Instructions are stated below. I have attached 4 templates (…

Email

Cynthia Smith, CEO of ABC Manufacturing

Welcome

Monday, 9:04 AM

From: Cynthia Smith

To: You

Congratulations on your selection! There were many qualified candidates, but I am confident in your abilities and was very impressed by your experience and credentials. I am confident you’ll be a great addition to our leadership team.

I’m sorry I am not available to personally welcome you, but we are in a very competitive business, and I often travel as customer satisfaction (both externally and internally) is a key concern of mine. I’ll often have to communicate via email when travelling due to differences in time zones, meetings, etc. We use a variety of communication methods for our leadership team including virtual meetings, emails, etc.

One of the first things I’d like you to do is lead a project to centralize our human resource services. We currently use a decentralized form of HR support where each location has an HR support staff dedicated to that location. This approach worked well when we only had a few locations. However, the company has grown from 1 manufacturing site to the current 6 sites over the past 5 years. We are considering even further expansion due to business opportunities.

For several reasons, the decentralized approach to HR is no longer serving ABC well. First of all, expansion caused a significant increase in the cost of our HR operations. Moreover, each manufacturing site is evaluated as an independent operation for financial purposes, and the general managers at each location consider the assignment of HR support staff and costs unfair, because they perceive HR support to be a corporate level function. A related concern is confusion over whom the embedded HR generalists report to as they support the general manager of their location but are evaluated and directed on many HR activities by the corporate HR department.

Additional reasons are related to the quality of HR service delivery. It is inconsistent across the organization because it depends on the knowledge and experience of the HR support staff at a particular location. Similarly, decentralization means that HR policies and procedures are not applied uniformly across the organization.

You will lead the project, and I’ll serve as the project sponsor. I was going to lead the project team myself, but I believe your talent and abilities are better suited to the task. Your leadership will free me up to continue to build our business. I’ve left a memo with my initial thoughts on your desk. Please read it, so that you can be ready for the meeting I’ve scheduled for you with your project team members.

Thank you so much, and again, we’re so glad to have you on board.

Warmly,

Cynthia

Project Memo

From: Cynthia Smith

To: Director of HR

Subject: My Initial Thoughts on HR Centralization.

Here are some initial thoughts/guidance to help you get started:

Desired project duration 12 months

Proposed budget – $4 million (but flexible if properly documented, additional funding possible)

Key project outcomes:

HR support structure centralized at one location. Need not be at current corporate location but should be collocated at one of the current 6 locations.

Reduction in overall HR staffing expected. Try to retain the best qualified staff.

General Managers and all employees will receive better HR support at less cost with the new HR structure and process.

HR policies/procedure aligned and consistent across the organization.

Project team members have increased project management skills upon completion of the project.

Lessons learned are captured to improve the performance of future projects.

Once you’ve had time to read this, meet with the project team members. They’ll provide more information to help you get started.

Project Team Members:

1. A 15-year employee who works in the accounting department, Brad has been with the company since inception and works as a budget analyst. He can provide you with financial information you need as part of your team.

Can you tell me a little about your tenure and experience with ABC?

Well, I’ve been with ABC since day one. Hard to believe it’s been 15 years already! I was originally hired as a payroll specialist and have progressed through the years to be the lead budget analyst for the company. I oversee all budget functions.

Have you ever served on a project team before?

Not really. I’ve provided some financial reports sometimes to a variety of people who were working on various projects, but I’ve never been formally assigned to a project. This will be a first for me!

Is there any information/concerns you have right now?

Cynthia told me we have a project budget of $4 million. I’m already swamped with my regular duties as it’s the beginning of budget prep time for all our locations. We also have recently changed to a new financial reporting software program that is causing a lot of concerns/questions from the General Managers. I’m hoping this project will not require a lot of my time away from my regular duties.

2. A 5-year employee who has helped stand up the last 2 locations we have acquired, Amber was involved in site acquisition and helped us prepare both of our last two locations for operations.

Can you tell me a little about your tenure and experience with ABC?

I’ve been with ABC for five years now. Cynthia recruited me from one of our current customers who was downsizing, and I was let go. I worked with her when we added her products to the manufacturing facility I was managing. I’ve helped with the site selection of our two newest locations. We purchased an existing facility and retrofitted it for one location and built the other location from scratch once we purchased the land.

Have you ever served on a project team before?

Yes. I was on the project team for the two new facilities we purchased. The first project seemed very disorganized. We ended up taking twice as long as planned to complete the project and overspent our budget. We also had to replace 2 team members during the project. The second project went a lot smoother. I think the project manager for the second project learned a lot from the lessons of the first project.

Is there any information/concerns you have right now?

Not really. Not sure how much I can contribute. I’m not very familiar with what we need to do. Cynthia just sent me an email assigning me to this team and said a project manager would be assigned to lead the project. I do have pretty good knowledge of all 6 current of our locations as I try to spend at least one week on site at each location once a quarter.

3. Jim is a new employee (less than 1 year) recently hired to support our growing Information Technology needs within the HR department. This is a good opportunity for this new employee to gain additional skills.

Can you tell me a little about your tenure and experience with ABC?

I’ve only been with ABC for about 6 months now. I’m a recent college graduate but am interested in growing my career in HRM. I’m an active member of the local SHRM chapter and am working on my master’s degree at Strayer University.

Have you ever served on a project team before?

No we haven’t had any projects in the HR department since I was hired.

Is there any information/concerns you have right now?

Honestly, I’m a little anxious about this assignment. I do see it as a great opportunity to grow and learn but I’m unsure about what is expected of me as a project team member. I did minor in communications while completing my bachelor’s degree. One of my specific duties is editing the monthly employee newsletter.

4. Emily is a 7-year employee who currently heads up the recruitment and selection activities for the organization.

Can you tell me a little about your tenure and experience with ABC?

I’ve been with ABC for seven years. I started as an admin assistant initially supporting the CEO as her admin assistant. I’ve eventually taken on a variety of assignments and am currently overseeing all employee recruitment and retention activities.

Have you ever served on a project team before?

Yes. I was a member of the two project teams we’ve had to select and start up our last two locations.

Is there any information/concerns you have right now?

Time management is always a concern for me. I don’t have the two assistants I’m authorized. I’m having to rely on a third-party recruitment firm to help me try to keep up with my responsibilities for recruitment and selection. Cynthia wants an updated succession plan completed before the next strategic plan update and that is taking up a lot of time as I must consult with all the General Managers to develop one corporate-wide succession plan in addition to site specific succession plans.

Cynthia did tell me as part of our meeting regarding this assignment that she expects there will be a reduction in force when we consolidate HR functions at one location. This could impact on a lot of good hard-working employees. I hope you are prepared to do the right thing for all employees affected by this project. It’s going to be a challenge to fight the rumor mill once this project gets going.

5. Bernadette is a contractor for our Legal team which is an external law firm. Their role is limited to providing any legal information the project team needs as we are billed on an hourly basis for this team member.

Can you tell me a little about your tenure and experience with ABC?

I have advised ABC Corporation since its inception. I personally have worked on this account for 3 years now. Our rate is $250 per hour for onsite consultation. I am also available remotely at a rate of $150 per hour. Happy to provide services using either approach as needed. If you’d like me to be physically present, please let me know at least 3-4 weeks ahead of time so I can plan accordingly (this includes any virtual calls you’d like to schedule). I will respond to any email inquiries/phone calls within 3 business days.

Have you ever served on a project team before?

Yes. I was the legal advisor for the two project teams established to purchase/select the last two manufacturing locations.

Is there any information/concerns you have right now?

Not really. I’m pretty well-versed in employment law and have some more experienced employment law subject matter experts we can rely on should anything unusual arise during the project. The project charter used by the last project manager I worked with was well designed. The milestone chart and communication plan were especially beneficial to help me ensure I had dedicated the proper amount of time to support the project team.