CASE ANALYSIS

Please read the following case and then answer the 2 questions at the end of it.

As a proud alumni of UTSC, you have worked in HR for a successful consulting organization in Vancouver for the past 8 years. You played a central role in helping to lead that company to market leader status. Human Analytics Personalized Performance Industries (HAPPI), a growing analytic performance consulting firm, has recently hired you to help them revamp their selection process. HAPPI started as a small start-up, and experienced many ups and down over the first 10 years of their existence. Over the past three to four years, however, they have made a series of new innovations and have grown considerably. From a team of four people, they quickly have grown to over 35 full time employees. They are expected to more than double their workforce within the next five years, with talk of even launching a public stock offering. While this growth has been exciting, it has revealed some fundamental issues in their company. HAPPI realized that the way in which they have been building their organization needs to change. With this in mind, HAPPI decided to bring you in as their new head of HR to help take their organization to the next level.

From the moment you came on board, you realized that the main problem the company was facing was a lack of proper selection methods. It is clear to you that if this isnt fixed immediately, the company would suffer greatly as they tried to grow. The current selection procedure largely consists of contacting applicants who have the most years of experience on their resume, then giving them an Intelligence test, the Big-5 Personality test, and a Graphology measure. Then the CEO sits down with candidates and asks them a few questions about themselves and their previous job experiences. She then checks on their references before making a decision based on her gut feel. While the company has been successful, this is largely due to the innovativeness of a few key initial employees, but their impact on the functioning of the company is shrinking as the company grows. The CEO doesnt know why most new hires arent performing very well. She knows something has to change and is counting on you. There is a lot of pressure on you to get this right. Everyone is expecting you to have the answers. Can you help them become the leaders of their industry?

Answer the following three questions using the case information as well as what we learned in class (and from the book) this term.

1. What are two strengths of HAPPIs current selection methods? Make sure to explain why (1 mark). List and explain the primary flaws/weaknesses of their process (2 marks)?

2. Describe the process that you would recommend that HAPPI uses to improve the selection measures they use? (Total 4 marks)