¶ … Carl Robins, who was recently appointed as campus recruiter for ABC, Inc. Initially, it looked like it was going well, with Carl successfully recruiting 15 new hires relatively early in his new job. Having been with the company for only six months, this was his first recruitment assignment, so it he would logically be eager to make a good impression. Initially, things seemed to be going well, and he also appeared to work well with Monica Carrolls, who was the Operations Supervisor. On May 15, Carl assured Monica that everything regarding the training schedule, orientation, manuals, policy booklets, physicals, drug tests, and other necessities would be coordinated and scheduled by June 15, when the hire orientation was to take place. After Memorial Day at the end of May, however, things started to look less rosy. At his office, Carl realized that a number of things were amiss. Some new trainees did not have complete applications or transcripts on file, for example, and none of them have been sent to the clinic for the drug screen. Only three incomplete orientation manuals were available. The training room to be used for orientation also seemed to have been double booked on the day of the orientation, with Joe from technology services having booked the room for the entire month of June for computer training seminars.

The first thing for Carl to do to handle these challenges would be to examine each problem separately and decide what can be done about it within the time that is left to him. Those things that could not be changed would have to be modified. Examining each issue thoroughly would be a good start towards moving beyond the feeling of despair that the various problems seemed to have caused him. Carl should also review the historical arrangements of all the requirements to ensure that no repetition of his past mistakes would be repeated. It is also important that Carl examine every other arrangement to ensure that there would be no other similar mishaps with any other parts of the arrangement. First, however, the issues that were most obviously amiss would have to be addressed.

As a first step, it is therefore recommended that Carl examine what might have gone wrong with the arrangement of each arrangement. Who was, for example, responsible for obtaining and filing completed applications form each recruit? Who was responsible for arranging drug screen tests? Who was available for compiling and printing the training manuals? The next step would be to visit the office of each individual, determine what went wrong, and to determine ways of remedying the problem.

One of the most important issues is the applications and drug screens for the applicants. For this, Carl would have to work with a person in the human resources department. Each employee would have to be contacted. Several times could be arranged for the employees to visit the company. First, each employee without a complete application should also be provided with the necessary paper work and guidance to complete these applications. Drug screens could be arranged over the space of a few days to ensure that the days and times arranged would be suitable to all the employees involved.

The second concern is the training manuals. This should not take a very long time if the full training manual is saved on a computer. Carl should visit the personnel at the documentation department of the company to determine who was responsible for compiling, printing, and binding the documents. A full assessment should be made of what is available to simply print out and how long it would take to bind these materials.

If the full training material is not available on computer, Carl should arrange for it to be compiled as soon as possible. According to the information provided, this should not take too long, since most of the training manual does seem to be available. If the entire manual was deleted from the computer files, the existing one should be scanned in as soon as possible, and the missing pages added. After't his, 15 full manuals should be printed and bound within a few days. Again, Carl should continually monitor this to ensure that the schedule is upheld. The manuals should also be thoroughly inspected right after binding before being finalized for use during the day of the orientation.

It is estimated that there still is enough time to handle the first three challenges; the employee applications, drug screens, and training manuals. With appropriate management, it is possible to complete these within the time necessary to ensure the integration of the new recruits...

Some drug screens may, for example, return unacceptable results, which would necessitate the recruitment of alternative candidates. Carl should still have a list of possible candidates from the application pool, which should provide a good source to find some new recruits. It is projected that most drug screens will return favorable results, which means that, in all likelihood, the rest of the recruitment process in terms of candidate numbers and suitability would proceed without difficulty.
As for the training manuals, it seems leas complicated to handle this concern, since it is only a matter of printing out and binding documents. Again, with proper management, the time schedule for this should not produce undue problems.

One issue that might have caused the problems Carl is now facing is his basic lack of supervising the personnel responsible for each aspect of the recruitment process. He should remedy this by making regular visits to the offices of the employees involved to ensure that things are progressing smoothly. Indeed, he should modify his management style to match the situation at hand. It appears that the personnel responsible for the various aspects of Carl's work were unable to function effectively without proper supervision. Hence, it is determined that much more hands-on management is required from Carl to ensure that all these processes occur in an effective and time-efficient way.

The greatest problem that Carl faced is the double booking of the orientation venue. Being at the end of May, it seems that little can be done about obtaining the initially determined venue for the orientation. Carl has two options. First, he could find a different venue in the building for the orientation. There are various challenges related to this. First, the new venue might not have the necessary equipment or sufficient space for the orientation Carl is planning. If this is the case, he should find an alternative, more suitable venue elsewhere. Possibilities include conference rooms at hotels or libraries. Because the time schedule is relatively tight, another challenge might be that all of the available rooms in the vicinity might be booked. This would also depend upon the presence of any national or international conferences in the area. Another challenge to this might be cost, which would be significantly higher for training at an alternative venue than at the ABC premises. Carl would have to discuss this with management, the finance office, and Monica.

Failing the ability to find a suitable training venue by the time of the scheduled training, an alternative for Carl is to arrange the training for an alternative date, by the end of June, when Joe has finished with his use of the venue. This would mean that the recruits could still be working by July, with only a few days lost between training and work orientation.

Carl should start immediately making all these arrangements, so that he can notify his superiors as well as Monica of any glitches to the predetermined schedule. If all goes well, Carl would only have to notify everyone of the change in training venue and potential cost differences. Furthermore, a change of venue or date would also necessitate informing entities such as caterers, so that refreshments can be provided at the appropriate venue and time.

A challenge Carl will face is making all the necessary arrangements within more or less 15 days. Before trying to handle the problem himself, a good idea is perhaps to communicate his situation openly and honestly first with Monica, and then with his superiors. While this would cause a considerable dent in his reputation as excellent new employee, his willingness to openly admit his own shortcomings would create a sense of confidence in his ability to take responsibility.

Before making the decision to communicate the situation, however, Carl should have a clear plan in place for handling the situation. He should then prepare a full presentation regarding how he plans to mitigate the situation at the least cost to the company, including alternative training venues, drug screening, and potential alternative recruits should some of the existing ones prove unsuitable.

Presenting a clearly considered plan of action rather than simply admitting his mistake to his superiors and to Monica would create the impression that Carl is willing not only to take responsibility for his problems, but also that he…