The SMC Company, a manufacturer of ergonomic office equipment is located in a small Midwestern town of 30,000 people with an unemployment rate of 2.2%. The 100 employees of SMC are 90% white, wile the local labor market population is approximately 40% minority. The CEO and five directors are white males, and the only female supervisor works in customer service. There are six departments under the SMC CEO, with the number of individuals employed in each department in parentheses: 1) Human Resources (2); 2) Customer Service (5); 3) Finance/Accounting (7); 4) Manufacturing (65); 5) Operations (10); 6) Marketing/Sales (10). Due to increased demand, SMC Company needs to increase output by 100%. This will require a staffing plan and the development and implementation of recruiting strategies.
Staffing for SMC is made more difficult by the low rate of unemployment in the area, the small population of the town, and, according to Russell (2004, p. 1), a labor market that represents a candidateÆs market: ôIn the last two or three years employers could dictate what they needed or were willing to pay, but not itÆs starting to shift in the other direction.ö In light of these challenges, the following staffing plan is proposed, for each department, to produce the increased demand required for SMC CompanyÆs growth:
HR Finance/Account Manufacturing Operations Mrktng/Sales
A total of 42 new hires will be required to meet the increased demand for production.
Recruitment strategies involve not only how to find new employees but also what kind of employees are sought. Traditionally, individuals who are above average, with a good resume, previous experience, great references, and good presentation were sought by companies with ôform being more important than substance,ö (Bergdahl, 2004, p. 42). However, with a demographic of candidates with a minimum education of a high school education or GED, the approach used by Wal-Ma...