Stage2.doc

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Case Study – Stage 2

Maryland Technology Consultancy Company

Chelsea Brooke Mattingly
UMGU

June 15, 2021

Stage 1: Strategic Use of Technology

Introduction

Maryland Technology Consultants (MTC) is one of the leading constancy companies that was initiated in 2008 as an information technology consultancy organization. The company relies on its state-of-the-art technology to source consumers of its services (UMGC, n.d.). The main objective of the company is to provide effective Information Technology services to clients through highly qualified and skilled consultants in an on-site service providing a wide overabundance of services such as consulting, new commercial concepts and upended alongside new technology. However, the company has struggled to hire talented and qualified consultants who are required to meet the demands of the growing list of customers and the high demand for the company’s services (UMUC, n.d.). It is because of this that the company has decided to develop an applicant tracking system to ease and advance the hiring progression.
I. Strategic Use of Technology
A. Business Strategy
Maryland Technology Consultancy business unit is strategically developed to provide extraordinary information technology services to consumers. To achieve is its business strategy, the company requires to hire highly qualified employees on time to help the organization connect with the consumers and enhance business processes. Having highly qualified professional consultants will ensure that the organization remains relevant in the industry by being updated to the recent and relevant technologies (UMGC, n.d.). Replacing the current manual hiring system at the company with the automated system using current technology will not only enhance the recruiting process and save time and money but will expose the company to highly techno-professionals who are available online and on technology platforms. The hiring department will be able to access and reach as many talented information technology potential employees at the click of the button and improve the hiring process. Implementing a digital hiring process or system will weed out possible candidates and taking the aptitude to sufficiently inform, sift through, and timetable appointments to make the agreement with a new adviser and get them handled and going to work.

B. Competitive Advantage

The information consultancy industry has grown and has become more sophisticated in terms of technology. Considering this, it can be concluded that Maryland Technology Consultant company is not sophisticated enough to compete effectively in an industry that is dominated by consumers who are technology savvy. The company has no relevant technology that can allow it to hire a highly talented consultant to help it achieve the required growth (UMUC, n.d.). Therefore, having a new hiring technology system will allow the HR department to hire highly talented employees and enhance its growth. Installing such a system before the expansion of the company will allow the system to be tested and eliminate any forms of system-user hurdles that may be experienced in the future. MTC is competing with giant companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Science Applications International Corporation, therefore, implementing such as system will give it a competitive advantage over its competitors as they will assume that it is still operating on a manual hiring system (UMGC, n.d.). Similarly, the system will help the organization waste little or no time during the hiring process as the process will be automated.
C. Strategic Objectives

In this section, an explanation of company goals, objectives, and explanation of how they will be achieved will be provided in detail. Aching the goals and objectives is the best strategy that the company can strive to achieve.

Strategic Goal

(from case study)

Objective

(clear, measurable, and time-bound)

Explanation

(2-3 sentences)

Increase MTC Business Development by winning new contracts in the areas of IT Consulting

To put in place a competent marketing team that will work with different stakeholders to win more tenders within one year.

As a consultancy company, MTC has to work with relevant stakeholders to bring on board as many clients as possible. This means that the company will have to hire highly qualified marketers and information technology consultants to ensure that the goal is achieved. Therefore, implementing state-of-the-art hiring technology will ensure that the company reaches and hire only talented and qualified employees.

Build a cadre of consultants internationally to provide remote research and analysis support to MTC’s onsite teams in the U. S.

Increase international recruiting efforts and employ 5 research analysts in the next 12 months.

The new hiring system would allow applicants from around the world to apply online, increasing the number of international applicants. It would enable the recruiters to carefully monitor the applications for these positions, identify the necessary research and analysis skills needed, and screen resumes for these key skills. Recruiters could quickly view the number of applicants and identify when additional recruiting efforts are needed to meet the objective.

Continue to increase MTC’s ability to quickly provide high-quality consultants to awarded contracts to best serve the clients’ needs

Increase the number of information technology consultants through the international and local hiring processes and invest in marketing research to reach as many consumers at the local and international levels within six months.

It is interesting to note that the intended new digital hiring system will help the organization access and reach potential employees at the global and local levels. This will not only help the company reach international consultants but will also increase company awareness at the global level and increase the number of consumers at the global level. HR will be able to easily identify, select, and recruit highly qualified employees without wasting time.

Increase MTC’s competitive advantage in the IT consulting marketplace by increasing its reputation for having IT consultants who are highly skilled in leading-edge technologies and innovative solutions for its clients

Remain up-to-date with information technologies and employ new consultants to increase its customer service provision by at least 25% in one year.

With an increasing number of consultancy contracts at the company, the organization needs to hire more qualified employees to meet the demands of the consumers. This will only be archived if the company will have access to a highly qualified workforce. The new digital system at the company will therefore help the organization attain its goals.

D. Decision Making
Any organization has three levels of decision-making stages that include operational, managerial, and strategic. The decision-making levels are differently categorized to ensure that the information used is not confusing and is from relevant sources (UMGC, n.d.). Implementing a digital or techno-based hiring system will enhance communication among the stakeholders and improve the hiring process.

Role

Level as defined in Course Content Reading

Example of Possible Decision Supported by Hiring System

Example of Information the Hiring System Could Provide to Support Your Example Decision

Senior/Executive Managers

(Decisions made by the CEO and the CFO at MTC supported by the hiring system.)

The high-level leadership is only concern with meeting the budgetary and costs of implementing the hiring system and less concerned with patterns and trends.
The company CEO believes that HR will implement the new system effectively and process the prevailing contracts. The CFO is determined to meet the budgetary concerns and make the project a long-term system.
The executives have the responsibility to ensure that the latest software and technology are procured to implement the hiring system. Similarly, the executives have to ensure that the system is implemented effectively and running efficiently.

Middle Managers

(Decisions made by the Director of HR and the Manager of Recruiting supported by the hiring system.)

Middle managers will get information and decision made by the executives and then they will decide on the suppliers, vendors, and the system implementers not forgetting the design.
The list of requisitions that will be posted online will be decided by the HR director and the HR management team after analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of the system
For instance, the data from the system will have to be translated into useful and definite information that can be used by the hiring team to recruit highly qualified personnel.

Operational Managers

(Decisions made by the line managers in the organization who are hiring for their projects supported by the hiring system.)

Operational managers such as the recruiting team will have to update the information and provide other imperative information relating to selection and hiring in the organization to ensure that the process is successful.
Operational managers will have the responsibility of scheduling the interviews, provide information relating to the job, conduct screening among others.

Plan how the applications will be conducted online, schedule the hiring process, allow access to the online employment application forms and help the team to better understand the system and conduct an effective hiring process.

Stage 2: Process Analysis

II.
Process Analysis

A. Hiring Process

Maryland Technology Company is growing at a very fast rate and it has won several technologies consulting contacts in the recent past which will help the company grow even further. In this regard, the company seems to be short of the required staff to deal with the growing consumer demands today. There is a need to hire more employees to help the organization deal with growing consumer demands and meet contract time schedules. However, at the strategic level, managers are facing problems finding highly competitive potential employees. The company’s hiring process is not competitive enough based it is manual and there is a need to improve it or upgrade it to an automatic system. Therefore, the organization has to implement a sophisticated hiring system that will ensure that the organization access and attract highly qualified and talented employees in the market. The current manual hiring process is very expensive and time-consuming and also limits the scope of access. The company needs to invest in technological or automated processes to enhance its growth and meet the demands of the clients. To hire the required technology consultants within the shortest time possible, we will focus on the table below which presents current processes and the intended processes.

MTC Hiring Process

As-Is Process

Responsible MTC Position

To-Be Process – How the system Will Support and Improve the hiring process

Business Benefits of Improved Process (Align with MTC’s overall business strategy and needs.)

1. A recruiter receives an application from a job hunter via Postal Service Mail.

Recruiter

The system will receive an application via online submission through the MTC Employment Website and store it in the applicant database within the hiring system.

A more efficient submission process decreases the time needed to receive and begin processing applications. This will present a positive image to potential employees and help MTC compete for top IT talent.

2. Recruiter screens resume identifying top candidates by matching with job requirements from the job description.

Recruiter

The picked applications by the recruiter are put through the filter

The process will enhance screening and will be able to screen as many applications as possible within a short time.

3. Recruiter forwards top candidates to Administrative Assistant via interoffice mail

Administrative Assistant

All of the best-selected applicants are prepared for the interview process

Using an automated technology system will save time as the application will not have to go to AA first

4. Administrative Assistant forwards candidates’ resumes and applications to the hiring manager for the position via interoffice mail.

Administrative Assistant

The selected candidates

can be emailed from

the system directly to

the HR managers

This will save time which could have been required by the hiring manager to go through the applications.

5. The hiring manager reviews applications and selects who he/she wants to interview.

Hiring Manager

Human resource hiring managers will simply send an email to the Administrative Assistant for the applicants that can be interviewed.

This will speed up AA’s job since the automated system will have feedback and the required applicants’ information.

6. The hiring manager sends an email to the Administrative Assistant on who he/she has selected to interview and identifies members of the interview team.

Hiring manager

The process can be viewed online form can be printed for easy access.

Scheduling of the interviews is faster and quicker as compared to the manual system. Therefore, the company will be able to make quick decisions regarding hiring.

7. AA schedules interviews by contacting interview team members and hiring manager to identify possible time slots

Administrative Assistant

The candidates that have not been shortlisted for interviews are communicated to the Hiring Manager electronically

Saves time, money, it is quick and accurate

8. AA emails candidates to schedule interviews.

Administrative Assistant

Emails shortlisted candidates and schedule interview electronically

Save time and money for the company

9. The interview is conducted with the candidate, the hiring manager, and other members of the interview team.

Hiring Manager and Interview Team

The interview is conducted with the candidate, the hiring manager, and other members of the interview team. (Hiring System is not used for this step.)

n/a

10. AA collects feedback from interviews and the status of candidates

Administrative assistant

Feedback can be send using emails to update the candidates on the status.

Candidates will be automatically notified if they are being hired or not and save time in the process.

11. The hiring manager informs the AA of his top candidate for hire

Hiring Manager

Emails send electronically

Save time and money for the organization

12. Administrative Assistant prepares offer letter based on information from the recruiter and puts in the mail to the chosen candidate.

Administrative Assistant

The system enables AA to prepare a job offer letter by storing the offer letter template and information on each candidate; allows AA to select information to go into a letter and put it into the template, which can then be reviewed and emailed to the candidate.

A more efficient offer process presents a positive image to applicants and decreases the time needed to prepare an offer letter, and enables MTC to hire in advance of the competition.

B.
Expected Improvements

Area

Current Issues

(from the Case Study)

Improvements

(due to use of technology)

Collaboration:

The Hiring Manager states that recruiting is only one area he is responsible for and he isn’t as responsive to HR as he could be. Therefore, he counts on the Recruiters to help manage the process and keep him informed.

The current manual system causes considerable communication breakdowns and takes additional effort and time to stay on top of the hiring process.

An efficient system with all information in one place, easily accessible via a dashboard, and updated in real-time could make his recruiting job easier; and he could devote time to effectively working collaboratively and proactively with HR on his staffing needs.

Communications: Explain how a hiring system could improve internal and external communications

The current communication systems are based on manual means something that limits its universality. It is also possible that some applications are lost or not received at all.

Using a new electronic hiring

the system will allow smoother

electronic communications on

The same platform. As

application comes in

electronically they will not get

lost

Workflow: Explain how a hiring system could improve the MTC hiring process by providing a consistent structure for each participant to perform his/her part in the hiring process.

As expected, manual hiring process limit workflow as the paper files have to be remitted from one officer who takes long to go through them before sending to the next officer on line. This increases the time taken to complete the initial stages.

However, with the use of technology, the files will be placed on the same platform the information will be easily accessed and the stakeholders will be able to easily access it.

Relationships: Explain how implementing an enterprise hiring system could foster stronger relationships with applicants/potential employees.

The working relationship between the officers involved in the hiring process is constrained given the workflow of which some documents may be lost before it reaches the other desk resulting to thoughts of sabotage or delays to fail the other employees involved in the process.

The relationship will improve all the communication will improve. Furthermore, having a little more time will allow for the development of relationships and understanding. The ability

to hire better staff will also

assist the stronger relationship and improved office morale

References

UMUC IFMS 300 Week 2 Learning resources. Characteristics of Quality Data; the Organizational mode. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/511945/viewContent/19123170/View