Roberts 21695644 ReportA

8/4/2019 Roberts 21695644 ReportA

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IronStrongs

Recruitment, Selection& Placement of

Specialist Engineers


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Contents Page

Contents Page........................................................................................................................................2

Executive Summary................................................................................................................................i

Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2

Results/findings/discussions...................................................................................................................4

Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................12

Recommendations................................................................................................................................13


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Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to identify the external and organisational issues affecting IronStrongs

recruitment, selection and placement activities and generate options aimed at improving their

practices.

IronStrong are located in the Philbara region of Western Australia and are experiencing problems

attracting specialist engieneers. Management are expressing dissatisfaction with the performance of

recruits and they commonly resign after one to two years of service.

The mining industry have been experiencing a people shortage early 2000 and this is expected to

worsen over next five years given the demographic challenges faced with a population shortage.

Competition is further compounding the attraction problem with demand for engineers in the gas

sector growing, and its a more attractive industry. Instability is being created through the inability

to fill positions leading to less contracts being placed in the Western Australian region. The

attractiveness of the industry has suffered as a result and conditions of employment given the

environmental location is also a challenge. Solution may be found through immigration but

political debate is leaving Australia with a negative international image.

Recruitment, selection and placement (RSP) strategies tie closely to organisational strategy and

human resource professionals are struggling to gain credibility and a seat around the boardroom

table to contribute in the mining section. A cultural disconnect needs to be investigated given the

management dissatisfaction with employees.

IronStrong can improve their attraction and retention by gathering valuable feedback internally and

externally through job analysis, focus groups and surverying the RSP process from people who

have experienced it. Developing a campaign that targets candidates demographically, i.e. women

and regionally, i.e. indigenous and rural people, may assist in widening the search.

IronStrong would benefit greatly through the use of e-recruitment and building their website

presence and online tools for a more fulfilling organisational experience.

My research was conducted using academic journals, course text books, general website searching

and articles from the Australian Financial Review. I noted a substantial lack of information in

regards to the placement process and believe through my experience that there is more notable

material that has not been researched academically.


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Introduction

Purpose or objective of writing the report

To identify the external and organisational issues affecting IronStrongs recruitment, selection and

placement activities and provide an evaluation of IronStrongs practices and policies and explore

alternatives aimed at improving the attraction and retention of candidates.

Background Information

The issues that IronStrong are experiencing have been forecast since early 2000 and is expect to

gain momentum over the next five years given the economic boom in the industry. Competition

has grown for engineers with Queenslands mines being a more attractive location for the

candidates. This compounded by a people shortage is very worrying for the mining.

Human resource professionals are gaining credibility and a seat around the boardroom table to

contribute to the organisations strategic goals, but my research suggests that this is not applicable to

the IronStrong, typical in the mining industry given their lack of engagement strategies with

personnel and representation on the boardroom table.

Scope

The study was extended to current market conditions affecting the mining industry and RSP

theories over the past decade including external factors and organisational issues.

Methodology

The material referred to in this study was gathered through reading articles, mainly the Australian

Financial Review, a variety of academic journals and human resource manuals on recruitment,

selection and place and quoting references from these. Background understanding on the

presentation and functionality of mining companies websites was gain through the use of the

Internet and projectised through commentary on my personal experience.


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Assumptions and limitations

The human resource professionals and department currently are and have been acting in an ethical

manner and adhering to legislative requirements appropriate to their role.

Placement strategy literature was not highly evident in the recommended reading and appears to be

an area lacking academic research. Current education of human resource professionals refer to this

process as on boarding, extending induction phase, creating a holistic experience of the RSP

process from start to finish. Reference to this method is not used due to the lack of academic

support.

The current process of RSP that IronStrong follow is:

Recruitment - advertising in newspapers, website, consultants and word of mouth.

Selection - initial culling of applicants not meeting minimum criteria, interviewing usingpanel of three, second interview with panel of three, decision on candidate.

Placement - offer, negotiation, acceptance and induction program involving issuing on

employee manual, occupational health and safety training, time in main office and time on

site.

Plan

The report is divided into four main sections:

Clarify the RSP process and the role it plays in an organisation.

Exploration of the external environment including current issues.

Analyse IronStrongs RSP activities and explore alternatives.

Recommended RSP process.


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Results/findings/discussions

Recruitment, Selection and Placement

Quality policies and practices for attracting, selecting and placing the appropriate employees is vital

to business success. Mayson and Storen refer to this as, An organisations ability to develop

organisational systems and routines that contribute to the development of its human capital is

linked to superior organisational performance. Mayson & Storen citing Delery and Huselid, 1996;

Wright, Dunford and Snell, 2001; Wright and McMahon, 1992, (2003), p. 3.

The purpose of recruitment and selection is to create a group of qualified job candidates from

which to select the best person. In the process, acknowledgment must be made to future staffing

needs, job analysis, legislative requirements, fair processes and organisational strategic goals.

The purpose of placement is the final step in the process involving the completion of employment

contracts and induction program.

The recruitment, selection and placement (RSP) steps remain the same for all companies, including

the mining sector, however the variables within the process are the actual activities associated with

each step. These activities are influenced by internal and external factors.

Mining Industry External Factors

Politics impact on RSP through legislation and public debates. Current political views on

immigration are having a negative effect on the mining industry with politicians using the media to

gain vote. Im sick and tired of federal politicians using cheap political campaigning around

population immigration, in particular focused on the politics of western Sydney, to win a few

votes, Barrett citing Buswell, (2010), p. 10. This has a direct affect on the mining industry that is

experiencing a people shortage. The promotion of these kinds of views can be damaging in the

attraction of overseas candidates. Without immigration, Australias labour force would not grow

at all in the next 40 years and the supply of labour will fall a long way short of demand, Dodson

(2010) p. 5.

Immigration policy impacts the mining industry from an economic perspective. The consequences

of ill-thought out cuts in immigration would be felt on Australias economic development over the

next 10, 20 or 30 years, Dodson (2010) p. 5.

Mr Ferguson cautioned that this could fuel inflation, which will have an impact on interest

rates. Dodson (2010) p. 5. With not enough people to fill positions in the mining sector, contracts


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may not be filled which directly affects our gross domestic product output, thus driving our

economy down and inflation up. In the past the mining industry has been sustained through our

domestic reliance on coal and it is expected to continue into the future, Australia will continue to

rely on coal as a major source of power. Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said yesterday.

Barrett, (2010), p. 10. However, current conditions are such that the mining industry is driving our

economy through increased exports particularly to China.

Internationally, the demand on our resource sector is continuing, however, The upturn in global

energy demand from Asia and a desire for cleaner-burning sources of energy is continuing to drive

interest in Australias gas reserves. Williams, (2010), p. 5. The mining industry faces some strong

competition and faces challenges with the image of non-environmentally friendly industry and a

more socially conscious work force.

The biggest challenges that the mining industry face are in the current and forecast employment

market demographic, employment patters and employing industries.

Firstly, Australia is in the process of a demographic transition characterized by rapid ageing of the

population, with an increasing proportion of the population accounted for by older age groups.

Lowry, Molloy & Tan, (2006), p. 36. Meaning that there just arent enough people to cater for the

work that needs to be done across the board, let along in an industry that is struggling to attract and

retain people. Given the specialist area that engineers in the mining industry operate, they arefurther hindered by the fact that, Over the last decade the Australian minerals industry has

experienced a chronic shortage of minerals specialist graduates, especially mining engineers and

metallurgical engineers. Lowry, Molloy & Tan, (2006), p. 54.

During the financial crisis the attraction rate increase towards the mining industry, during the

height of the crisis, in July last year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported employment in the

mining sector increased by 30 per cent in Queensland alone. Lawson (2010), p. 4.

However this trend has changed as businesses recover and competition has return to the job market.

While the resources sector, buoyed by soaring commodity prices, is leading the way, all industries

reported a big jump in sales and profits last month and are taking on new staff at rates not seen

since the height of the pre-crisis boom in late 2008, according to National Australia Banks

monthly business survey. Rollins, (2010), p. 1.

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IronStrong Organisational Factors

The approach that the human resource department takes is crucial to the successful RSP process

and A common mistake for HR managers is to concentrate on short-term replacement needs rather

than on the organisations long-range human resource requirements. Stone, R.J. (2006), p. 47.

Given that IronStrong is not succeeding in this, it should be viewed as an area for improvement and

innovation. It would prudent not to question if the human resource activities are strategically

aligned given that the choice of candidates has not been successful. Historically, not all human

resource professionals are aware of the strategic alignment of their duties and may be performing

them as a separate function as opposed to fulfilling a component of their job description.

Alternatively, senior management may not see them as integral to the strategic process. A view

supported by Hsu and Leat. HR managers in the survey may find such strategic integration

important and by implication desirable, in practice it may be very difficult for them to achieve

without having explicit written corporate strategies and HRM policies to refer to. Hsu & Leat

(2000), p. 416. What is concerning if this is a factor affecting IronStrong is that, corporate

disconnects carry high costs. McCune (1999), p. 17.

Research has indicated that expectations in regards to living conditions are not ideal in the mining

industry with fly in fly out rosters and temporary accommodation built in to part of their

entitlement making the placement process of RSP even more complicated. It makes the industry

even more subject to instability as discussed in a recent article. About half the workforce walkedoff the job for eight days earlier this year in a dispute over accommodation. Williams, (2010), p 5.

This is further compounded by competitors vying for skilled candidates in a limited pool of people.

Western Australia has found itself in the unexpected position of temporarily playing second fiddle

to the emerging unconventional gas rush on Australias east coast. Williams, (2010), p. 5.

As part of this competition for people, uncertainty in terms of longevity of projects is questionable

if projects are jeopardised by the lack of people to complete the work. Demonstrated by the transferof work to gas based projects. However, the availability and price of natural gas one of the

leaders in the commodities export boom have killed other WA projects. Roberts, (2010), p. 65.

Portraying this industry at high risk of instability.

Internal management style and organisational culture affect the placement of a new recruit.

Corporate mismatches or culture clashes can occur. McCune describes this as, a corporate

mismatch is the clash between the new hires old culture and the culture of his new company.

McCune (1999), p. 17 and Cultures clash because companies have different management styles,

ways of doing things and modes of communication. McCune (1999), p. 17.


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Possible Areas of Improvement

Full Review of Current Systems

In order to ascertain the full extent of the problem it is worth exploring the value in obtaining

valuable feedback from the human resource departments customers. The Mystery Shop is an

excellent tool to quickly ascertain how well the customer is being served. Hart (2006), p. 266.

Advantages:

A thorough understand of the applicants perceptions would be obtained giving

IronStrong valuable information to improve the process and encourage more applicants.

A view supported by Robertson and Smith, Applicant perceptions play a key role in

recruitment since negative views will inhibit some people from putting themselves

forward. Robertson & Smith (2001), p. 451.

Disadvantages:

Time consuming and expensive.

Job Analysis

Job analysis, and resultant job descriptions and person specifications, form the basis for the initial

employment of staff, establishment of employee performance standards and their subsequent

measurement, and the determination of grade and classification levels and remuneration systems.

The traditional role of job analysis within the personnel selection paradigm is to provide a fixed

starting point for all subsequent steps in the process. Robertson & Smith (2001), p. 444.

Given management has expressed inadequate performance of numerous new recruits it would be

pertinent not to perform a full job analysis. Some general techniques are observation, employee

diaries or logs, checklists and questionnaires, focus groups and individual or group interviews.

Advantages:

Management would have an opportunity to have input into the process and possible gain

some appeasement in the process.

Areas may be identified for improvement, quickly and with relatively minimal

investment.


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Disadvantages:

Job descriptions of other roles may be affected.

E-recruitment

IronStrong needs to raise awareness about their company as a whole utilising the Internet to capture

a greater pool of applicants. Given they are not attracting a lot of applicants in the initial phase of

recruitment suggests that communicating who they are may be part of the problem.

Mounting evidence suggests that organizational web sites have become a common resource

available to all job seekers. Cober, Brown,, Keeping, & Levy. (2004), p. 624.

IronStrong may also use their website to begin the applicants experience with them, by integrating

features such as colour, images, sound, video, animation, and interactivity, web site recruitment

provides job seekers with a much richer experience than traditional materials. Cober, Brown,

Keeping, & Levy. (2004), p. 624. This would assist to engage the potential employee from the

beginning of the process. Why wait for induction? In a tech savvy world people are viewing

websites as the image of the company. The presentational design of a web site is critical to

attracting and maintaining web surfers attention, just as the outward design of a building is critical

in architecture., Cober, Brown,, Keeping, & Levy. (2004), p. 625. The candidates website

experience should create a connection which is carried throughout their subsequent placement and

employment.

Evidence also suggests that engineers are in the main demographic of Internet users, their target

market. Your Web savvy will attract higher-quality candidates because of their practical know-

how. Toppy (1999), p. 306.

Advantages

Cost effective, offers immediacy and has computer savvy applicants.

Our target demographic.

Streamlines the process.

Disadvantages:

More applicants doesnt mean better quality.

Users of the Internet can also be stereotyped, resulting in a less diverse applicant pool.


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Loose the importance of networking and direct communication throughout the

recruitment process.

Potentially viewed by applicants as procedurally unfair.

Target Industries & Demographics

IronStrong would benefit from researching areas of the employment marketing that are on the

decline. This could either be an industry sector or employment demographic.

For example, The growing role of women in the work force depends on improved childcare

facilities, the availability of part-time work, job security after an absence for child-bearing,

maternity leave, special parental leave and partners prepared to share home duties. Stone, R.J.

(2006), p. 49. Given that IronStrong places significant investment in the accommodation services it

may be better utilised to build services targeting women and families.

If IronStrong are able to identify income gaps and capitalise on attracting people through

remuneration, We just have to look at what happened in the 2007 resources boom, when the

mining sector was screaming out for skilled labour in Western Australia and other areas and [was]

prepared to pay higher wages,, Dodson (2010), p. 5. IronStrong can reverse the trend and buy

employee loyalty.

Rural communities including remote locations and indigenous people may provide an untapped

resource. Common issues such as adjusting to the remoteness of communities, mining people not

contributing to local mining communities because of fly in fly out rosters, etc., would all be

addressed by targeting the attraction of people who are used to this kind of lifestyle, resulting in a

win-win situation.

Advantages:

Candidates are more loyal because they have been targeted and engaged.

Candidate market is opened up to new demographics

Local communities benefit with contributing citizens.

Retention increases.

Disadvantages:

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Not a traditional market to target with unknown expectations.

Remuneration and benefit costs may increase.

Adaptability of organisation may make this less feasible.

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Set of procedures to follow in RSP

1. Job analysis, person specification, competency profile and advertisement developed.

2. Employ the following recruitment methods:

Post on website

Post on internal intranet

Post with employment consultants

Post with newspapers

Post with management to encourage word of mouth

3. Screen candidates against person specification and competency profile.

4. Engage the following selection process:

Cognitive ability test

Initial interview with panel of three which must include the person whom the candidate is to

report

Second interview if unable to distinguish candidates

5. Suitable candidate selected with reserve noted.

6. References are checked.

7. Offer made to primary candidate.

8. Negotiation on contract of employment.

9. Acceptance.

10. Discuss induction arrangements and provide plan.

11. Meet with HR representative to explain conditions of employment, check off on allpaperwork completed for employment, explanation of all workplace matters, health and

safety, mission and structure of organisation, on the job performance and communication

systems.

12. Tour of location.

13. Introductions including:

Allocated buddy personColleagues

Available mentors


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Conclusion

IronStrong faces a challenging external environment with political debate on immigration policy,

demographic challenges with an ageing population and low birth rate. Competition from more

attractive regional locations, socially conscious and acceptable industries like gas booming and the

economic situation returning to a pre-financial crisis platform, prospects are challenging for

IronStrong. People are at the core of the problem for IronStrong, there just arent enough to fill

positions, let alone specialist mining engineers.

IronStrongs issues are two fold though with the expression from management of a lack of job

performance and retention of the employees. IronStrong needs to examine their people strategies

and ensure that they are aligned with the organisation. The adoption of best practice workplace

benefits and building themselves as a branded employer of choice would certainly help the

attraction. However, before IronStrong can even attempt to get to this point, a thorough assessment

of their current activities would be advisable.

Utilising web based technology and building the communication of who they are and what they do

for employees needs to be a focus given their target market is the demographic of Internet users.

Expansion of IronStrongs target employee market needs to extend further from the traditional

molds of an engineer. Exploring strategies to encourage women, regional and indigenous peoplecould have some surprising results. I found a lack of evidence to suggest that the mining industry

isnt targeting these areas, but with flexible workplace being a key motivational driver for women

in the current employment market and companies catering to this demand, IronStrong would be

ignorant not to employ similar strategies.

Indigenous communities are working hard to build relationships with industries to better their

peoples lives and IronStrong has a huge opportunity to foster this development within their

organisation.

Internally, job analysis is crucial and investigation of the performance issues must be completed to

enable an accurate assessment of needs.

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Recommendations

1. A full review of the human resource departments recruitment, selection and placement

activities is to be carried out in the form of surveying past and present employees.

2. Human resource department to meet with senior management for strategic alignment

discussion and strategy development.

3. Focus groups are to be run to contribute to the job analysis of the engineering role.

4. Website development of an interactive career section including applicant login and tracking

which converts to employee intranet upon successful appointment to a position.

5. Community leaders to be contacted and strategies discussed and developed on the

integration of mining employees to the community, indigenous employment and skill

development and accommodation changes to cater for families and women.

6. Key regional areas researched for targeting potential candidates.

7. Implementation of building IronStrongs employer branding through best practice RSP

processes.


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Roberts 21695644 ReportA

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Transcript of Roberts 21695644 ReportA