Human Resources: Department Will Face Challenges Supporting Workforce Growth Plans

Our objective for this report was to alert the company to specific Human Resources functions that require prompt company action.

We found that the Human Resources department does not have enough staff to effectively recruit, screen, hire, and onboard new employees, which will likely hinder the company’s plans to build its workforce by as much as 21 percent over the next year. Human Resources managers told us the labor market is tight and the department faces difficulty competing for top talent acquisition candidates against other companies that may offer more opportunities for remote work and greater schedule flexibility.

Even with additional talent acquisition staff, the company expects to require help from third-party recruiting agencies to help during periodic hiring surgessuch as those associated with new funding for major infrastructure projects. As of October 2021, however, the Human Resources department has not yet filled a key talent acquisition position for a Director who will also serve as the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative. In this role, the Director will oversee the contracts and verify that third-party agencies are targeting and recruiting high-quality candidates.

Further, the company relies heavily on cumbersome manual hiring processes, which when addressed, will likely improve its ability to quickly identify and hire the thousands of workers it anticipates needing to execute the company’s recovery and growth strategies. The Human Resources department is actively recruiting for all positions required to meet the company’s immediate needs, but it will take several months to be in a position where it is able to fully support all hiring, including for positions needed to execute projects funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

We recommended that the company explore and develop meaningful solutions to address competitive barriers to attracting executive talent. Additionally, we recommended that the company fill the position responsible for overseeing third-party recruiting contracts.