. However, after evaluating his choices and finding a solution, I believe Carl will find the July deadline attainable, albeit with a bit more of an effort put in.
Key Problems
There are a few basic, key problems, the root of them all being improper planning and lack of experience. The problem of improper planning itself is easily solved, while the lack of experience is simply something that comes with time and practice. Building up from the lack of proper planning, we can see what issues stemmed from this, such as: * Needing a location for orientation * Drug screening completion * Unfiled or incomplete paperwork * Lack of required training materials * Attempting to handle every task alone
Taking an in depth look at the various issues can help us find solutions, so I’ll go over each problem individually.
Needing a Location for Orientation: After reviewing, an immediate scheduling conflict between the orientation for the new trainees and technology services arises. The scheduling log shows the training room booked for the whole month of June for computer training seminars. June is the month in which the orientation is scheduled to occur, and so the training room is unavailable.
Drug Screening Completion: A drug screening is required for all the new hires, and thus they need to be sent to the clinic for such a drug screen test. As of Memorial Day, such has not happened for any of the 15 trainees, less than 20 days prior to the scheduled orientation date. This is something Carl is required to do, having been in contact with Monica to confirm such things would get done as part of his work, so he should not have been surprised that it was not yet completed.
Unfiled or Incomplete Paperwork: Also while reviewing his trainee file, it is found that not all the trainees have not completed their applications, nor have all the trainees gotten transcripts on file, another task Carl could and should have handled promptly. While it may seem obvious that these things are required, a lack of communication could have caused such a simple issue.
Lack of Required Training Materials: Once reviewed, the training material is obviously lacking and in need of replacement in some form. Another task where it was procrastinated until becoming a larger-than-necessary issue. This is a separate issue from the others because it is something that doesn’t require another party to be handled (i.e. confirming appointments with the clinic requires contacting the clinic, a second party that could have separate issues).
Attempting to Handle Every Task Alone: This doesn’t become an issue until the issues stated above have come about. Given the timeline, all the tasks could have been handled by a single person and more man power would have been unnecessary. However, even something as simple as checking the orientation manuals becomes a stressful task when suddenly heaped with work that appeared to be put off.
Alternatives
Having reviewed these key areas and confirming them as coalescing from one core problem, the lack of proper planning, it is possible to come up with solutions to each problem as it stands currently. A quick solution to all these problems is to call Monica and inform her that the trainees won’t be ready by July 15th, and attempt to push the deadline back in order to complete all the required tasks without rushing. I find this one inadvisable, however, because it causes a setback for Monica herself, and it proceeds to cause further setbacks down the line, causing a ripple effect of delayed projects. These are called concurrent delays, or delays that cause further delays (Singh & Associates, 2014).
In order to find a solution that doesn’t cause concurrent delays, Carl should make and maintain a priority list, in which he lists all the above problems and completes them in an order of greatest importance to least importance. Below are individual solutions to each problem, which can be used to complete tasks on the priority list.
New Location for Orientation: One of the easier tasks to handle, it has a few possible solutions. Carl could contact a nearby hotel and see about possibly using a conference room or use a nearby office (Allfreepaper.com, 2011). Looking for another available space in the building is by far the best solution here, but not necessarily possible if the training room is the only room meant to accommodate 15 or more people. A second step to that solution is to split trainee orientation up into two or more days, allowing them to rotate in for orientation.
Schedule Drug Screenings: Handling this is one of the slightly more complicated aspects, because it includes not one, but two other parties, for each trainee individually. The first thing Carl can do is contact a local clinic, either one approved by ABC, Inc., or the National Drug Screening Administration to get a recommended company to come in and take over the process, if ABC, Inc. doesn’t have a drug program he can draw from. Set up a block of dates, three or four days in which to schedule his trainees, and then contact each trainee and schedule a day for them to go in within that block of days.
File and Complete Paperwork: This is a task able to be completed in a single day, and can in fact be handled on the same day he calls to schedule the appointments for drug screening. After contacting the trainee individually, Carl can set up their appoint as stated above, and then discuss their paperwork status with them, either the application completion, whether or not it is in fact completed, and get transcripts on file as needed. While not everything may be completed immediately, the process can be started (i.e. ordering transcripts can be completed, but may take additional days to be received and put on file).
Obtain Orientation Manuals: This is quickly solved one of two ways. The first thing Carl needs to do is look up the manual in his SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and determine if the manuals themselves can be reprinted or if they need to be ordered. Then his solution is simple from there; he either orders new manuals if they need to be ordered, or prints off new copies. Either way, Carl should go a step beyond and order or print at least twenty manuals instead of 15, to prepare for accidents and get a step ahead for his next round of trainees.
Request Help: One of the absolute best things Carl can do in this situation is admit that he messed up and now needs help. As a new employee himself, it isn’t unusual to need help, and it will help take some burden off his own shoulders, freeing his mind to tackle the tasks at hand. Getting help will insure he gets the job done.
Proposed Solutions
I advise assigning Carl a temporary partner, one senior to him in the company, who can offer advice and guidance, as well as help with tasks, without taking over the job completely. This will insure that the job gets done, and will also allow Carl to gain the experience needed to complete future jobs without help. As a team, they should then split the orientation into two days and use one of the smaller rooms in the building. Carl should be the one to make most of the phone calls, including getting in touch with each individual trainee to complete paperwork and schedule days for the drug screening. Obtaining new training manuals should be done by whichever means is available, either printing new ones or ordering them. As I advised above, order more than needed to compensate for accidents and the next round of trainees.
Recommendations
Most of these problems stem from a lack of knowledge and experience, for which Carl is hardly to blame, and which he will gain with time and practice. He should, however, have planned ahead appropriately, and not put off the work until it became a rush to complete everything. If the solutions I stated above are implemented, Carl should be able to complete his tasks on time, and concurrent delays will be avoided.

References
Case Study Analysis of ABC, Inc. COMM 215 - Essentials of College English. (2005, February 12). In WriteWork.com. Retrieved 16:07, September 25, 2014, from http://www.writework.com/essay/case-study-analysis-abc-inc-comm-215-essentials-college

AN unorganized Campus Recruiter (2011, January 18) In AllFreePapers.com. Retrieved 15:37, September 26, 2014, from http://www.allfreepapers.com/print/Unorganized-Campus-Recruiter/753.html

Singh & Associates. (2014). Lexology. Retrieved from http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=fcea453a-de87-4aa9-9f4c-b140695c597d