Contents

• This paper answers the following questions on Alexander Mann Solutions –
• Briefly describe a significant organisational change which has occurred within the last 5 years. What were the main objectives in making the change? (10%)
• Identify the main drivers of the change and using the most appropriate models and frameworks from the course materials demonstrate how these drivers created a need for the change which took place. (30%)
• Evaluate how effectively the process of change was managed. How appropriately was any resistance to it managed? (30%)
• Assess to what extent the change was successful in meeting its objectives. Assess the need for any further related changes. (30%)

Description

Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS) is a Premier Recruitment & Selection firm, part of the Services Sector. The firm has been in existence for close to 14 years with offices across EMEA, Asia Pacific and the Americas, employing 1000 consultants, earning revenues which are regarded sizeable as per our Recruitment Industry standards. As a part of its strategy to expand, de-risk and significantly grow its operations by moving up the value chain, AMS had identified New Business Initiatives which are being currently implemented (Alexandar Mann Solutions Corporate website, 2009)
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) was one such initiative started five years back. Simply, the RPO is a cost centre that offers the following research and back office services to the firm:
 build & maintain centralized candidate databank
 provide centralized mapping / search services
 provide value added services (job portal search, preparation of Job specs for consultants , backend research)
 offer shared services to maximize manpower utilization of the mainline firm
 knowledge management by means of centralizing , archiving information leading to productivity of consultants .
 by doing all the above , offer cost advantage to the main-line firm by reducing dependence on the Support Staff who work with independent consultants in a typical ratio being 1:1
(Alexandar Mann Solutions Corporate website, 2009)
AMS had made significant investments in the RPO and today this back office employs over 30 research staff and plans to ramp up operations in the next couple months. Currently a captive centre, this unit has the potential of supporting external clients which could be a third partly model as well. Overall, RPO initiative was well accepted by the firm and had made significant value add to the database of AMS as well. At the time of taking up this project, there were certain Gaps in the RPO performance which needed to be addressed lately and a change management initiative was to be driven to improve the performance of the business venture further. The objective was not only to yield profit out of it but also to grow it from a knowledge sector perspective (Alexandar Mann Solutions Corporate website, 2009)
It was observed that gradually RPO was failing in efficiently meeting its objective of improving performance of consultants measured by means of:
• improved bandwidth ,
• value per fitment and
• individual efficiency ratio.
There were significant quality issues in the services rendered which had left the consultants in the mainline firm apprehensive of the overall set-up. Therefore, an immediate correction was required with adequate analysis as well as change management initiative taken and implemented at the right time, before the venture is set for a failure as well as book cash loss. The objective of the Change Management initiative at RPO began with a detailed gap analysis.
 Structured need analysis of mainline firm
 Examining the current processes – templates, checklists (walking thru live projects )
 Evaluating people performance (Ability , Understanding & Motivation)
 Studying the current performance parameters (Volume, Relevance, Quality)
 Implementing performance management system based on performance parameters .
 Implementing an objective feedback mechanism
 Linking performance with incentives (recognition, bonus and career growth)
 Setting up processes for research teams ( kick off calls with consultants to stock taking calls within defined timelines )
 Strong Operational Training – from recruitment basics, industry study , live case studies to perspective building viz., understanding urgency and challenges of consultants .
 Revamping RPO organisation structure