You have been asked to develop a graduate recruitment programme for an engineering firm, which designs and manufactures construction equipment.
Departments around the firm have been consulted about the requirements for the programme and the results were as follows:
• Research and Development: 10 product design engineers (required in design centres in US, UK, Germany, China)
• Manufacturing: 10 engineers involved in evaluation of new production processes and equipment and implementation of new production lines. Set up of new factories in new locations.
• Sales and Marketing: 15 roles in sales and marketing (required in all countries in which the company operates)
• Administration: 4 finance trainees, 2 FIR trainees and 2 purchasing trainees (divided equally between USA and UK)
Company facts:
• Headquarters in Chicago, Illinois
• International operations in 15 countries including the USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Middle East, China, Japan, India, Australia, South Africa and Nigeria.
• Employs 3000 people working in four divisions: Manufacturing, Sales and Marketing, Research and Development and the Administration divisions
• Provides equipment to the construction industry globally. Manufactures in USA, China, Germany and Spain
• Has a reputation for innovation in respect of new products, high quality manufacturing and is more expensive than the competition
• Has a culture which is focused on excellence, openness, collaboration and meritocracy
The objective of the graduate recruitment programme will be:
• Hire high quality graduates from universities which strong reputations in engineering
• Meet the firm’s diversity and equal opportunities objectives including encouraging more females into the predominantly male firm
• Salaries will be upper quartile for graduates based on the country into which they are hired.
• Ensure candidates fit the culture of the firm
Based on the information available, write a management report for the Executive Committee (1,000 words) summarising the key issues that will need to be considered in developing and implementing the graduate recruitment programme and your recommended approach.
The report should have as a minimum an Executive Summary, a Main Section detailing your analysis and proposed approach, Costings (can be an appendix) and Recommendations.
Key issues should include how to attract applicants, criteria for assessing candidates, methods for recruitment, the details of the proposed recruitment process including how it will identify the best candidates, meet the diversity objectives and ensure that candidates fit the culture of the firm.
Put forward an initial estimate of the staffing resources required, and the estimated cost to deliver the recruitment programme from beginning to conclusion .
Divide the total cost by the number of proposed hires to show estimated cost per hire.
