Case 5-1
Summary
A midsized local printing company, Hartson Printing Services, served a targeted region in the United
States and was managed by a husband and wife team. As the company grew, the couple, Angie and Joe
Hartson, decided to create a General Manager position, and decided to advertise in their local and regional
newspapers.
Analysis
The Hartson Printing Services case offers students the opportunity to assess recruitment strategies and
targeting advertisements specifically for the needs of an organization. Also, the reach of the recruiting
effort is an important consideration for this case, as the Hartson Company was a midsized local company,
which may not benefit from a large geographic recruiting effort. Recruiting strategies such as social
media, print media, or targeted job sites may also be discussed in reference to the geographic recruiting
effort. Instructors should stress that this case represents an external targeted recruited strategy, which
requires a different strategy than internal recruitment or succession planning.
Questions
1. What was wrong with the Hartson’s first recruiting advertisement?
The original advertisement had very little content to tell potential applicants what set of knowledge and
2. What do you think happened to cause the first advertisement to be off target in reaching its intended
audience?
The original ad was quite likely trying to hide the identity of the business under the belief that they would
be inundated with applicants if it identified the company. In making the ad so generic in nature, they
3. What problems did this first attempt at advertisement create for the owners?
The end result of putting a poorly targeted advertisement in a newspaper with statewide circulation was
4. What significant differences do you see between the first and the second ad?
The first advertisement provided very little substance. The only thing known was that this was a printing
5. Would you make any other changes to clarify the job? If so, what changes would you make and why?
If not, why not?
There are many other items that could be discussed in searching for individuals capable of doing this job,
6. In what external recruiting sources would you choose to publish the new advertisement? Be specific
and provide your reasoning for your choice(s).
Probably the best options for this advertisement would be either an industry newsletter, magazine, or
Case 5-2
Summary
Residential construction is a profitable industry in the United States, with an annual revenue of about
$425 billion. This includes contractors and builders who work with other specialty trade contractors for
construction. Housing demand entirely depends on population and economic growth. Currently, housing
demand has strengthened and prices have increased.
There are four strategies to recruit this target market:
(1) change your target market and look for high school and college students and veterans
(2) change your recruitment strategies through social media and technology
(3) brand your company through labeling and promotion
(4) enhance company culture with an informal atmosphere
Analysis
This case study provides an example of why predictive analytics sometimes does not work and shows that
even though the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted a 13% growth for construction, a labor shortage
instead existed. Speculation of reasons for this shortfall link to the energy sector and current political
Questions
1. What are the external forces acting on the recruitment effort for construction workers?
Generally, the external forces acting on recruitment fall into two categories: the available labor market
2. What are some viable alternatives that homebuilders can use in lieu of employee recruitment?
Recruitment is the process of creating a reasonable pool of qualified candidates for a job opening. The
case assumes that homebuilders need to directly employee more workers in order to meet the increasing
3. Social media recruiting is one of the methods recommended by Charles Kimmel of Kimmel and
Associates to reach the millennials (high school and college students). What are the issues involved in
using social media and how can they be overcome?
Many firms now heavily use social media including LinkedIn, Facebook, Jobvite, and Monster.com.
Issues in using social media include having to sort through thousands of resumes for one job or making
4. What methods external recruitment methods are discussed in the case?
External recruitment is the process of engaging individuals from the labor market outside the firm to
apply for a job. These methods include walk-ins, going to educational institutions, employment agencies
5. What are the challenges and constraints in recruiting construction workers?
The recruitment process is expensive and time-consuming and is effected by budgetary constraints,
organizational policies (i.e., can we hire relatives?), a realistic job preview (pros/cons of the job), and
6. What are the differing methods for evaluating the success of a recruitment program and what methods
are described in the case?
There are several differing methods for evaluating the success of a recruitment program including: yield
ratio (number of qualified applicants divided by total number of applicants), cost per hire (divide the total