SHRM Case Competition

Ashell Coba

Roxanna Diaz

Dayde Moreno

Javier Quinonez

Terence Timmerman

This report was commissioned to examine the next steps Maria and the management team should

take for the Fire & Ice Company (F&I).

F&I is a commercial A/C and heating company. The research draws attention to the fact that

with each passing year, revenue is increasing but profitability is dropping. F&I have experienced

a decrease in service agreement renewals and high employee turnover. Further investigation on

the hiring process reveals a lack of an onboarding training program, which has resulted in

inefficiency with new company hires. Nor does F&I recognize the need to encourage current

employees to grow within the company, which has created a stagnant company culture.

Moreover, key positions plan on retiring soon, and as well in five years. However, no succession

planning has been accommodated for any changes in management.

F&I would improve with a restructured hiring process that can be led by Maria Rodriguez, HR

Director. This restructure includes using alternate hiring resources instead of Craigslist to find

new members; this will be done through career fairs at technical schools and F&I’s new

volunteer program. Another key change will be the execution of reference checks to ensure

stable hires. Finally, the largest impact to this process is the implementation of an internship

program for multiple departments. This internship program will be originally led by the general

manager, construction manager, and service manager. Once interns are hired and promoted, the

program will be led by the new hires, at the time will be associates or assistant managers. F&I

will also need to establish this hiring process for all departments, by having a guideline to abide

by. Each department will have the same quality of employees, thus all departments will be of the

same caliber. Headhunters will not be used due to the Bob Cook’s, the CEOs, feelings on their

pricing. Additionally, due to the managers’ involvement, a more organic work culture will be

created as every hire will be a right fit for the company.

F&I’s sales department will also reorient their compensation and benefits policy. To create less

stress, and as a result better efficiency, rather than employees work to cover their compensation,

benefits, and produce a 30% profit, a base salary will be implemented. The base salary will

consist of $42,000, as well as offer a 2% commission rate. By having every sales member have a

base salary, and a base commission rate, an easier environment will be created which will

promote a heightened sense of teamwork, thus boosting the sales department as a whole, both for

the company, and for the individuals involved.

Performance management will go through an evolution as well. Apart from the sales staff,

performance goals are not established to anyone else in the company. Each department manager,

Hamilton Lewis, Connor Grant, and Lou Clark, will work alongside with Maria, HR director, to

implement department goals. Each department manager will also work alongside with Maria to

do performance reviews to negotiate pay and recognize any long needed employee pay raises.

After careful review of multiple surveys, F&I will undergo careful modifications to boost

employee morale. Currently, employees do not experience a sense of team work with one

another. F&I will transition this culture into a more organic one through the use of management

implementing proper employee recognition, to establish a rectified management-employee

relationship. By having this relationship established the old thought of managers having favorites

will be forgotten. Another tool that will be used is the implementation of team building

exercises, to improve employee relations. The most impactful method to create an organic

company culture is the use of the new internship program. By finding students that are in the

midst of finishing their Bachelor’s degrees, F&I can create a pool of young and qualified interns

for each department. These interns can be groomed with the expectation of having them integrate

into each department smoothly, and eventually create a staff for each department that work well

with each other due to their origins in the company. By having teams of interns become company

employees, company culture will naturally better itself as every team will have equally qualified

team members.

F&I’s current basic hiring program involves Karen Cook, HR manager, finding employees

through Craigslist ads. This process has been going on for years, however has resulted in high

turnover rate, thus establishing a weak staff within the company. In five to ten years, multiple

key managers are expected to either retire or switch positions internally in the company.

However, with the current administration staff there are no qualified candidates that are suitable

to be promoted to these positions. With this in mind, a well-structured internship program will be

introduced as a proper way to rectify this distant issue by hiring the interns with the idea of

promoting them to managers. The internship program is based on the idea of F&I creating a

well-established pool of employees that are not only qualified, but groomed to stay in the

company long term, thus fixing the high turnover rate. The internship program is broken down

based on department, and as a result each department manager will be heavily involved with

their departments internship branch.

The accounting and service departments will have their own branches within the internship

program. This is to ensure that qualified individuals are brought along to the current team, and

work well with one another, as these two groups are responsible for the current underestimates

that are occurring. By rebuilding these two departments with interns F&I can establish a strong

cohesive team and bring forth lost profit.

F&I’s current state of meetings are extremely inefficient. Being led by Bob Cook, the CEO, the

meetings involve an “open floor” type of setting where all employees are given the opportunity

to voice their complaints. However, almost all meetings end with Bob reciting “we must be

perfect” as no employees take the opportunity to voice their views. Due to how Bob Cook’s

abysmal reactions to new ideas, a tense environment is created when Bob is leading the

meetings. As a result of Bob Cook’s past the team decided to have Hamilton Lewis lead the

monthly meetings in order to create a more comfortable environment to voice opinions.

Other changes made are the structure of the quarterly meetings. Quarterly meetings will now

involve each department manager leading their respective departments through safety

presentations to discuss the latest state regulations. Along with these presentations the

department managers will lead team building exercises in order to improve the company’s work

culture. Lastly, one final change is the implementation of after work socials, these socials will

involve F&I inviting employee’s, and their families, to an open bar event and have Karen Cook,

the HR Manager, hand out awards in recognition of the employee’s hard work.

References

"Field Service Management Software. Scheduling, Dispatch, and More." MHelpDesk. N.p., n.d.

Web. 05 Jan. 2017.

"FLSA Overtime Rule Resources." SHRM. N.p., 01 Jan. 0001. Web. 05 Jan. 2017.

"How Much Does It Really Cost to Train an Employee?" ELearning Mind. N.p., 11 Sept. 2016.

Web. 05 Jan. 2017.

"Intern to New Hire: Reduce Recruiting Costs by Hiring Within: Intern Program Tips."

Internships.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2017.

"Ordinance." Earned Sick Time Chicago. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2017.

"OSHA Finally Issues Walking-Working Surfaces Rule." SHRM. N.p., 06 Dec. 2016. Web. 05

Jan. 2017.

"UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR." OSHA Injury and Illness Recordkeeping and

Reporting Requirements | Occupational Safety and Health Administration. N.p., n.d. Web. 05

Jan. 2017.