Carl Robins Bad Start
Justin Ronald Harris
Comm-215
September 13, 2011
Ellen Anderson

Carl Robins Bad Start

Introduction

Carl Robins has recently been hired as the campus recruiter for ABC, Inc. Although, Robins has only held his position for 6 months, he has been successful. Robins has hired 15 new trainees, which will operate under, Operation Supervisor Monica Carrolls. Robins has scheduled an orientation for the new employees on June 15th. Robins would like all 15 of the new hires to be working by July.

Background

Robins has made the common mistake of creating a task saturating situation, coupled with procrastination. Robins now finds himself in a predicament, facing a deadline and rapid growth of unforeseen circumstances. It began when Carrolls advised him of all the requirements the new hires must complete prior to starting work; Robins pledged to Carrolls the process will be completed on time. Robins returned to work after Memorial Day and began his final inspections on all new hire files. To Robins surprise, several of the applications were not complete. To make matters worst, Transcripts, mandatory drug screens, and orientation manuals were not in order. Robins also failed to reserve the training room for the June 15th orientation.

Key Problems

Robins is facing multiple problems, which could have been prevented. Nonetheless, some of the key problems is Robins procrastination, and lack of attention to detail (Project Management Institute 2008). The following problems need immediate attention: complete applications that are incomplete, have new hires complete their required drug screening, obtain 15 complete orientation manuals, and reserve a room for the orientation.

Complete applications

Drug screenings

Orientation manuals

Orientation room

Complete applications

First and foremost, Robins needs to have the applicants complete their applications. Without completed applications, the applicants should not proceed to the next step in the hiring process. The applicants could have deliberately left the question unanswered to avoid incrimination.

Drug Screenings

Robins was told the applicants need to be drug screened prior to working. Robins has failed to ensure this requisite was completed. Applicants would not be hired if they fail their drug screen thus, Robins should have made sure this task was completed. Drug screens also protect the employer during certain civil liability cases.

Orientation manuals

Robins has three copies of the orientation manuals, however, each one of them is missing several pages. Not only is Robins short 12 manuals, the three he has is incomplete.

Orientation room

The orientation room Robins was going to use on June 15th is no longer available. This is due to Robins failing to reserve the room in advance. Robins now has to either, find a new room to conduct the orientation or come up with a whole new way of the conducting the orientation.

Possible solutions

Robins needs a very precise plan and strict timeline in order to rectify this dilemma Bowerson, D., Closs, D., & Cooper, M. B. (2009). Robins needs to call the applicants that have not completed their applications and have them do so. The applicants also need to complete their drug screening as quickly as possible. Robins will need to review the three orientation manuals he has, and try to make on complete copy. Once he has a complete manual he can then make the appropriate amount of copies for the new hires. Robins needs to speak with Joe and work out a compromise for the use of the room.

Complete applications

Robins can simply review the applications and high light the questions that were left unanswered. Once he has done so, and consolidated the applications needing information he can begin calling each applicant. Most questions unanswered could be taken care over the phone.

Drug screenings

Robins will call the drug screening clinic the company uses and explain his issue. Robins should try and have all the applicants conduct the drug screening on the same day for quicker results and less cluster.

Orientation manuals

Robins will combine the orientation manuals to make one master orientation manual and make the appropriate number of copies. If the same page is missing from all three of them he can check with other departments within the company and request a copy of that specific page. Also, most companies have websites their employee can log into, which provides digital copies of manuals.

Orientation room

Robins has several avenues he can use to overcome this situation. He can ask Joe to allow him to use the room while his class is on a lunch break. Joe should be receptive to this since, logistically it would not interfere with his computer training. If Joe declines, Robins could request a different office, such as a meeting room. If that to fails, Joe could conduct the orientation with applicants as they complete all prerequisites in office, i.e. if three applicants have completed applications and completed drug screenings, he could schedule those three to meet in his office.

Proposed solutions

Procrastinating any longer will only jeopardize any chances Robins has to rectify this issue. Robins will review all files and transcripts and make two separate piles, one for completed application and one for incomplete applications. Robins will call each applicant that did not complete their application and fill in the incomplete questions. Robins will then have the applicants initial each question Robin had to write in for them, acknowledging and confirming the answer Robins wrote on their behalf. Once that is completed, which should only take several hours at most, he will call the drug screening lab and request a mass test for applicants. If the lab can not conform to that request, he will request to have two separate dates. Robins will explain to the lab the urgency. While he is waiting for the lab results, he can begin making a solid copy of the orientation manual and making 15 copies. Robins will speak with Joe and advise him he only needs the room for an hour. Robins will explain this can be while Joe’s class is off to lunch to avoid any delay or change to Joe’s syllabus.

Conclusion

All of this could have been avoided if Robins had paid attention to detail and had not procrastinated. This should be a valuable lesson to Robins on the importance of time management. Robins failed to completely review the applications prior to hiring the new hires, which exhibits poor work performance. Also, Paul did not make proper reservations or make appointments for the drug screenings, all could have been avoided. It is recommended Paul gets consoled of this incident and gets further training (Bechet, T. P. 2008).

References Bechet, T. P. (2008). Strategic staffing: A comprehensive system for effective workforce planning. (2nd ed.). New York, NY: AMACOM

Bowerson, D., Closs, D., & Cooper, M. B. (2009). Supply chain logistics management. (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Project Management Institute. (2008). A guide to the project management body of knowledge. (4th ed.). Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.