05-11-2010 Recruitment at Freerichs KG Research report for the course: HRM Group 5 Thijs Bakker ¦299138 Table of Contents Introduction3 Executive summary4 Methodology5 1. About Freerichs KG6 2. Recruitment at Freerichs KG7 3. Options for improvement8 3. 1. Hiring Students after Graduation8 3. 2. Hiring Foreigners8 3. 3. Online applications8 3. 4. Specific area specialists8 4. Planning schedule for the recruitment process12 4. 1. Create a Job Description12 4. 2. Send out vacancies to newspapers and through online media13 . 3. Analyse applications from potential candidates and invite them for an interview13 4. 4. Interview13 4. 5. Hire new employee(s)13 5. Flexible personnel file14 5. 1. Change of salary settings14 5. 2. Employment of temporary staff14 5. 3. Exchange of flexible staff between companies15 5. 4. Employment of interns15 6. Conclusion16 7. Recommendations17 8. Bibliography18 Appendix19 Introduction “You are only as good as your people” – This statement clearly stipulates the importance of people in any organization.

Freerichs KG is a German company which offers services in the area of heating, plumbing and solar systems. The HR manager of the company, Philip Freerichs, is struggling with the recruitment of skilled staff. This report is the result of a project for the International Business school, as part of the course Human Resource Management in which students are asked to apply the knowledge gained during this course. The purpose of this report is to present possible solutions and recommendations for the HR manager of Freerichs KG.

The first part of the report presents the methodology, here information is provided about the steps that need to be taken in order to gather necessary information. After this, a description of the company is given, including basic information about the profile of the company and its structure, followed by various options for improvement. In this section, the advantages and disadvantages of four possible solutions for HR manager are presented and described, these are online applications, hiring people from abroad, hiring students and hiring specialist in specific areas.

Subsequently, the report includes the outline and explanation of the five steps in the recruitment process. The next part of the report contains the description and possibilities of using several forms of flexible personnel file by Freerichs KG. Finally, from the outcomes of the primary and secondary data, the best solutions are drawn and recommended. Executive summary The report at hand addresses the human resources problem identified at Freerichs KG, this is a plumbing company located in the northeast of Germany.

Primary research through an interview with the HR manager identified an issue which centres around the recruitment of skilled staff. Currently, the company employs five people for the day to day tasks, but one has become unable to work due to illness, and another employee is reaching the age of retirement. For a while now, the company has tried to recruit new employees, but without success. From the outcomes of this primary research, the following research question could be accepted; How should Freerichs KG change its HR practices to attract skilled employees?

Thus, the main objective of this report is to find out whether the current HR practices can be improved, or if there are other options available to acquire skilled employees. Through secondary data research a number of solutions could be identified, including the hiring of students, the recruitment of foreigners, the investment in online applications or the hiring of specialists in specific areas of the job. Next to this, a planning schedule for the recruitment process gives further guidance to the HR manager, as this can be used as a guideline in finding the most suitable candidates.

This includes a five step process through which the recruitment process should take place. These comprise the preparation of the job description, the distribution of vacancies, the analysis of incoming applications, the conducting of interviews with potential candidates and the end result with the hiring of the new employee(s). Moreover, the possibilities of a flexible personnel file are explored, as these provide a different method to fully exploit the employee resources.

In summary, the most vital recommendations can be summarised into an investment in the online application process, as this gives the highest return for a low cost, and the contracting of students which are currently working for the company after graduation, as they already have the required knowledge and the start up salaries are relatively low. Methodology The information gathered to prepare this report is acquired through various sources, including both primary and secondary data resources available to the group. As the research passes through the different stages, varying sources of information are needed.

The purpose of this report is of an exploratory nature in which analysis is required within an existing company on an issue concerning the human resources department. A deductive approach is taken in the writing of this report, in which recommendations can be drawn from the outcomes of the primary and secondary data. Therefore, the first step entails finding a company willing to share information and cooperate with the group on this project. After getting into contact with Freerichs KG, an initial direction of the research could be clarified.

An in-depth interview with the HR manager would further specify the research topic. Therefore, through an interview held in a non-standardized setting and on a face-to-face basis, the topic can be refined into the following specific research question: How should Freerichs KG change its HR practices to attract skilled employees? This research question can then be specified into the following sub-questions: * What is the current recruitment process at Freerichs KG? * What improvements can be made to the recruitment process? Are there other actions available to Freerichs KG to attract skilled employees? The next step includes the gathering of theoretical data through secondary information sources. This provides the group with specific knowledge about the subject, which further aids to the formulation of solutions to Freerichs KG. The main information systems to be used are the internet and books, as these are easily accessible means of finding information and the quantity and quality of information is invaluable via these mediums. A detailed list can be found in the bibliography at the end of this report.

Through further brainstorming sessions and contact with the company, the group will be able to recommend reasoned solutions to the issues recognized by the company. 1. About Freerichs KG Freerichs KG is a company which offers services in the area of heating, plumbing and solar systems. The company is located in Papenburg, Germany and was established in 1975 by the current owner, Heinz-Ludwig Freerichs. Currently, it employs five plumbers who are assisted by three interns, besides this, there is one person responsible for administrative tasks and works at the office.

There is one person in charge of HR management, this is the son of the owner, Philipp Freerichs. His main task in the company is working as a plumber, but he takes on the HR tasks as well. The five plumbers all work full-time for the company, next to Heinz-Ludwig and Philipp there are three others who have all worked for the company for at least ten years. One of them has been with the company since the very beginning and is skilled to take on the most challenging tasks and therefore invaluable to the company.

Next to these employees, there are three students who are completing their vocational training with the company. The vocational training takes place over a three-and-a-half year period in which they are taught the various elements of the job. Of the three students the company employs at the moment, two are to graduate at the start of 2012 and they have gained a lot of experience already, the other student has only just started working for the company and still needs a lot of guidance.

The students are legally allowed to take on projects themselves, but this does not happen often as their work needs to be checked regularly and most of them don’t have a drivers license, which makes it difficult to send them out to projects on their own. 2. Recruitment at Freerichs KG The recruitment of skilled staff has proved to be an issue within the company, especially now that the company has had to deal with illness of one employee for a longer period of time and the chances of reintegration are slim.

Moreover, another employee will reach retirement soon and the skills and knowledge he brings to the job have become vital to the company, he has also been off sick for several short periods. This has left the HR manager with the need to find new personnel that is able to work independently. The main recruitment process consists of an advertisement in the news paper or through contact with the employment agency (Bundesagentur fur Arbeit). This, however, has not been highly effective as the response rate is very low and the applicants often miss important qualities.

The HR manager has considered starting an online application process, but until now this has not been realized. The company employed two new employees last year when it was overwhelmed with work, but this did not turn into a success. The first employee was let go after a couple of months as the busy period came to an end. The other employee seemed more equipped at that point, but after a few more months it became evident that he was lacking the skills and that his attitude did not fit well with the company.

At this point, the HR manager looked for possible applicants outside of the region, but this was also not a success, as they are usually not willing to move and accept the job under the contract the company is able to provide. As the company is highly effected by market shifts, where one week can be hectic and the next there might be hardly any business, they could take advantage of monthly contracts, but this is also difficult to arrange, especially when trained and skilled staff is needed. With this information, the main research question to be answered in the next chapters will be how Freerichs KG should change its HR practices to attract killed employees. 3. Options for improvement Throughout this part of the report, the most important possible solutions will be discussed in detail. Freerichs KG needs to undertake action in order to not get overwhelmed by the amount of work they have to do. In addition, they are keen on expanding the company, which can only be done by hiring new employees. These new employees will have to be knowledgeable and keen on learning. Therefore, multiple solutions should be considered before taking a final decision. The pros and cons to these solutions are discussed below.

Hiring Students after Graduation The first possible solution for the ongoing problem of finding qualitative well-educated new employees is to hire students after completing their vocational education, and provide them with a permanent job at the company. Hiring graduates that have to perform important tasks for your company could cause a few problems. Since they have only just completed their studies and are relatively young, they will have to be checked regularly. The company cannot blindly trust them on performing their tasks without mistakes right away.

Also, most of the graduates will not have a driver’s licence, which could cause problems while they have to perform a certain task solely. In addition, these students might have obtained knowledge already, but in order to function according to the company’s requirements, they will have to be trained intensively. However, there are some key advantages to hiring these students for the company. Providing students with additional knowledge and working experience is an investment for the company. Before they have actually graduated they have already obtained working experience at the company.

In addition, they already know the ins and outs of the company which makes them very suitable candidates to take on a permanent job. Furthermore, they could be at the company for years to come considering the fact that they are still very young. Also, although training these students could take up quite some time of the current employees, the costs of salary for these new employees will be relatively low. Recently graduated employees will earn much less at the company than more experienced employees. The money they safe on salaries, could be spend on training and regular checks.

Another advantage of hiring students permanently could be the promotion and image Freerichs KG can obtain from this move. Word-of-mouth marketing among students at technical schools could prove to be very positive for the company. Freerichs KG could also undertake promotional activities at technical schools in the area and even approach students themselves. Hiring Foreigners Another solution Freerichs KG could consider is to hire people from abroad. This would most likely include people educated in the field of plumbing, from European countries such as Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

There are a few key advantages as well as disadvantages to this idea, which should be taken into consideration. Firstly, the wage of employees from these countries will be much lower on average than what German plumbers would earn. This will save the company a lot of costs, which can be used for other purposes. Additionally, due to the high unemployment rates in these countries, it will be easier for the company to approach these possible new employees. Secondly, Germany is a very wealthy country and it is much more attractive for these foreigners to work there rather than in their own country.

Although the salary the company will offer them is lower than the average, it is still higher than what they would make in their own country. This might also attract more experienced plumbers who have a current job in that area of expertise. Unfortunately, hiring foreigners also has various downsides. One of the most important disadvantages is the level of education they bring with them. It will take up quite some time before the company can take a valid decision on whether the new employee should be recruited or not.

They know a lot more about the education in Germany and it is therefore easier for them to judge whether they have a suitable candidate or not. In addition, the language barrier could cause several problems. The new employee should also be able to work alone, and if the communication with the customer is relatively poor this will cause dissatisfaction among Freerichs’ clients. Therefore, a prerequisite to hiring foreigners has to be that they master the German language, which will narrow down your potential candidates significantly.

Lastly, because of the distance between these foreign countries and Papenburg, the company’s basis, the new employees will have to move to Germany. Therefore, they would have to be willing to do this in order to get the job. All in all, this will narrow down the candidates significantly and it will not be an easy task for Freerichs KG to find a foreign candidate that meets all requirements. Online applications It is commonly known that today most people seeking for employment start their search on the Internet. This also applies to employers who choose Internet recruiting as a leading recruitment source.

Most employers place job advertisements on their websites or they are simply using one or more of the many existing job boards. There are also other ways that enable employers to find new employees via the Internet such as dot – jobs domain, social networking or virtual job affairs. These methods however are more suitable for large companies, where the demand for work is greater. The HR manager at Freerichs KG has never tried to recruit employees via the Internet. That is why trying this method could open up new possibilities for the company. However, the online application does have some disadvantages.

Internet is available at every place in the world. In this context, it may happen that the employer will receive a very high number of applications. This in turn will result in the employer losing valuable time looking at all applications while only a few are suitable. Furthermore, some people still prefer to use more traditional methods of job searching, such as ads in the newspaper. For this reason the company should combine online application with other methods of searching for employees. Moreover, information provided by potential employees on the Internet does not always turn out to be true.

Of course this problem could also occur when using other recruitment methods, but in online recruitment it may happen more often. On the other hand, searching for employees via the Internet has many advantages. It should be mentioned that this way is far more cheaper than traditional ways such as ads in the newspaper. Mail communication between the employer and potential employee is also easier, time saving and faster, as it is also easier to update the information on job description- requirements relating to the employee etc.

Moreover, Internet enables searching for employees not only in the nearest surroundings of the company but also in a different city, region or even in another country. As mentioned above, an effective way to find an employee will be also placing an ad on job boards. In addition to these methods, the HR Manager of Freerichs KG could also try keyword searches on the Internet. This way of finding new employees many times turned out to be a key to success for various managers. Specific area specialists

The problem Freerichs KG is currently facing is mainly due to the fact that the company has high expectations in terms of skills, experience and knowledge of the new workers. The company expects that the candidate for the job has relevant skills in both areas of the company, which are plumbing and installing solar systems. Therefore, another solution that Philip could consider is hiring specific area specialists, which means hiring people who are only skilled in plumbing or installation of solar systems. According to Philip, this does not happen very often.

However, the labor market should be examined to see the merits of this claim, since Freerichs KG has always been focused on finding people who have both plumbing and installation solar systems skills. The company has never done research in the labor market in order to find employees who are specialized in only one specific area. Since the recruitment of skilled staff has become a serious problem the company could try to find not one but two different people to perform specific tasks. That is because finding a person who has both relevant skills and experience in this two areas so far has failed.

It would be certainly a new solution for the company, not tested previously. It is possible that there would be more people with appropriate education and professional practice willing to work for Freerichs KG. That is why searching for specific area specialists can lead to finding people who are professionals in their field and who have been ignored in previous recruitment processes, because of the high expectations of the company. Freerichs KG specializes in a very narrow field and for this reason it is difficult for them to find new employees.

Therefore, they could consider a change of strategy and modification of their requirements. Focusing on finding staff who are trained in only one of the fields can be effective in this case. However, there are also some disadvantages of hiring specific area specialists. First of all, it would be more favorable for the company to find and hire a person who has all the desirable requirements. This is due to the fact that employment of one specialist instead of two would be cheaper and would also facilitate the organization of work.

Additionally, searching for more new employees is also time consuming, requires interviewing more people and the involvement of more people who could interview the candidates. 4. Planning schedule for the recruitment process As the interview with the HR manager identified a problem in the recruitment of skilled staff, the following section will offer an in-depth analysis of the various options available to the company which will lead to improvements in the recruitment process and the quality of newly acquired employees.

The options for improvement can be categorized in five main stages, which include a complete planning schedule for an effective recruitment process. The next section will present the option of a flexible personnel file, as this is another way the company could deal with fluctuations in the demand. The five main steps in the recruitment plan will be described next and can be summarized as follows: | | Planning schedule for recruitment process| Step 1| Prepare the job description|

Step 2| Send out vacancies to newspapers and through online media| Step 3| Analyse applications from potential candidates and invite them for an interview| Step 4| Interview candidates with the skills plan and motivational commitment in mind| Step 5| Hire new employee(s)| | | Create a Job Description The first step is to analyse which skills and characteristics are needed to fulfil the requirements of the company. By acknowledging these, the company will have a guideline, which will help to identify the best candidates in the later stages.

A job description should include what the tasks and responsibilities will be at the job, whereas in the job specification, the company should identify the required characteristics, qualifications and competencies of the ideal candidate. Considering the small size of the company and the fact that the HR manager also takes on the actual job, it should not take too much time to prepare this stage. Philipp is aware of the competencies and responsibilities needed and there is a clear set of tasks that have been identified.

However, some consideration should also be put into the description of the required characteristics, as this does not exist at the moment. By identifying the needed personality traits and characteristics, the company will be able to find the best candidates for the job. Send out vacancies to newspapers and through online media The next step includes the advertisement of vacancies in newspapers and through online media. A recruiting yield pyramid is a tool that helps employers to calculate the number of applicants they must generate to employ the required number of new employees.

In the case of Freerichs KG, the following would be a possible pyramid. It is useful to the companies that need to hire many new employees. Freerichs K. G needs to hire only two new employees but still the recruiting yield pyramid helps HR Manager to understand that the company needs to generate far more leads than just the required number of new employees. The recruiting yield pyramid is based to the experience and to the ratios. In the top of the pyramid, the company enters the number of new employees that are needed, the rest of the numbers can then easily be calculated with the given ratios.

The ratio of offers made to actual new hires is 2 to 1, which means that about half of the people to whom companies make offers accept them. In the same way companies know that the ratio of candidates interviewed to offers made is 3 to 2, while the ratio of candidates invited for interviews to candidates actually interviewed is 4 to 3. Finally, the number of leads generated can be calculated with a ratio of 6 to 1, which means that of six leads that arrive, only one applicant typically gets an interview. Given these ratios, Freerichs K.

G is aware that it must generate about 48 leads to be able to invite 8 candidates for interview. The company will then get to interview about 6 of those invited, and from these it will make 4 offers. Of those 4 offers it can be expected that 2 will accept. This clearly shows that the current application process generates far too little leads, as the HR manager stated that on average only three or four responses are received. Analyse applications from potential candidates and invite them for an interview * As explained in the previous section, the HR manager should invite eight people for an interview.

It is important to check the applications with the use of the job description developed in the first step and invite the top eight. * * Interview Selection interviews are the most common way to get information about the applicant. Interviews are useful only if the interviewer focuses on the relevant information about the job and does it properly. Therefore, the most important questions are situational, behavioral and job-related. Situational questions focus on the future and try to clarify applicants behavior in a given situations.

Behavioral interview questions ask applicants earlier behavior in actual situations in the past. (p. 256-259) There are two types of interviews: structured and unstructured. Most of the selection interviews are unstructured. They are similar to general conversations and are usually not planned in advance. There might be some questions prepared beforehand, but they are not scored by a formal guide. Structured interviews are considered more superior because all the applicants are asked more or less the same questions which makes the information more comparable and reliable.

To Freerichs KG’s recruitment process, both ways of interviewing are suitable. However, the structured interview method ensures that Philipp asks candidates all the same questions and gets similar information that is easier to compare. (p. 256-263) There are some errors that can undermine the usefulness of an interview, if the interviewer is not aware of those or not well prepared. Snap judgments of the candidates can be made even before the interview, based for instance on the resume. If the first impression of the applicant is unfavorable, it is hard to change into a favorable one during the interview.

Interviewers are usually more predisposed to the unfavorable information about the candidate. It is important that the interviewer is aware of the duties and skill requirements of the job and the competencies that are needed. In Freerichs KG, Philipp also works in the field so the requirements and competencies are clear to him. When hiring is urgent, it is common to evaluate candidates higher than in the normal situation, however, it is good to realize that quickly made decisions are not always profitable in long-term. (p. 264-275) Hire new employee(s)

The final step is of course the hiring of the new employees. With the information gathered through the resume’s, interviews and possible references given by prospective new employees, the company can make a reasoned decision and contract the new employee. 5. Flexible personnel file The flexible personnel file comes in various forms and some are more applicable to the situation at Freerichs KG than others. As Freerichs KG is often challenged with shifting demands, a flexible personnel file could be the best answer to deal with these.

Several feasible options would be changing the salary settings, the employment of temps, the exchange of flexible staff between companies, and the employment of interns. This last option is already utilized by the company, as three of their workers are currently in the process of fulfilling their vocational training at Freerichs KG. Change of salary settings * The company currently pays employees by the hour. By changing this into a monthly or even quarterly model, the company has more flexibility in the utilization of their employees.

The workers normally work eight hours per day and this is also what to company pays them. However, during the busy periods, the company also needs to pay for overtime, whereas in the periods of slow down, the company still needs to compensate for the hours in which there is no work for the employees. If Freerichs KG would change this hourly payment system into a monthly one, there can be more flexibility in the utilization of staff. If then, there is one week with a lot of business, the company can offset this with other weeks where business is not that high.

This can also be changed into a quarterly, semiannual or annual model. * The advantageous would be that Freerichs KG would gain a lot of freedom to only employ staff when needed, which will cut costs in the long run. However, implementing this might be time consuming at first and the company would need to inform staff about these changes, where chances are of resistance. * * Employment of temporary staff A second option to overcome changing worker needs would be to attract temporary employees. This can be realized through employment agencies, who often have huge databases of possible candidates.

These candidates can be utilized on a short term basis and can be contracted for the time period they are needed and easily let go again, once business slows down. The downside of this option would be that the candidates usually do not have the skills needed to do the job and as they will only work for the company on a temporary basis, the costs and time needed to teach them these skills might not be worth it in the long run. * * Exchange of flexible staff between companies * A similar option to the employment of temps through employment agencies, would be an exchange system between various -plumbing- companies.

There are several plumbing companies in the area and they all struggle with the same problems as Freerichs KG By implementing a database of skilled staff which are willing to work on a flexible basis, several companies can exploit their services. The possibilities can be great, however, finding staff that is willing to work on a flexible basis might be difficult to find as there is no guarantee for work. * The advantage of a system like this would be the same as for the employment agency; staff can be hired and let go on a short-term basis and the company does not have to pay for hours not worked by employees.

Besides this, unlike hiring from an employment agency, this database will only include skilled staff, who do not need to be trained. * * Employment of interns Freerichs KG already uses students to work for them on a part-time basis. These students are with the company for an average of three and a half years where they work four days a week and go to school one day. The company pays these students a minimum wage as compensation, so this is a low-cost way of employment, although coaching and training costs are quite high here again.

Besides these students, the company could also take on the option of employing interns from a university of applied sciences (Fachhochschule). Part of their education is often a semiannual or annual internship at a company. These interns will also be a inexpensive. However, they will also need a lot of coaching. 6. Conclusion After having conducted extensive research around the recruitment problem Freerichs KG is currently facing, there are some definite points for improvement. The company should undertake action quickly in order to expand and improve their current selection process.

Currently, the plumbing company seems to be struggling finding suitable, knowledgeable and educated employees. Freerichs KG’s HR manager, who has to combine his plumbing tasks with recruiting skilled people, has several alternative options to their current selection process. Hiring graduated students who have already experienced work at the company, and hiring foreign people from countries like Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic could be taken into consideration. Furthermore, online job applications and hiring specific area specialists are other ways of improving the current selection program.

In addition, there are several ways of conducting interviews for new people. Freerichs KG’s HR Manager knows what is expected of the applicants since he works in the field as well. However, theoretical practices such as structured vs. unstructured interviews are also ways of conducting interviews. These are HR practices which can help Phillip (the HR manager) to get the best suitable candidate from an interview. Furthermore, we have explored the possibilities of a flexible personal file which provides various options on how to deal with changing demands.

This has proven to be a constant struggle for Freerichs KG. Lastly, based on the primary and secondary research conducted on this topic, some guidelines were constructed which are further addressed in the recommendations. 7. Recommendations Throughout this report, possible improvements on the general selection process, possible candidates and current personnel file have been provided. From there on, we suggest Freerichs KG the following: Firstly, the company should consider hiring students, who are currently in a vocational education program, permanently.

This is a good investment for the company since these employees will have already obtained knowledge while working for the company on a temporarily basis. Furthermore, they will have a relatively low salary since they are starters. Freerichs KG should also undertake promotional activities at vocational schools and offer students a great learning experience while solving their own problem in staff shortage. This could be a stepping stone towards a permanent job offer at the company. Secondly, the HRM of Freerichs KG has never tried to find new employees via the Internet.

Therefore, the company should consider implementing online applications. It is a modern, popular and commonly used method by both employers and job seekers. The Internet is widely available, inexpensive and allows updating the data at any time from any place. On those grounds, we believe that for Freerichs KG it will turn out to be an effective method. Furthermore, Freerichs KG should also try to use one of the job boards available on the Internet. Searching for a job on these websites is free of charge, therefore most of the job-seeking people use job boards.

Consequently, using this kind of website will surely increase the likelihood of finding new employees. There are several job boards in Germany, including StepStone Germany, Deutschland Monster, JobScout24 and Jobware on which Freerichs KG could place an advertisement. Moreover, the usage of the planning schedule for the recruitment process of Freerichs KG will be beneficial in finding suitable skilled employees. Lastly, additional research can be done in the establishment of a flexible personnel file, which can further cut employee costs while also improving the general work-process. . Bibliography ————————————————- ————————————————- Books: Dessler. (2010). Human Resource Management (Global Edition). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. 12th ed. Internet: http://intermediairpw. interview. kredietcrisis. recessie. hrm. anti. cyclisch. personeelsbeleid. rick. brugts. directeur. ncphrm. nl/ http://www. mkbservicedesk. nl/2422/hoe-zorg-voor-flexibel-personeelsbestand. htm In the case of a book, “bibliographical details” refer to: * author/editor * year of publication * title * edition * publisher place of publication In the case of electronic information it refers to: * author/editor * year of publication * article title * journal title * the type of medium (e. g. CD-ROM, Online, etc. ) * pages or length * “Available” statement (e. g. WWW address, supplier and name of electronic database, Email address, etc. ) * access date (Not all of these details will necessarily be applicable. ) * Insert the citation at the appropriate place within the text of the document (see examples below). World Wide Web World Wide Web page Beckleheimer, J. 1994, How do you cite URL’s in a bibliography? Online], Available: http://www. nrlssc. navy. mil/meta/bibliography. html [1995, Dec. 13]. World Wide Web page (no author) Educating America for the 21st century: Developing a strategic plan for educational leadership for Columbia University, 1993-2000 (Initial workshop draft) 1994 [Online], Available: http://www. ilt. columbia. edu/CONF/EdPlan. html [2001, May 16]. Appendix Proposal group 5: Company: Freerichs KG Freerichs KG is a company which offers services in the area of heating, plumbing and solar systems. The company is located in Papenburg, Germany and was established in 1975.

Currently, it employs five plumbers who are helped by three interns and one person is in charge of administrational tasks. There is one person in charge of HR management, this is the son of the owner, Philipp Freerichs. His main task in the company is working as a plumber, but he takes on the HR management issues as well. At the moment he is struggling with the fact that the company is growing and needs more staff, but it is difficult to employ knowledgeable, independent workers. Topic: The main research topic will focus on how Philipp can change his HR practices to find skilled people who will work for the company on a full-time basis.

Approach / Methodology: Our research will consist of both primary and secondary data available. Primarily, the group will conduct an interview with the HR manager to find the specific problem and see where things go wrong. Second, through theoretical media, the group will come up with possible solutions. Moreover, we will investigate how other companies in the same market deal with this issue. Other sources: Next to the book used in class by Dessler, Human Resource Management, we will search for books relating to the subject, web pages and primary data for our analysis. Outline Research topic * Primary data received from the interview with Philipp * Secondary findings * Primary data through analyzing how other companies tackle the issue * Conclusions and Recommendations ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Dessler. (2010). Human Resource Management (Global Edition). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. 12th ed. Page 143 [ 2 ]. http://www. citeman. com/2301-the-recruiting-yield-pyramid/ [ 3 ]. http://www. mkbservicedesk. nl/2422/hoe-zorg-voor-flexibel-personeelsbestand. htm [ 4 ]. http://www. vbw. nu/paginas/losse_paginas/cao20092011jaarurenmodel