ASSESSMENT PART ONE

CASE STUDY Unit of Competency:

Plan or review administrative systems

CASE STUDY

In July 2007 Penny started her own Recruitment Agency called People First Pty Ltd that specialises in recruiting office staff [such as Administration Officers, Office Managers, Accountants, Marketing Professionals and sometimes also information Technology (IT) employees).
Penny started the 2010 calendar year with five staff overall, but due to significant business growth because of increased sales each month, her company now employs significantly more staff. The team is made up of eight (8) fulltime staff who receive base salary plus commission (all Recruitment Consultants), two administration/accounts personnel who are paid a base salary only, and Dave Smith (Operations Manager) who is paid a reasonable base salary and Penny has shared 5% equity in the business with him. People First staff have all worked in the business for at least five (5) months now, and there are no staff still within a probation period.

Dave is an ex-colleague that Penny had always discussed going into business with. Dave could not ‘front-up with capital' to start the business together (because he has commitments for his wife and two children); although, he is a valuable asset to the business because of his many industry contacts and extensive HR-related and recruitment experience. The team really respects Dave, which is creating a great team culture and the business clients are responding to this.

Dave currently wants the People First's administration system to improve because he has communicated to Penny that business operations and quality of service will suffer dramatically in the next 12 months as a result of worsening administration systems (that do not support business function). He has justified a few concerns he has experienced with the operations/administration system such as;

? The database system currently in use will not facilitate future growth. People First business growth is about to exceed the capacity of the database.

? Management accounting is poor and Dave believes that software such as MYOB or something similar could improve efficiencies and reporting capabilities.

? Policies and Procedures need to be coordinated in a way that staff can instantly access them (maybe not the original file, but a copy of).

? Candidates send their resume/cover letters via email and these are stored in the database. However, when a recruitment consultant interviews a candidate; that

Consultant currently manually completes an interview questionnaire during the interview and each staff member has their own system for filing the completed interview questionnaires of candidates they meet with.

? Staff are supposed to maintain ‘notes' in the database for each candidate they speak to, put through skills testing or interview, but this is not always done.

? Skills testing for typing speed, Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint are currently outsourced to an external skills testing company (called Test-IT Pty Ltd). Their fees are not too high compared to other providers, but this is a very real expense that is outsourced. Plus, you need to pay ($40) to test a candidate with Test-IT regardless of whether People First are able to ‘place' the candidate in a job or not. This means that you may pay numerous $40 amounts that result in no revenue.

The current administration system at a glance:

? Sage ACT! Pro Database for client management

? Microsoft Excel for creating invoices to clients

? There is no reporting that a system produces for management to thoroughly review business operations

? Policies and Procedures are saved in Microsoft Word files within folders in the computer that only you and Dave have access to. Staff can request a print-out from you if they need to know anything about Policies and Procedures.

Penny's role in the business, as the Owner/Manager is a strategic one. She no longer handles clients directly (except in exceptional circumstances where required).

Penny now needs to address the immediate inefficiencies and administrative system problems discussed with Dave.

Element:

1. Plan or review administration systems

2. Implement new or modified administration system

3. Monitor administration system

Task 1

(a) Dave has identified the problems with the current administration system. You will now need to identify five priority issues, requirements for or modifications to, the People First administration system.

(b) Once you have identified the top five priorities; go to the internet and research any technologies that can help solve these issues (make sure you keep a record of ALL links you gather information from, in order to reference them).

It could be an all-in-one technology, or, several software/databases of technology that have the capacity to support future growth of People First. (It is suggested you work on a plan to have capacity that covers 30 users). Once you have found the technologies, you will need to summarise in your own words how and why each technology will specifically help People First top priority issues of their administrative systems.

(c) People First policy when considering external providers is to always use highly reputable, established organisations that have a track record of success (even if this means paying extra for the reassurance that the product and services are ideal). Now, your task is to make selection of one supplier or developer from the above technologies (in accordance with this organisational policy). Make sure you justify your selection with reason.

Task 2

(a) In Task 1 above, you have identified a number of suppliers that will assist with electronic-based administrative systems. Choose two (2) from above and explain how you would develop an implementation strategy for your staff to use these technologies.
In addressing this task, you will need to report on:

? What is the best method to have a smooth transition between using the old system and the new one

? How could Penny and Dave encourage staff to participate in all stages of the implementation process?

? What are the training and support needs for People First staff relating to the use of the new or modified system?

? Define and communicate procedures associated with transitioning to the new system

? What contingencies (unforeseen events) could impact on effectiveness or practicality for the implementation of the new system?

Task 3

(a) Dave has identified that currently the system for reporting, accounting and policies and procedures are inefficient. Explain why it is important that you have a system that allows Penny and Dave to produce valid reporting and to monitor the system for usage, security and output.

(b) Test-IT Pty Ltd has increased their testing fees dramatically from $40 per test to $95 per skills test (in the past month). Penny can no longer continue to conduct testing with them because this is too expensive according to her accounting of this expense. Explain in your own words two (2) different options for skills testing (think: internal and external options); and justify how to monitor the success/efficiency/productivity of the new option selected.

Task 4

(a) Choose one new administrative technology (that you have previously identified in Task 1) that Penny should choose to adopt for People First and design an internal training program that is streamlined with this new administrative system.

In addressing this task, you will need to consider:

? Developing appropriate activities to support system implementation

? Further modifications required and/or working with staff to identify system improvements

? How will Dave and Penny gather ongoing feedback from staff so that they are familiar with the staff usage of the new system?