Friendly Financial Works Discussion
adding the chapter 5 link to help answer the questions from book and reading summary only
https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/human-resource-management/9781118582800/17_chapter05.html#c5
Please read the case and answer the questions at the end. Please respond to two of your peers. Do you agree or disagree?
Friendly Financial Works is a fictional provider that sells accounting, payroll, and financial services to small businesses. The company uses an integrated software platform to help small businesses better manage their financial assets. Based on the assumption that small business owners often lack the expertise and time to manage financial assets effectively, Friendly Financial seeks to provide a relatively inexpensive “one-stop solution” for financial planning and control.
Friendly Financial’s business model calls for providing services at the lowest cost rather than giving customized service to each client. To be successful, Friendly Financial needs to lower its costs by continually increasing the number of small businesses that use its services. The success of Friendly Financial thus depends largely on its sales force.
The sales force is divided into geographic territories, with a territory manager having exclusive responsibility for all sales activity within a specific area. Territories are organized into sales districts. The average number of territories in each district is 20. Each district is led by a district sales manager who oversees all personnel activities, such as hiring and training, in the territories within his or her district.
Territory managers are paid on a commission basis. They generate most of their sales by cold calling on potential businesses. A typical day consists of 10 to 15 unannounced visits to small businesses. The territory manager seeks an appointment with the owner or manager of each firm he or she visits. When an appointment is granted, the territory manager makes a presentation and tries to develop a contract between the small business and Friendly Financial. As with most unannounced sales calls, a large majority of visits end without a contract to provide services.
A major concern for Friendly Financial Works is identifying and keeping enough territory managers. The turnover rate is approximately 200 percent each year. This means that a district sales manager must usually hire about 40 new employees in a given year. In most cases, when a job vacancy occurs, the district sales manager travels to the sales territory to begin recruiting. The district sales manager places an advertisement in the local newspaper and includes a telephone number for potential recruits to call. The manager then spends three to four days at a local hotel answering phone inquiries and conducting interviews. The territory manager position is usually offered to the best available candidate on the final day that the district sales manager is in the territory.
District sales managers pride themselves on being able to land the sales representatives they like best. Many district sales managers boast that they can sell anything to anybody, and this is how they approach employee recruiting activities. Because they are talented sales representatives, district sales managers generally do a great job of touting the benefits of the position.
Questions:
What aspects of the recruiting process increase the likelihood that territory managers will leave once they have been hired?
Should Friendly Financial use other methods to recruit territory managers? Which methods?
Is the recruiting process at Friendly Financial efficient? What are some things that might be done to reduce recruiting costs.?
Stringtown Iron Works Discussion
chapter 6 text book link to use to answer questions use only this and reading summary
https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/human-resource-management/9781118582800/18_chapter06.html#c06-129
Please read the case and answer the questions at the end. Please respond to two of your peers. Do you agree or disagree?
Stringtown Iron Works is a small fictional shipyard on the East Coast dedicated to shipping overhaul. It focuses on obtaining government contracts for overhauling naval ships. These overhauls require Stringtown to maintain a quality workforce that is capable of rapid production. The position of pipefitter is particularly critical for success.
Pipefitters are responsible for repairing and installing the piping systems onboard the vessels. Employees in the pipefitter classification may also be called on to work in the shop, building pipe pieces that are ultimately installed on the ships. Like most union jobs in the yard, pipefitters are predominantly white men between the ages of 30 and 45. As part of the most recent bargaining agreement, work is primarily done in cross-functional teams.
Job Description
Job: Pipefitter
Pay: $12.00 to $20.00 per hour
A pipefitter must:
Read and interpret blueprints and/or sketches to fabricate and install pipes per specifications.
Perform joint preparation and fit-up to fabricate and install brazed and welded piping systems.
Perform layout and calculations to fabricate and install the pipe.
Fabricate pipe pieces up to 10” in diameter and up to 10′ long to support shipboard pipe installation.
Install ship’s piping, such as water, drains, hydraulics, lube oil, fuel oil, high-temperature air, etc. on location and within tolerances per design.
Inspect and hydro test completed piping systems to ensure compliance with the ship’s specifications.
Use a variety of hand and power tools to perform joint preparation, assembly bolt-up, and positioning during fabrication and installation.
Utilize welding equipment to tack-weld pipe joints and to secure pipe supports to ship’s structure.
Completion of the above tasks requires pipe fiT1tters to do the following:
Frequent lifting and carrying of 25–50 pounds
Occasional lifting and carrying of over 50 pounds
Occasional to frequent crawling, kneeling, and stair climbing
Frequent pushing, pulling, hammering, and reaching
Frequent bending, stooping, squatting, and crouching
Occasional twisting in awkward positions
Occasional fume exposure
Questions:
Which of the overall HR strategies would be best for Stringtown Iron Works?
Should Stringtown focus on job fit or organization fit?
Should Stringtown hire based on achievement or potential?
What selection methods would you recommend for Stringtown? Why?
