HRM Incident 1: Poor choices

Wilsons is opening a new warehouse in Leeds to support its six sports retail outlets in the North of England. The company already had warehouses at two UK sites, but aggressive expansion plans have seen 12 new stores opening over the last three years.

Dave Armitage is part of Wilsons head office HR team and has been tasked with managing the recruitment for the warehouse, which is due to open in six months. Based on the existing warehouse staffing structure, a number of different job roles have been identified:

• Warehouse operative
• Shift supervisor
• Warehouse manager
• Staff canteen supervisor
• Staff canteen assistant

Dave has typically dealt with recruitment to management positions both at the head office and the stores and has been very successful in attracting applicants using the companys website and LinkedIn.

Yet, with one month to go before the warehouse is due to be up and running, there are still 37 vacancies for warehouse operatives as well as two canteen assistants.

QUESTIONS

1. Why are Daves usual recruitment methods unsuccessful for some roles?
2. The new warehouse manager gave his word a month before the warehouse was due to open. Which recruitment method do you think would be most appropriate at this stage? What are the drawbacks of these methods?
3. Dave reviewed the recruitment process for the warehouse and concluded that a mixed-methods approach would have been more effective in this case. What issues could this have presented?