Question

Video Lase for Management of Human Resources. The Essentials, 4ce Crisis Hiring You may have heard that Canada's manufacturing sector has slowed down and that there are few growth opportunities in this sector. This blanket statement certainly does not apply to Winpak. This company is growing in Canada and the US, and is hiring staff in their manufacturing operations. The company produces packaging for food products, and has seen steadily rising demand for their products. Winpak recently hired employees for long term positions in their plant as they expect their annual sales to rise from $600 million to $1 billion over the next few years. Finding workers should be easy in an environment where many employers are laying off people or shutting down. But how does a firm decide which applicant to hire? How does a firm attract applicants who will fit into the organization and become highly productive employees? Is every applicant capable of being an excellent employee? If not, how do you determine which applicant will be the best choice? Once you have hired, how do you make sure that employees remain motivated in a workplace where the work may be quite repetitive? And how do you select people who can grow and advance with the company as it changes, or will people have limited growth potential? Finally, how do you retain excellent employees who may have other job opportunities as the economy grows? These are challenges that Winpak faces as it expands. The company operates in a competitive environment and requires committed engaged workers as it grows. Over time, the company will adopt new technologies and production methods. The company will also require more management and supervisory personnel. Will the company be able to promote from within or will the company have to attract from outside? While growth is extremely desirable for this business, it must carefully manage its human resource functions in order to continue to grow in its industry. Video Resource: Based on "Crisis Hiring". The National, (September 14, 2011). Discussion Questions 1. Most businesses, including those in manufacturing, increasingly rely on skilled labour (think labour rather than touch labour). What is the difference between recruiting and retaining skilled labour and unskilled manual labour? 2. How does a company like Winpak retain valued employees? 3. How should a company like Winpak determine which employees should be promoted?

Answer 1

1. The process of recruitment of skilled labour and retaining them is quite cumbersome. There is a long round of tough interviews at the time of recruitment of skilled labour as high level of money is involved in the recruitment process, whereas the recruitment of unskilled manual labour is very simple of maximum one round as there is not much money involved in the same.

Moreover, skilled labours are in great demand in the industry, so loyalty bonus, rewards, recognition and high level of salary is offered to them in order to retain them. Whereas, unskilled manual labour are not in much demand so the retention is quite easy for them.

2. Company like Winpak which is a billion dollar company does not want to lose its skilled and long term employees at any cost. So they offer loyalty bonus, retention bonus, awards, recognition and high salary in order to motivate them and finally to retain them.

3. Company like Winpak, should follow Performance appraisal system where in the performance measures are being decided. The employees are first being employed by the manager, scrutinized for testing the eligibility to work on several tasks, and the major achievements. The employees are being asked to fill in the required columns against the performance measures. Finally the 360 degree feedback is being collected from all the stakeholders involved. Based on the above measures and their achievements, promotion decision is being taken.