Case Study for Student Analysis
Student
COMM/215
July 21, 2010
Instructor

Case Study for Student Analysis
In the case study, Carl is a new recruiter for ABC Inc. Upon being assigned to his position, he beat expectations by successfully hiring several new people despite his lack of time on the job. Because of this, he probably feels a lot of pressure to succeed and continue to perform better than his previous efforts at all times. He has made a number of mistakes in the case study and is at a loss as to what he should do next. Specifically, we’ll look at the mistakes Carl made, what he should have done in the first place, and the options he has available to him now to correct the mistakes he’s made.
First of all, Carl started off wrong by assuring Monica that everything would be taken care of in time and leaving it at that. There is quite a bit involved with making sure each hire has their applications and resumes filled out and submitted correctly. Additionally, drug screening is something that has to be done at an approved facility for your company or corporation since there are potential legal issues if the urinalysis tests are done at your place of business. Even hospitals send their employee’s urinalysis bottles to other medical facilities to have them checked rather than doing the drug screening at their own facility though there are companies that are offering on-site drug testing (OHS Health and Safety Services, Inc., 2010). Physicals are also a potential headache to schedule for even one person, let alone a group of people. Rarely does it ever seem that a doctor isn’t busy doing something. People are constantly getting sick, injured or dying and it’s the doctor’s duty to help them even if that means making their death less painful for them. Trying to get a doctor to conduct a physical isn’t necessarily difficult, one just needs to schedule the appointment a month or two in advance which Carl did not do. As for the booklets, pamphlets, and manuals, Carl should have looked into getting those right away instead of blowing it off. This particular problem isn’t quite as dire as the drug screening or the physical, but it will take anywhere from a few days to a week or more to get all the literature he is going to need for the new hires. Finally, he should have de-conflicted the training classroom schedule with the other departments in the company. In any organization, there is a need for some kind of classroom environment that is conducive to learning but it doesn’t do you any good if someone else is using the classroom when you need it. With this in mind, there was a schedule on the wall that Carl checked when he went to the classroom that projected out for at least a month or two. Carl waited too long to get his reservation placed in the calendar because Joe has the room for the rest of the month or more.
Carl was off to a good start despite all the issues found with how he has handled the situation so far. Carl established himself as a quick learner and hard worker by making successful hires so quickly into his job time as a recruiter. Some people would say that the job is mostly natural skill because it only involves talking to people, but there is much more to it than that. Obviously, otherwise Carl would not have found himself in the mess he is in now. On top of talking with potential hires about the company, what they are all about, what they are looking for, and how the potential hire could fit into the job, they have to seal the deal by ensuring the hire meets all the company’s qualifications too. If the potential hire isn’t capable of meeting the basic company standards of education, behavior, attitude, ethics, etc. then they likely will not be a productive member of the workforce and it’s the recruiter’s job to find those things out on his/her own or go about making sure the potential hire gets to the right organization that can find that out. Upon receiving the phone call from Monica, Carl should have pulled out a pad of paper, his scheduling calendar, and a writing utensil and made notes during his conversation with Monica. He should have found out exactly what she wanted to happen and give her immediate feedback with his own ideas and timelines related to how long it would take to accomplish a certain task or the timeframe he would need to get an individual hire ready to start working. Once they had both come to an agreement on the plan they would use to get the hires ready to become employees, they could have both hung up the phone with a positive feeling of accomplishment and understanding. Carl should have started going about accomplishing said plan as soon as he hung up with Monica. The first things to be scheduled should be the things that are the most difficult to schedule: the physical and drug screening. With those two things out of the way and taken care of, Carl should make sure he brings in and talks to face to face at least three hires a day to go over their applications and resumes to make sure they are complete and filled out correctly. As an added bonus, if Monica had a particular format she desires on a resume, when Carl brings in the hires he can help them re-write their resumes so they meet Monica’s desired format. Once the appointments have been scheduled and before individual meetings with the hires take place, classroom space should be reserved for the orientation. If the situation still plays out the way it is currently then Carl will have to find someplace else to conduct the orientation unless he can work out a deal with Joe. Depending on how long Carl will need the classroom, perhaps he can slip in, conduct orientation, and slip right back out while Joe’s class is on lunch or out at another site doing on-the-job-training (OJT). Finally, the literature should be compiled between meeting each hire and helping them with their paperwork. If need be, Carl can request more literature from whichever department of the company issues those documents, he can order them himself from their distributer, or have an assistant take them down to a place like Kinko’s and get copies made.
With the situation being what it is for Carl now, he still has several options open to him if he could get himself in a state of mind to recognize them. The drug screening and the physicals are going to give him the hardest time so he should try to get them taken care of first. If he’s able to schedule his hires before the orientation date then he is good, but if not he should go ahead and schedule them when he can and adjust based on that. The problems he’s facing with the paperwork can be handled fairly easily by getting one good copy of each pamphlet, manual, etc. and get copies made or requisition more from the department in charge of stocking those supplies. They may not be happy being asked to cough up a whole mess of literature on short notice, but that is part of their job and he should do something to make it up to them in the future. It is important to be on good terms with the folks who are in charge of supplies, especially from a military standpoint. As far as finding classroom space, Carl should approach Joe with his problem and see if he can fit his class in before or after one of Joe’s classes. If not, Carl should look into booking a conference room similar to the ones most hotels have for rent or like some restaurants have where the room is closed off from the rest of the dining floor. Either way, Carl has options in that regard as well. Additionally, and here is the hard part, Carl is most likely going to have to let Monica know that her new hires might not be ready in the timeframe they previously agreed upon. Due to his inexperience and lack of time on the job, this should not be a career-ender for Carl but it isn’t going to make Monica happy with him. If Carl is able to still get everything in order in time to conduct the orientation on the date he agreed to with Monica, then everything is good.
Carl is in a tough position, but he’s not out of the fight yet. Carl made some mistakes, mostly due to inexperience or perhaps he became cocky after doing so well on his previous recruiting scenario. In order to get back on his feet and “save face”, Carl has several different routes he can take to get his mission accomplished. Ultimately, Carl should do his best to right his wrong, get his mission accomplished, learn from his mistakes and press on.

Reference
OHS Health and Safety Services, Inc.. (2010). 'On-site' drug testing services versus 'clinic' services. Retrieved from http://www.ohsinc.com/on_site_drug_testing_onsite_drug_test_specimen_collection_CH

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