Case Study: Recruiting at Kia

As economic conditions became more demanding
for some employers, other firms continued
to recruit people for jobs. One firm, Kia Motors
America, added a large number of jobs at one
of its newer facilities. As a subsidiary of a South
Korean corporation, Kia Motors America added
tons of equipment at its West Point, Georgia,
plant, so that ultimately about 300,000 vehicles
would be produced annually.
As the firm sought recruits to fill its Georgia
plant workforce, more than 40,000 individuals
applied for the jobs, the bulk of which were
production and maintenance positions. However,
the need for people in a variety of other occupations,
including air-conditioning service people,
cafeteria workers, and medical staff, added to the
depth and scope of Kia’s recruiting. A limited time
frame for applications was set by Kia as part of its
recruitment planning.
In the recruiting process, a variety of regional
and area sources were contacted as part of the Kia
broad publicity and inclusive efforts in the area.
Randy Jackson, HR Director, spent a month visiting
colleges and churches, appearing on radio and
television shows, and using other means to market
Kia’s recruiting and employment efforts. All of
these activities were done to inform applicants
about the numerous jobs at Kia and the month long
time frame for application.
To make its recruiting system effective in
screening the large number of applicants, Kia
established an online-only application process on
a special website. As part of its recruiting efforts,
Kia and a Georgia Department of Labor agency
worked together. One of the agency activities was
to make computers available at a local technical
college, libraries, and other locations for those
persons without home-based Internet. Having
the online system allowed Kia’s HR staff to move
quickly to identify those applicants who matched
available jobs. The use of this system by HR
recruiters and managers doing the hiring made the
selection process more efficient.
To aid in the selection of employees, recruiting
software was used to sort applicants into
electronic “buckets,” divided by work experiences
and education. Then an eight-step process was
established to let applicants obtain a realistic
job preview of working at Kia. These recruiting
actions resulted in the hiring of more than 500
new employees within six months. During the
rest of the year, an additional 1,200 workers were
hired, primarily for the second shift, and more
were hired later.
Although smaller employers might not use
such an extensive recruiting process, the Kia process
illustrates the kinds of recruiting planning,
activities, Internet linkages, and other means that
can be used by both large and small employers
doing recruiting. The long-term success of Kia’s
efforts to staff its Georgia operation demonstrates
ways in which HR can use both time- and cost effective
recruiting to hire qualified individuals.66
QU E S T I O N S
1. Describe how employing a large number of new
workers requires strategic recruiting planning
and operational efforts, and discuss what
aspects might be different in smaller firms.
2. Discuss how utilizing the Internet, like Kia
did and other employers do, is changing how
recruiting efforts are occurring for a variety of
jobs in employers of different sizes.
Recruiting at Kia


Question 1: Describe how employing a large number of new workers require strategic recruiting planning and operational efforts, and discuss what aspects might be different in smaller firms

Answer:
Recruiting a large number of new workers requires strategic recruiting planning and operational efforts and Kia gives a strong example of these efforts. Kia was able to hire 500 employees within six months, and later on 1,200 more employees were added. They did this by using technology to have people apply only online, where they made an efficient selection process. They also sorted these employees into electronic buckets and divided them by their work and educational experiences. Aspects might be different in smaller firms because they might not be able to hire so many people in such a short time period. They also might not have enough employees to do the research of the applicants that are applying for the company.

Question 2: Discuss how utilizing the Internet, like Kia did and other employers do, is changing how recruiting efforts are occurring for a variety of jobs in employers of different sizes.

Answer:
Utilizing the internet, like Kia did and other employees do is changing how recruiting efforts are occurring because companies are able to become more efficient and sort employees applications electronically, instead of paperwork which will take much more time.