HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT II

TUTORIAL: 01
MODULES: 1-2
DUE-DATE:

QUESTION 1
CASE STUDY: TALENT PLANNING AND RECRUITMENT: THE COFFEE SHOP.

The Coffee Shop is a chain of 15 coffees shops in South Africa providing decadent coffees and
light meals, such as small quiches and pies, cakes, muffins and divine cupcakes. Brenda and
John Mahlangu are the founders of the chain which was established in 2011 when the first shop
was opened in the upmarket Sandton City Mall in Johannesburg. Within two years the business
‘boomed’, and 14 other shops were set up. Each shop has its own manager, senior and two
junior chefs, waiters and cleaners. With the retirement of the senior chef, a vacancy was left in
the coffee shop in Sandton. Brenda and John decided to bring in ‘new blood’ and not to
promote one of the junior chefs as they felt that the junior chefs needed more experience and
skill. The owners decided to recruit a new senior chef by placing an
advertisement in a local newspaper for two weeks.

Vacancy: Senior Chef

The ideal candidate should:
 Have at least 4 years’ experience in the
field of bakery and cookery
 Possess a relevant qualification
 Have good computer knowledge
An attractive salary package and benefits will
be negotiated.
Sent your CV to TCS@bakery.com or contact
Brenda at 011-878233

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Brenda and John were pleasantly surprised by the number of people who applied, however
when they looked through the applications they found that most applicants were inexperienced
and unsuitable. There was one applicant who had worked in the kitchen of a hotel and
appeared to have the necessary experience. They had a short interview with him and appointed
him immediately, starting the following week.

1.1. Why do you think so many inappropriate people applied for the position and what could
Brenda and John have done differently to widen the range of applicants?

1.2. Assume that you are responsible for the recruitment process for Coffee shop. Would
you prefer to recruit externally or internally? Motivate your answer by giving reasons for
your choice.

1.3. Briefly outline trends that would offer flexibility to the employees bearing in mind the
influence of the Covid-19 in managing the workplace.

Please note: You must support all your answers with suitable examples from the case study.

QUESTION 2

2.1. “People of diverse ages and backgrounds working for the common purpose is a recipe for
success for the local firms. Thus strength in diversity’s is the motto.” (Margaret Harris). Briefly
outline how would you recruit a diverse workforce bearing in mind the changes brought by
Covid-19 pandemic.

2.2. What type of interview would you recommend in the following scenarios? Motivate your
answer in each case.

2.2.1. A heart surgeon applying for a position as head of the cardiac unit at a large hospital
interviewed by an experienced Hospital Administrator.

2.2.2. An executive manager’s position interviewed by the Board of Directors for Eskom.

2.2.3. A motorcar parts clerk interviewed by the owner of Leo Hase Group of BMW dealers
operating in Tshwane.

2.2.4. A medical doctor as general practitioner in the provincial Hospital who is being
interviewed by an experienced interviewer.

2.2.5. 20 applicants for 10 vacant positions as seasonal apple packers on a farm.

2.3. According to South African law, not to offer a potential, but disabled, applicant a job based
on his or her physical limitations only would constitute an act of discrimination. Against this
background, what are uses of medical checks during the employment process?

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QUESTION 3

CASE STUDY: POOR PLANNING OR POOR RECRUITMENT

George completed his Bachelor’s Degree four years ago, with Human Resources Management
as one of his two majors at one of South Africa’s top Universities. He was employed as HR
manager by one of the largest Internet software companies in Africa, Soft Specials Dot Com,
which specialises in B2B network software. They have been in business since 1990 and with the
boom in electronics, and especially in the software industry, they have grown at a rate of 150%
per year. George has done so well in recruiting the right person for the right job in the right role
that he was promoted to HR Director in head office six months ago. The labour turnover is only
2%, which is actually alarming for George but he knows it is because of their excellent
remuneration packages and other benefits. They also promote internally and everybody knows
that they will get rewarded if they work hard in the organisation. George has promoted one of
his best candidates, Mthunzi, to fill his vacancy as HR manager.

George has just been called in by the CEO to help Mthunzi, the new HR manager, at Soft
Specials Dot Com. George was informed that the labour turnover has jumped up to 20% in the
last six months since George had been promoted. The very first thought that came into
George’s mind was have I made a mistake by promoting Mthunzi to HR manager?

Customer demand to license Soft Specials Dot Com’s software has boomed so much in the past
two years that more than 80 new software programmers have been added to help develop a
new range of software products. Soft Specials Dot Com’s growth has been so swift that the
company still operates informally, its organisational structure is loose and flexible, and
programmers are encouraged to find solutions to problems as they go along. Although this
structure worked well in the past, George has been told that problems are arising.
George knows that his job now will be to solve some management problems that have arisen
because of its rapid growth and also the serious and sudden increase in labour turnover.
George also learned that there have been increasing complaints from employees that good
performance is not being recognised in the organisation and that they do not feel equitably
treated lately. Moreover, there have been complaints about getting managers to listen to new
ideas and to act on them. A bad atmosphere is developing in the company, and recently several
talented employees have left. George can sense a negative organisational culture developing.

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CASE STUDY QUESTION

3.1. “Poor recruitment is a risky business for organisations”. You may agree or disagree with the
statement but briefly demonstrate your understanding of the aforementioned comment.

3.2. In your opinion, what other issues contribute to the sudden increase in the labour
turnover?

3.3. Why is it important to conduct pre-employment background investigations? How would

you go about doing so.

Please note: You must support all your answers with suitable examples from the case study.
QUESTION 4

4.1. “All new employees, whether permanent or part-time staff members, as well as longer
serving employees should attend an induction programme”. You may agree or disagree with
the statement, but give your reasons for your answers.
4.2. In small businesses, managers usually handle their recruiting. You own a small
engineering firm in East London. What recruitment methods would use for the following

situations? Give reasons for your choices.

4.2.1. You only have one engineer, who is due to retire in three weeks’ time. He must be
replaced with a highly skilled individual.

4.2.2. You need two more full-time sales persons: one to service local customers and one to
open a small sales office in Cape Town.

4.2.3. Your caretaker is going on holiday for three weeks.

4.2.4. Your secretary has the flu.

4.2.5. Sales manager to run a head office in Dubai.

Be Blessed_2020

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