Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Enterprise Rent-A-Car (Enterprise) is the largest car rental business in North America. It has 7,000 offices in the USA. It has a further 900 spread around the world, including the UK. Enterprise constantly expands its range of services to meet customers’ needs. Therefore, Enterprise needs to have the right people with the right skills to be able to offer these services.

The role of Human Resource Management (HRM)
HRM is responsible for hiring, training and developing staff. If necessary it also disciplines or dismisses them. Employees at Enterprise are given effective training and development to reach their potential. This reduces the need to recruit from outside the business. HRM also plans for possible staff changes in the future. This is called workforce planning. For example, the business may grow into new markets or need to replace staff who retire. There may also be external changes in the labour market. These could mean shortages of skills or even too many skills in an area.

Attracting applicants
Enterprise promotes staff from within the business. Many staff start as Management Trainees. They have the chance to progress right up to Vice President/General Manager. Career building within the organisation appeals to staff and helps the business. External recruitment is also needed to bring in new skills or help the company to grow. Enterprise recruits graduates from universities.

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It raises its profile through:
• presentations
• support for clubs and groups
• going to Careers Fairs
• drop-in sessions
• skill sessions
• mentoring schemes.

Recruitment
Enterprise recruits new employees through: • its Internship Scheme. This allows students to gain skills with on-the-job training. They have the chance of a full-time job after graduation • its Graduate Management Trainee programme. This provides a fast-track career path. Trainees can move to Management Assistant in as little as 8-12 months. Enterprise advertises posts through a wide range of media. It uses special recruitment sites at peak times in the year. Its recruitment brand and website, ‘Come Alive’, is designed to target graduates.

Selection
The selection process aims to find the best person for the job. The process includes: • screening – to check whether applicants have the skills to meet the needs of the role • interview with recruitment and branch manager • an assessment day – candidates take part in role-play and other tests and activities.

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Enterprise needs its candidates to be: • customer service focused • persuasive • flexible • results driven • able to lead • able to communicate. Standard formats are used to match jobs with applicants. These include: • job description – this sums up the job responsibilities and lists main tasks • person specification – this outlines the personal characteristics needed for the job.

Conclusion
Enterprise focuses on meeting its customers’ needs. Its employees help to deliver its aims. Some staff are hired from outside the business. Many are developed and trained within the business. An unhappy customer is not likely to return so Enterprise uses the best staff to provide a high level of service to keep customers happy.