1. The Heart of
Human
Resources:
Recruiting
By: Timothy P. McHugh

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Table of Contents
I. Introduction (p. 3)
II. Recruiting: The Heart of Human
Resources (p. 4)
III. Our Current Recruitment Process at
CMTM (WRTA) (p. 7)
IV. Evaluating Our Current Practice (p. 12)
V. Benefits of Process Improvement in
Recruiting (p. 13)
VI. Implementation Strategy (p. 14)
VII. Conclusion (p. 14)

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I. Introduction
Human Resources plays a key role in every organization and the success of the company
hinges on their performance because they are the mortar that keeps all the bricks of the
organization stable and functioning properly. Human Resource professionals connect all the dots
and make sure everything is running smoothly. Among their numerous responsibilities,
recruiting is at the very essence of the field. Recruiting is so essential because your employees
are the ones who carry out the day to day tasks in order for the company to function properly. If
the right employees are recruited and then retained, this translates into success. Conversely, if
the wrong employees are recruited, the consequences can be very detrimental to an organization
and waste time, money, and resources. This makes recruiting the important foundation of an
organization because so many different outcomes sprout from the decision of hiring a single
employee. These decisions will have a tremendous impact on the future and that is why it is vital
a Human Resources department recognizes this and develops a strong recruiting practice.
When thinking about the recruiting process it is important to follow these steps in order;
reflect, improve, innovate and improve. Business today is moving faster than ever before
making it even more important for organizations to change with the modern age we live in.
Those who are willing to change are the ones who will be the most successful. When
considering recruitment it is crucial to reach “the right people” in order to ensure future growth
and prosperity in the years to come. Finding the right people is not always the easiest thing to
do, but by constantly fine-tuning the recruitment process and making it more effective, it will
have its own way of bringing more of “the right people” to your organization’s doorstep.

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Luckily, I stepped into an organization with a very strong recruiting process that has
already been refined over so many years. My internship supervisor Jo-Ann is the Human
Resources Manager and is both SPHR and SHRM-SCP certified, which provided me with a very
helpful mentor in my Human Resources journey. Since a solid recruiting practice was already in
place, it was tough to find ways to improve the process further, but the bigger the challenge the
greater the reward and after working it out together we both came up with some new ideas to
further enhance the solid practice. Before taking a look at the current recruiting practice at
CMTM(WRTA), it is important to first gain a stronger understanding at the vital role that
recruiting plays in Human Resources.
II. Recruiting: The Heart of Human
Resources
The employees are the life-blood of an organization which all stems from the great heart of
recruitment. Before even taking a look at the process itself, it is important that Human
Resources first knows their own blood, meaning they need to understand their employees in
order to choose new members who will fit the puzzle nicely. A potential applicant may fit the
puzzle in some aspects, but just because an employee is well-qualified it does not mean they will
be a compatible and successful fit for the position. It goes much deeper than that, a proper
understanding of the applicant is needed and this calls upon a Human Resources professional to
have good character judgment as well as strong intuition. These are such critical abilities to be
able to read others and understand who they truly are as a person because when it comes down to

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it, a new hire will eventually show their true form after some time if they were not being
genuine.
A great example of this comes from my recent experience as a Human Resources intern.
While working in the recruiting field, I have come to find out that when you talk to an
applicant’s references, they will almost always say that the applicant is the perfect employee.
Very rarely does a reference speak the absolute truth and tell you how the applicant truly is and
this is where character judgment comes into play. The first important step to finding out who a
person truly is by asking the right questions. You have to ask them questions that dig deeper
than just the usual questions. The questions need to be aimed at providing an answer to who this
person is beyond just work itself and how they are as a person, which will provide a better
understanding of how they would potentially fit in the organization.
When I make my reference calls I try and tailor each one set of questions to each applicant
specifically based on all the information in their file. There are a few standard things we need to
ask but Jo-Ann taught me that you need to go off script and ask the important questions that will
provide a clearer picture. A typical question I ask most all applicants however is; what do they
like to do in their free time? The answer itself will not provide you with a clear answer of
whether or not they will fit, but analyzing why they gave the answer is the important part of the
process.
For example, if they say they are a big family person or that they like to play music, it
can tell you many things about their personal character. For the one who enjoys family time, you
can reason that they have a good set of moral values and enjoy sharing a strong bond with others
close to them, which means they would positively contribute towards a group effort, which is

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always a good thing to consider. An applicant like this would work best with others and then
further questions would be needed depending on what type of person you are looking for to fill a
position. For the one who enjoys playing music, you can reason that they have a creative side
and this is a very important factor to consider. Having creative people in an organization is
always positive because they provide new approaches to problems and new ideas that can help
greatly improve the organization if employees listen to what they have in mind. Now
considering this, the more creative a person is, typically it means they won’t be as productive as
the work horse in the office, but is essential to have some creative minds to provide new ideas
for the work horses that will make them even more productive than before. All this being said
it is always a good practice to have a healthy mix of employees with different attributes that
support one another.
Every single person plays an important role in the organization and their respective
differences need to be able to mold together for a positive impact on the organization, rather than
clash and cause a negative impact. Human Resource professionals need to have keen instinct on
reading people in order to make the right decisions to piece together a sustainable team. By
digging deeper you will find clarity from your questions and come up with the right decision to
hire the truly right employee and not just the one that looks nice on paper.

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III. Our Current Recruitment Process at
CMTM (WRTA)
Before looking at our current recruiting practice, it is vital to first understand the model of
the recruitment process itself.1 The model process according to the SHRM Foundation is made
up of four different parts. First, a company must establish recruitment objectives in order to
provide a direction. Then a company must keep these objectives in mind I order to develop an
effective recruitment strategy which will provide a bigger picture and a plan to find the right
talent. Third, a company must adhere to the strategy in place and then carry out the proper
recruitment activities. Finally, after taking the necessary steps along the recruitment path, a
company must then look back and evaluate the recruitment results. This final step then needs to
be practiced frequently in order to see what parts of the recruitment process work and which
parts do not. Then after following the model process, it goes right back to the beginning of the
process and starts all over once again.
The recruiting process is full circle, it keeps cycling over and over again as time passes and
more employees need to be hired. This being said, it is critical for Human Resources to learn
from each cycle as it takes its natural course, improving upon it each time after reflection. In
doing this, the process is fine-tuned and becomes increasingly more effective and can result in
great prosperity for an organization.
1 The Model Recruitingis taken from the SHRM Foundation’s Effective PracticeGuidelines Series:Recruitingand
Attracting Talent (p. 2)

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Now, time to dive into the recruiting process at CMTM(WRTA). Our most common
openings available during the course of a year are for the position of shuttle van drivers. Then
bus drivers come next on the list, but this position requires a Commercial Driver’s License
(CDL), so the potential field of applicants narrows a bit for this one. Then the third most
common opening available is for mechanics in the garage. Before we dig deeper into the
process, it is important to understand that our employees that work at the Worcester Regional
Transit Authority (WRTA) all belong to Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), which
provides our company Central Mass Transit Management (CMTM) with an interesting set of
challenges because dealing with a union provides a set of hurdles for our company to overcome
when dealing with employees. Basically, we(CMTM) are in a relationship of checks and
balances with the TWU and this makes it critical that common ground is found in making
important decisions because the relationship is delicate and if it swings out of balance it can be
detrimental to both companies involved.
In order to be productive and successful, this delicate relationship needs to positive. In a
perfect world, this would always be the case and every company that deals with a union would
enjoy steady growth and prosperity each day, but this is not always the case in the real world. In
reality, companies that deal with unions usually bump heads frequently. In some organizations,
the struggle never ends and greater good of both parties involved suffer due to their lack of
agreement. Each company has a different past history with their union, but the more successful
companies are the ones who have achieved a positive and sustainable relationship with their
union, simply because when both parties can agree on things, much more can become
accomplished.

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Luckily, in my time spent in Human Resources, I have seen a time of peace between the two.
Jo-Ann told me that it was not always this way, but eventually as time passed both sides finally
found common ground. The relationship had its ups and downs, but the important thing is that as
of right now they are on the same page and things have been running productively smooth ever
since. That being said, the relationship still presents challenges daily since we have to deal with
them every time before we are to carry out an action or even talk about some topics.
Our recruiting process at CMTM just like every other recruiting process starts with an
opening, which usually is one of the top three listed previously. Once an opening occurs, we
then put out an advertisement throughout many different channels. We post our job listings on
local job boards, online job boards such as Monster.com, local college job postings, and
unemployment websites. Sometimes we also utilize a temporary agency to find solid talent in
the hopes of turning the temps into permanent employees. Once the listing is posted and
advertised, then we receive applicants who respond to the posting. Typically we carry a staff of
around two hundred, and each year we usually have around thirty-five different openings for a
wide-variety of reasons. On average we receive around four hundred applications per year,
which averages out roughly to twelve applicants per posting. This makes our recruiting process
a bit easier since we do not have to go through hundreds of applicants for a single position, but it
is still just as important to make the right decision to find the right person for the job.
The typical applicant we receive has usually a high school degree and we still receive quite
of bit of applicants with college diplomas as well. Driving experience is an important factor
when considering an applicant, but it is also vital that an applicant has a solid knowledge of the
city that includes; landmarks, buildings, and streets. Jo-Ann told me when she interviews drivers

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to always ask them where a few of these things are to test their knowledge of the city and to take
note of it.
The process continues and important questions are asked both over the phone and in person
via interview with Jo-Ann and Dave Trabucco another manager within the company. The in-
person interview always provides the most answers, but all the other steps are still equally
important when piecing together who a person truly is and finding out if they are the best fit for a
position. Typically after the interview is conducted, reference calls for each applicant are made
and this is an area where I acquired much experience in. As I mentioned earlier, when making
calls, I would ask our necessary questions about the applicant and receive almost always positive
answers, then would dig deeper with more focused questions to accurately judge the applicant’s
values and character. A solid character judgment is needed, as well as a profound sense of
insight to accurately visualize how an applicant would pan out in the organization. To some this
is just a natural gift and for others it does not come as easy. In both cases, the best practice is
practice itself. A gift does not have any significance if one does not hone their natural ability
and constantly practicing with everyday situations, the ability can be honed into a very useful
tool for a Human Resources professional.
As the reference calls are being made, there are several other steps occurring at the same time
or shortly before or afterwards. These steps are taken to piece together a picture of a person’s
past which will provide important answers, but must be analyzed carefully because not always
the best applicant on paper is the right one for the job. Typically the first check to take place is a
background check, then a driving records check, and then a Criminal Offender Record
Information (CORI) check. As an employer we cannot ask questions regarding the CORI until

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the final interview and we can only ask about misdemeanor and felony charges, and an applicant
is not required to talk about closed cases.
Beyond these checks, we have assessments geared more towards accurately seeing if an
applicant is fit for the position. We administer all bus drivers the Bus Operators Selection
Survey (BOSS) that the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) developed about
fifteen years ago to accurately assess an applicant’s competency for the job using both
standardized and personality-based questions. The BOSS has proved to be an extremely
effective resource in bus driver applicant selection. Then beyond the BOSS, we administer our
own personality test to further asses the applicants and then finish it off with a physical and a
drug screening.
Then the most important step of the entire process comes into play; the selection process.
Typically out of all the total applicants, we narrow the pool down to what is thought to be the top
three most compatible applicants. Then we rule them out one by one until we reach the right one
for the job. The decision is created from a collective mind of managers that developed an answer
after thorough analysis and ultimately Human Resources have the final say in the decision. A
tremendous amount of outcomes hinges on this one decision, so it is crucial the right decision is
made in order to ensure positive outcomes for the company that will help it develop and grow.

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IV.Evaluating Our Current Practice &
the Benefits of Process Improvement
in Recruiting
After further reviewing the current recruiting process at CMTM, it was tough to find any
areas of improvement because it has been refined for many years and since we deal with the
TWU it makes it tough to implement new changes. The most important part of the practice is
down at the core, which is being as genuine as possible. Jo-Ann said this is what has made the
process so effective over the years. She said if you lie to an applicant or “sugar-coat” things then
their experience with the company won’t match their expectations going into the job and it will
result in the employee leaving. The SHRM Foundation emphasized greatly the importance of
being authentic and genuine and said it has a huge impact on turnover rates.
To get a better sense of how others viewed our organization I came up with a list of questions
for Jo-Ann which provided some valuable insight on where to begin the journey of process
improvement. After digging deeper, I found that the public opinion of our company is positive
and straight-forward and could be identified certainly as “genuine”. In addition to that, our
company is also viewed positively in the aspect of growth. Once you start with us there is great
opportunity for pay increase and some of our drivers and mechanics make over $27 per hour,
which is pretty substantial.

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There is an area for improvement in our practices to consider which is extending our
recruiting efforts to a bigger sphere of influence and target the Veteran’s Association (VA) more
heavily to find better talent. In order to do this, we need to refine/re-design our social media
platforms as well as send a Human Resources representative to colleges outside of Worcester as
well as nearby Veteran’s Associations. Both of these improvements would be cost-effective and
would increase our chances at finding better talent for the organization.
V. Benefits of Process Improvement in
Recruiting
Process improvement in any aspect of an organization is essential for long-term sustainability
and growth. In recruiting especially, improving the way things are done can save a lot of time,
money, and effort down the road by learning from previous experience. Improvement also is one
of the biggest factors effecting turnover rates. If the practice is refined, then the turnover rates
are much lower. Another huge benefit of improving recruiting efforts is your organization will
be hiring even better talent, which is arguably one of the most important functions a company
can do. By constantly improving and increasing the number of solid employees, the entire
company as a whole will much more productive as well as function better as one cohesive unit.
In turn this upward trend of talent increase will further ignite the improvement efforts down the
line and will eventually lead to even greater success in the future.

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VI.Implementation Strategy
Before improvements are set into motion, a strategy needs to be set in place for the plan to be
implemented successfully. The plan that we will use to foster our improvements will begin with
a mapping process. By doing this we can visually see what the different possible outcomes of
actions could potentially play out as. By laying it all out before the eyes, the right course of
action becomes apparent. For example, in regards to ramping up recruitment efforts at VA’s, we
would put down on paper a list of all VA’s in the area and then list out the background
information of each specific location. From there we can decide which ones to focus our efforts
most on and even rule out some locations that would offer little potential. The mapping process
would then be repeated in the same fashion for our improved college recruitment efforts. The
final step would then be to go talk to Career Services at Nichols and try and develop a strong
relationship in order to attract Nichols students looking to make some money.
VII. Conclusion
The road of improvement can be tough and filled with setbacks, but the payoff of improving
the recruiting process make it all worthwhile. By improving recruiting, you are increasing the
company’s potential for growth and at the same time improving the overall functionality of the
company as a whole. It is not only a wise decision for the short-term scope of things, but is a
very wise course of action for long-term success in the future.

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WORKS CITED
I. "Recruiting and Attracting Talent." Recruiting and Attracting Talent. SHRM
Foundation., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
II. "Transport Workers Union Home." Transport Workers Union Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 15
Dec. 2015.
III. "Public Transportation." The Bus Operator Selection Survey (BOSS). N.p., n.d. Web. 15
Dec. 2015.