Question

You have been asked to replace the project manager who was heading up your firm’s new compensation and benefits system. One of the reasons the project manager is being replaced is because the project schedule had the wrong resources assigned (e.g., resources who do not fully understand compensation and benefits). You have been asked to solve this problem quickly by either replacing the resources or getting the resources up-to-speed on compensation and benefits. Present your recommendation for solving this critical resource problem by reviewing the pros and cons of each option.

Answer 1

The choice of wrong resources is the key issue behinf entire problem.

Option 1 - Replacing the exisitng resources with competent ones

Pros - The new resources chosen will be the sbject matter experts, and therefore they can be trained in very short duration afer being hired, and the success of the project can be ensured.

Cons : The hiring of new resources will take time, as a good selection procedure will be time consuming, and any hurry in this regard will lead to another mishap like before.The process might lead to delay in the project. It will also invovle the additional cost of hiring and training them, as well as the cost of replacing the existing ones

Option 2 - Training the current resources

Pro- The resource training is the most cost effective and quick process, which, after rigorous training intervention will give good results.

Cons- It is uncertain as to what is the actual gap between the desired level of proficiency and the exisitng one. If each member has different degree of proficiency, designing customised training solution will be very difficult. If there are some people who are completely unaware about the compensation and benefit subject, they will not give good results, whatever, training is imparted to them. If there are high number of such people,it is likely that the situation remains the same even after training.

The decision will depend on current level of proficiency of the personnel. If they are close to the desired performance, they should be traained. However, if the gaps are high, they better be replaced.