The recruiting department is overwhelmed with requests to hire more employees for a $24-$hour company call center. Recently, several recruiters and a number of long$-$time, high$-$level performers resigned to work for competitors for better pay. The remaining workforce feels that the work is tedious, the pay is low, the space is noisy, and there are no opportunities for advancement.

A high$-$volume contract recruiter from a local search firm has been brought in to assist in hiring for the call center vacancies. The contract recruiter sets up a private office that doubles as an interview room and is given system access to all online search engines paid for by the company. The company is charged a finder$$s fee for each candidate that the call center manager interviews.

The HR manager is alerted in casual conversation with the call center employees that the contract recruiter is the spouse of the call center manager and that several nonqualified candidates have been sent through the interview process at the company$$s expense.

What can the HR manager do to ensure that only qualified candidates are being selected for the interview process?