Alex and Selina, the co-founders of WEC, sat huddled at the round table in Alex's office. They often met there toward the end of the day to update each other on what was happening in the organization. Sometimes, especially when there were lots of problems, the meeting could stretch until midnight. On this day, the news was mostly good. New projects kept rolling in, quarterly profits were higher than expected, and the company's reputation seemed to be getting stronger. Indeed, the company continued to grow and prosper. However, they both knew that they could take nothing for granted. There were plenty of examples of promising companies that had fallen apart when their leaders got complacent. They were determined that was not going to happen to them. More HR Bench Strength It was past 7:00 p.m. when Selina said, "Listen, maybe I had better go. I'm getting kind of hungry." Alex looked out the window and noticed the increasingly darkening skies. He said, "You're right, it is getting late. Time for one more thing?" When she nodded, he continued, "I have been thinking for some time that we need to invest a little more in the people management side of our business. We've had a couple of key people leave, and I'm worried that we might not have enough control over our HR strategy."" Selina looked up in surprise: "I thought that was one of the reasons why we hired Charlotte. She has training in that kind of thing, and she is pretty on the ball, in my opinion." Alex fidgeted with one of the stress balls that littered his office. Some part of him always had to be moving. He said, "Charlotte is great, but right now, all her time goes to putting out fires. We need to start being proactive, and I think we need some deeper bench strength. I was thinking we should hire an HR manager. You know, someone who doesn't just wait for us to tell them what to do. Someone seasoned who can help us figure out what strategies we should be following. In other words, I'm concerned that Charlotte is a good follower, but I think we need more of a leader in this area." Although he wanted to keep talking, he paused to let Selina consider his words. A few moments later she responded: "I can see how that might be helpful, but are you sure Charlotte wouldn't be capable of doing more if we gave her the chance?" Leaning forward to shut off his laptop, Alex shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe she would be able to grow into the Job, but I don't think we have time to wait and find out. We need someone soon. And the good news is that I may have already found the right person. When I was in that golf tournament last month, the organizers mixed up the teams as a networking thing. I ended up sharing a cart with a woman named Rebecca Ali. She works in HR at a major department store, though I can't remember which one. She has over 10 years of experience, and I really liked her. She was telling me that she creates a recruitment binder for every new job complete with onboarding materials, job ads, position profiles, compensation and benefits informa- tion.... And she was a fabulous golfer. I am sure I can find her through a quick Google search. Why don't we bring her in for an interview? I think she would be perfect!" Let's Not Be Hasty Shaking her head, Selina said, "I don't know, Alex. I don't have a good handle on what exactly you're looking for in this position. I don't want to be hasty." Alex stood up and paced around his office. "Come on, Selina, I've got a good feeling about this person. You know I'm a great judge of character. Think about how nice it would be if we could fill this position with the very first candidate we see!" Selina laughed at Alex's enthusiasm. She was always amazed at his ability to jump into things with both feet. However, she knew that sometimes he jumped too fast and got burned. She said, "Let me sleep on it, Alex. I don't want to make any big decisions when it's late and I'm hungry. We'll talk tomorrow. Okay?" She grabbed her things from the table and started to make her way out. He nodded and said with a smile, "Okay, Selina. Fair enough. But mark my words. You're going to love Rebecca when you finally meet her!" DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of recruit- ing internally versus externally for the HR manager position? Should WEC consider both internal and external candidates for the HR manager position? 2. What do you think of Alex's plan to hire the person he met at the golf tournament? If you were to give him some advice on how to recruit for an HR manager, what would you say? Write down a list of steps for Alex to follow. 3. What are the best recruitment methods for finding qualified applicants for the HR manager position?