Desi Solutions, LLC, a Los Angeles-based, medium-sized project management-consulting firm was awarded a large project by a private client that prompted the need for more staff. First, there was a pressing need to hire a human resource (HR) manager immediately who could provide strong leadership to manage the challenges to be faced during the expansion. Hence, an HR manager was hired from a bigger organization to plan and execute the project human resource management processes. The consulting firm established key performance indicators, which included managing ramp-up within the time constraints, minimizing attrition, managing organizational development initiatives, contributing to the existing processes, and leading the HR team to better efficiencies. When the project started, the key positions were filled first via pre-assignment followed by the initiation of the rest of the hiring based on the staffing management plan. The hiring began and the initiatives functioned well, showing results until the project encountered a roadblock. What Led to the Roadblock?
Multiple problems led to the roadblock encountered by the project. These problems were related to the term of positions, compensation, and HRM processes as described in the following:
• Positions term: The positions that Desi Solutions filled for the project were all 1-year, limited-term positions. Thus, the new hires were constantly looking for permanent full-time positions. This limited-term nature of the positions triggered rapid staff attrition. The firm lost significant head count, which posed a huge risk to the project that it had undertaken.
• Compensation: Based on the recommendations from the newly hired HR manager, Desi Solutions enacted new human resource compensation policies at Desi Solutions to deal with its financial issues. The new HR policies entailed a new salary structure for the new hires with reduced compensation and other benefits. The market, however, was competitive offering much higher salaries and better benefits for the similar job roles that Desi Solutions offered. This was another factor that contributed further to staff attrition.
• HRM processes: The HRM processes were not executed consistently, and the HRM plan lacked adequate planning for risk mitigation and guidelines for staff retention.
Conclusion
The HR manager was let go immediately and the firm decided to retain an external staffing firm to help it through the project.
This is a classic example of a human resource management planning failure.
Questions:
1. Identify the stakeholders within this case and discuss their "position" (the expected outcome from their perspective) and "power influence position" (their overall ability to influence the outcome).
2. From a Human Resource perspective, describe the issues discussed in this case. List the issues of the case in order of importance (from your point of view-provide rationale for your response).
3. Describe the potential risks and challenges associated with this case. How can the HR representative mitigate these risks/challenges?
4. Who do you think was responsible for this HRM fiasco? Was the firing of the HR manager justified? Provide a detailed explanation for your decision.
5. What would you have done differently if you were the HR manager in this case?