Question 1
Case: Giving Time to Get Employees Engaged
Technology companies are known for offering generous pay and benefits to attract and retain highly
skilled workers. But employees often crave more than a rich paycheck and creative benefits. Many,
especially Millennial generation employees, want to use their time to give back to causes that are
important to them. When companies provide the support for them to do so, employees get more
engaged and committed to their work and their employers.
Cadence Design Systems, ranked number 38 on a recent Fortune Magazine’s great places to work list,
employs over 7,000 people in 35 countries. Finding ways to connect with a workforce of that size is not
easy. But the company found a way to appeal to prospective and current workers through its Cadence
Cares volunteer initiative. One of the company’s core values is giving back to the communities where it
operates. Consequently, it was a natural extension to involve employees at all levels in those efforts.
Employees are given 40 hours of paid time off to work on volunteer projects of their choosing. The
company matches employee financial contributions to charities and last year contributed over $150,000
in matching funds. Further, the company donates products and software to universities around the
globe. The company even runs a Corporate Citizenship Challenge among all of its operations to
encourage employees to use their talents and time to improve their communities.
While Cadence’s volunteer program was in place for many years, it was not as well-utilized as leaders
wanted. The company’s HR director discovered that it was not being promoted or advertised to
employees, so few knew about it. She partnered with the senior leadership team to promote the
program using e-mail, posters, and employee meetings. Managers had to be included and trained so that
they would support their employees’ volunteer efforts by allowing time off when requested.
One of the outcomes of the program has been an increase in the number of Millennial workers who have
joined the company. They are attracted to the community giving and involvement of this program. Some
recommendations for companies trying to enhance employee engagement are as follows:
If your goal is to boost employee morale and camaraderie, then arrange for a group event that requires
teamwork—such as building houses or planting trees.
If your goal is to value employees’ individuality, then provide for time off that employees can use to
work on projects for which they have passion.
If your goal is to maximize the impact of volunteer efforts, then identify a nonprofit that would benefit
from the talents of your employees and do a project for them.
For Cadence Design Systems, giving employees time and support to pursue philanthropic activities that
they really care about leads to employees who are more engaged, satisfied, and committed to the
company.
Questions
1. Identify other companies that offer volunteer programs and compare their programs to that at
Cadence. What are some of the outcomes those companies have achieved regarding employee
recruiting, engagement, or retention?
2. As a future job seeker, how important would a company’s charitable work be in your job search
decision? Research this aspect of recruiting and retention to learn if workers in the Millennial
generation and Generation Z value this more than Generation X or Baby Boomer workers. How
might this affect companies in the future?
Question 2
Case: General Electric Hires Marketing Expert to Build
Employment Brand
General Electric hired marketing expert Shaunda Zilich to head up the company’s efforts to build a
branding strategy and improve recruiting effectiveness. Her background working in various jobs in
different organizations made her especially well-suited to manage the recruiting efforts at General
Electric. In particular, she heads up several groups that focus on establishing General Electric’s global
brand so that it appeals to a variety of job applicants. Zilich believes that her background in marketing
shapes the way she approaches global recruitment because sales and staffing are so linked in practice.
Many employers use the employment brand and the marketing function together to hire excellent
employees.
Zilich offers helpful advice for positive and effective recruiting. In addition to developing a positive
brand, employers need to be people-oriented. They can connect with others by getting to know job
applicants better, identifying their interests and professional goals. Recruiting professionals should also
understand how to effectively interact with candidates to determine exactly what they want from an
employer. Once these characteristics are identified, then recruiters can start matching individuals to
open positions. Such a matching process can result in a long-term career in a company, or it can result in
a more short-term career but still beneficial employment situation.
Zilich also believes that organizations should encourage current employees to be ambassadors of a
company’s brand, spreading the word about the available opportunities. Part of this message includes
the kinds of experiences that interest job applicants. For example, corporate sustainability and social
responsibility are important to potential employees, and these issues can be included in recruiting
messages to generate interest. Zilich claims that successful recruiting is tied to good messaging that is
delivered at the right time. Doing this allows company to identify good talent that is interested in the
company’s mission, even if individuals are not actively looking for new work opportunities.
General Electric is taking the right steps to build a successful recruiting program. The company seeks to
build a bridge between marketing and HR, which has enabled it to more broadly define how people are
recruited, hired, and matched to particular work opportunities. By highlighting the company’s unique
culture, it generates interest among job candidates, even the passive ones who aren’t looking to leave
their current jobs. Given these strategies, consider the following questions:
Questions
1. How would you evaluate General Electric’s decision to hire an individual with a marketing
background to lead the company’s recruiting efforts? Do you think this approach would work in
other organizations?
2. What are some ways that employers can use their brands to enhance the recruitment of
employees? What current issues could be connected to a brand in order to recruit qualified and
motivated employees?
Question 3
Case: “To Test, or Not to Test, That Is the Question” for
Amtrak, Integra LifeSciences
Many companies rely on personality tests to help with the selection of employees. In fact, evidence
indicates that almost one-fourth of firms utilize these instruments to assess how well applicants fit into
different work roles and environments. Some tools focus on measuring the Big Five personality traits,
which include the factors conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, extroversion, and
neuroticism. Others like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Predictive Index identify different
preferences and self-perceptions of individuals, which might affect their willingness and ability to
perform on the job. Some personality tests are even being offered through gaming exercises to obtain a
better assessment of traits and skills—Pymetrics and Knack both offer these kinds of instruments.
Despite their ability to predict employment fit, using personality tests to assist with selection decisions
may not work well in all situations. For instance, they may not effectively predict the future work
performance of employees. These tests may also unfairly classify people into categories that can
ultimately be altered by individuals with the right effort. Providing socially desirable responses (or
“faking” good answers) is another concern with these tests. Finally, the use of personality tests may
adversely affect candidates who are disabled or those who are members of other protected groups.
Still, personality tests can be an effective tool for screening and hiring new employees. The
transportation agency Amtrak has been using such a test to determine how well job applicants fit the
culture of the organization. In particular, the instrument identifies different personality characteristics
that are associated with important work-related factors such as collaboration, ethics, safety, and
customer service. The expected retirement of many Amtrak employees motivated the firm to use this
personality test; it also needed a hiring approach that ensured good employee/company fit. Many
thousands of individuals have already taken the online test that takes about 45 minutes to complete. The
results place applicants into categories of “strong,” “moderate,” and “minimal” fit for the purposes of
screening. Amtrak can then select which individuals to interview and hire.
Not all employers choose to incorporate personality tests into their employee selection processes. New
Jersey-based Integra LifeSciences elected not to use them during the company’s transformation efforts.
According to top official Padma Thiruvengadam, these tests might needlessly categorize people, thus
limiting the company’s ability to identify individuals who can help it effectively transition. Integra
LifeSciences will likely utilize such tests in the future when the company is functionally more stable.
Questions
1. Explain why it is or is not a good practice to use personality tests in employee selection. What
are some of the advantages and disadvantages of personality tests used in this way?
2. Evaluate the rationale used by Amtrak and Integra Life Sciences to justify using or not using
personality tests. Do you agree with these decisions?
3. Imagine that you are the Chief HR Officer for a company that is considering the use of
personality tests to make better selection decisions. What advice would you provide your
executive leadership team? What issues would be the most critical in your development of
company policy?
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