CASE STUDY: AN UNUSUAL CHALLENGE—IMMEDIATE STAFFING FOR

A GOVERNMENT PROJECT

• A small government contractor, ABC Consulting, contacted the

staffing company, Strategy for Human Resources (SHR), to seek
help with the extraordinary staff acquisition challenge it faced
 Challenge

• ABC Consulting received a contract for a part of the national border

security rollout, which required extensive additional temporary human
resources for success. With less than 4 weeks’ notice and thus no time for
planning, the contract required the immediate hiring and training of a
large temporary staff. The human resource director started the hiring
process immediately but was not confident about his ability to
successfully fulfill the agreed-upon contractual obligations.
• Constantly fluctuating staffing requirements, rollout locations were
changing on a daily basis, and the hiring operations requiring constant
extensive coordination and prime contractor/government client
interaction posed a huge challenge for ABC. Human resource
management was feeling totally exhausted after 1 month of intensive
round-the-clock work. The company’s structure was not capable of
supporting the extensive growth in such a short time-period. The
company needed to hire 15 times its current staff for this temporary
project; 75 percent of these temporary hires were first-level managers,
technical and finance staff, and logistics experts. Also, all locations across
the United States needed to be staffed.
 Action

• ABC engaged SHR to help with the unusual staff acquisition challenge it
encountered. SHR took over management of the human resources
acquisition effort and
• Created a temporary recruiting function and human resources staff.
• Hired 2,000 people in less than 7 weeks.
• Developed and communicated specific human resource management
(HRM) policies and practices for the project.
• Trained managers on employee discipline and relationship issues.
• Established guidelines for all these temporary employees.
• Established a human resources call center to address employee needs.
• Developed effective, frequent communications with all locations and
employees.
• Developed an incentive compensation plan.
• Created a template for future efforts.
• Provided extensive coaching and counseling to existing
management to mitigate stress.
• Completed a benefits review, chose a new broker and benefits
plans, and communicated to employees.
• Coached managers on disciplinary actions and terminations.
• Interviewed hired several executives.
• Established a new human resources organization for future needs
and interviewed candidates for human resources director.
• Conclusion
• With the help from SHR, ABC Consulting met the challenge and met
the staffing needs, which ensured its success on this project. The
prime contractor and the federal government commended the
company for its excellent services.
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Pre-assignment, negotiation, and acquisition are tools for acquiring the project
team. Which of these tools has been used in this case?
2. Was ABC Consulting’s decision to procure the services of SHR a wise move?
3. What are the key staffing challenges discussed in this case? Explain.
4. Which of the triple constraints of the project (schedule, budget, and scope) was
most unstable in the project mentioned in this case?
5. What are the lessons learned from this case?