• You will hear a conversation between Suzanne, a personnel manager, and Kevin,

Woman: OK... now, next we’d better discuss the recruitment plan for staff at the new factory in Dinsdale. I don’t think we’ll have any problems, do you ?
Man: No, not really. I mean, it’s in a pretty good location for accessing a large workforce so we should have our pick. Anyway, I would have thought that our new policy of letting staff choose when they work within a certain time frame will appeal to lots of people.
Woman: Yes, I think we may miss out on the high- fliers who are looking to get up the ladder quickly, but it’s more important to get a core of stable staff.
Man: When did you want to start advertising?
   Has the Board agreed on numbers yet?
Woman: Oh yes, that was decided before that last meeting when the top brass met - that’s why they’re pressing us to do something. I don’t want to initiate it just yet, but we do need to do it in advance of the holiday period.
Man: Well, OK. But I don’t think there’s any point in going ahead until the factory is nearly completed, is there? That way, we’d have plenty of time for planning.
Woman: Hmm... that’s a good point. Well, let’s aim for that then. I’ll try and get a date out of the Director. Right, now Mr Dawson asked me what we thought about appointing somebody to oversee all this because we’re both going to be tied up here. I suggested to him that they send someone down from Head Office but he didn’t seem very keen.
Man: I don’t think that’s a good idea because they won’t know the local situation. We’d be better off putting it in the hands of a recruitment agency - they could do all the initial filtering. The manager at the new factory wants to be involved but he can step in to help later on, which means we’d have some internal control.
Woman: Yes, that’s a good idea. I’ll suggest that. I also had a discussion with Mr Dawson about what kind of experience we would be looking for in new staff. I was quite surprised actually because he said he didn’t think we need people to have done exactly the same thing as long as they had about four or five years’ general work experience. But I pointed out to him that if we just take anybody from any field then we’re bound to end up with a lot of wastage because alot of them will turn out not to be suitable. So I proposed that we appoint people who’ve worked in something similar. As long as they’ve got a rough idea of what the job involves, that’s the main thing.
Man: Yes, I agree. Will the new staff get the same deal as everybody here?
Woman: What did you mean?
Man: Well, the canteen and everything?
Woman: Let me have a look.., yes, more or less. There’s the travel allowance, but we are going to look at that over the next couple of years to see if we are going to retain it or not. It’s one of the possible cost savings. Also, although we’re building a canteen there, we’re getting outside caterers in - it’ll be much cheaper than the system we’ve got here. The staff will have to pay slightly more because the company won’t be making a contribution but it won’t be much more. And then, there’s the discount policy that staff get on our products - I mean, that operates across the company so it wouldn’t work any differently.
Man: Will any staff move over to the new factory from Head Office, do you think?
Woman: Possibly - not the old-timers maybe, but some of our new staff might prefer to finish their training there if it’s easier travelling for them. We’ll be offering the same courses in both places. I guess, really, it’s going to depend on whether they see better prospects for themselves at the new place. It will be a different set-up in some ways.
Man: Are we offering any incentives to persuade them to move?
Woman: Well, the salaries won’t be going up, if that’s what you mean! Actually, we’re going to pilot a new system there - a kind of scale of rewards for targets achieved - it’s hoped that will attract them. But it wouldn’t be fair if we offered any kind of modification to the current share scheme. Oh... is that the time? I’ve got to go. We need another meeting though.
Man: What... to discuss the timetable for all this?
Woman: We can do that by email, I think. No, we’ve got to fine-tune the pay scales for the various positions - I mean, within the range Mr Dawson has given us.
Man: What about the contracts?
Woman: Oh, that’ll be sorted by the Legal department first so we can hang fire on that for the moment.
Man: OK - I’ll email you with some possible dates.