Personnel Planning And Recruitment - Mitre The Mitre Corpora

Personnel Planning And Recruitmentmitrethe Mitre Corporation Founded

Personnel Planning and Recruitment MITRE The MITRE Corporation, founded in 1958, is one of eleven nonprofit U.S. corporations that manage Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) for the government. Of our workforce of nearly 6,000 employees, most are in our two principal locations in Bedford, Massachusetts, and McLean, Virginia, and the rest at remote sites in the United States and around the world. MITRE’s mission is to assist the federal government with scientific research and analysis, development and acquisition, and systems engineering and integration. MITRE’s excellent reputation in operating its FFRDCs is very attractive to many mid- and late-career people who view our employees as respected subject matter experts.

Older engineers and scientists appreciate the kind and quality of work done at MITRE and how it affects at an early stage the high-level decisions made at the government agencies we support. Of the more than 500 new hires that join MITRE annually, nearly half (48 percent) are 40 years of age or older. Drawn heavily from industry, they are seasoned experts with knowledge of the latest technical developments, which enables MITRE to blend long-term domain knowledge and maturity with continuously updated expertise to benefit our sponsors.

In the past, MITRE depended heavily on advertising and employment agencies for the majority of our hires. As those methods became increasingly expensive, MITRE asked employees to become more actively involved in the identification and attraction of appropriately qualified new workers. MITRE employees are motivated to refer high-quality people like themselves because of their desire to fulfill our sponsors’ mission expectations and to work in collaboration with other equally talented individuals. In this case it is true that “birds of a feather flock together.”

To further motivate such referrals, we implemented a referral program that pays employees a bonus of $2,000 for technical staff hires, $1,000 for nontechnical staff hires, and $500 for nonexempt hires. Employee referrals now provide more than half our new hires and assure us of high-quality candidates who are likely to be a good fit with MITRE’s culture. Additionally, our data show that employee referrals significantly lower recruiting costs.

In 2001, when 34 percent of new hires were through employee referrals, the average cost for all hires was about $14,200, which included agency and advertising fees, labor costs, relocation and interview expenses, and employee referral bonuses. In 2004, employee referrals accounted for 52 percent for our hires, and our cost per hire had decreased by nearly 40 percent to $8,700. We use other methods as well to encourage employees to refer suitable candidates:

• We actively and frequently communicate our most urgent recruiting needs to employees by distributing “Hot Jobs” fliers throughout the corporation and posting hiring notices on the company’s intranet.
• Staff members attending conferences are encouraged to collect business cards of people who they think would be good team members.
• Potential candidates are also attracted to MITRE when they attend technical symposia or technology transfer meetings on MITRE property.
• They talk with an engaged cadre of MITRE attendees who are more than happy to respond to questions and inquiries.
• Employees can hand out networking, or “handshake,” cards to people who express an interest in MITRE so that they can nominate themselves in the future for a position with us.
• We bring our HR business partners into organizational meetings to alert our technical staff members about the importance of constantly being on the lookout for other subject matter experts.

We attribute the cost effectiveness of our process to several factors, including the following:

• More than two-thirds (roughly 70 percent) of our hires come from referrals, website postings, and rehires, which helps maintain our high standards. Thus, we rely very little on print advertising, employment agencies, or other broad-based recruiting channels that are costly and tend to generate less suitable candidates.
• We focus on certain niches for skilled and experienced workers, targeting organizations that employ people with relevant skills and experiences and certifications that represent a required level of expertise.
• Our recruiting teams are attuned to older workers, those who have demonstrated high levels of competency through past performance. Recruiters are coached so they can focus on relevant skill sets and criteria. Candidates who are subject matter experts (SME) are interviewed and evaluated by employees in the same area, a process we call SME-to-SME—again, birds of a feather.

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Millennium organizations increasingly recognize that comprehensive personnel planning and targeted recruitment strategies are essential for maintaining competitive advantage and operational excellence. The MITRE Corporation exemplifies an organization that employs a focused, innovative, and cost-effective HR approach centered on strategic recruitment, leveraging both internal and external resources, and emphasizing the value of experience and expertise in its workforce.

MITRE's overarching HR strategy appears to be a targeted approach prioritizing quality and specialized skills over broad, generalized recruitment. This is evidenced by their heavy reliance on employee referrals, which constitute over half of their new hires. Such a focus indicates a deliberate effort to attract candidates who are not only technically proficient but also culturally aligned with MITRE’s mission and workplace ethos. The organization minimizes broad-based advertising and external recruitment agencies, which tend to be costly and less selective, opting instead for a more refined, relationship-based recruitment model focused on specific niches and subject matter expertise (SME).

This targeted recruitment approach aligns with MITRE’s mission-driven culture, requiring high-level technical competencies and experience, particularly in areas such as engineering and systems analysis. Given the specialized nature of its work, MITRE’s focus on experienced professionals, especially those aged 40 and above, underscores a strategy designed to harness domain maturity, industry knowledge, and proven competencies. This focus ensures that MITRE maintains high standards of expertise, which are vital for its complex government projects.

In terms of sourcing, MITRE predominantly utilizes internal sources—employee referrals, internal rehires, and website postings—over external avenues such as advertising and employment agencies. This internal focus not only fosters a stronger connection within the organization but also results in significant cost savings, as reflected by their reduced cost per hire from approximately $14,200 in 2001 to $8,700 in 2004. The internal sourcing strategy underscores an emphasis on quality over quantity, ensuring that potential hires are pre-screened through existing employees' networks and the organization's targeted outreach efforts.

Furthermore, MITRE’s recruitment of older workers offers several advantages. Older employees bring extensive industry experience, long-term domain knowledge, and a mature perspective essential for high-stakes government work. MITRE recognizes that experienced professionals often demonstrate high levels of competency through past performance, making them valuable assets who require less intensive onboarding and training. This focus on seasoned professionals aligns with the organization’s goal of building a reliable and highly capable workforce that can contribute immediately to critical projects.

Another distinctive feature of MITRE’s HR approach is its employee referral program. The program is highly successful, primarily due to several strategic elements. First, it offers substantial bonuses (up to $2,000 for technical hires), motivating employees to actively participate in the recruitment process. This financial incentive is complemented by the intrinsic motivation of employees to work with high-caliber colleagues and fulfill the organization’s mission (Bock, 2015). By incentivizing employees to identify suitable candidates within their professional networks, MITRE reduces recruitment costs and enhances candidate quality.

The success of MITRE’s referral program can be attributed to multiple factors. The program’s monetary rewards effectively motivate employees, fostering a sense of ownership and engagement in recruitment efforts. Additionally, the cultural cohesion fostered by such programs ensures that new hires are more likely to fit well within MITRE’s values and working environment. This results in higher retention rates and quicker integration into teams, further reducing costs and facilitating operational continuity (van Doorn & Verhoeven, 2020). Moreover, the reliance on employee networks generates candidates who are proven performers and familiar with the organizational culture, lowering the risk of poor hiring decisions.

However, certain elements of the program and strategies may be challenging to replicate across different organizational contexts. For example, MITRE’s strong culture of expertise and professional integrity incentivizes employee participation, which might not be present in organizations lacking such a culture. The focus on niche skills and senior professionals—a demographic with extensive industry connections—may also be less feasible for organizations targeting entry-level or transient labor pools. Additionally, the successful SME-to-SME evaluation process depends heavily on organizational familiarity with technical domains, requiring a high level of internal expertise that might not be available everywhere.

In conclusion, MITRE’s HR strategy exemplifies a highly targeted, efficient, and experience-driven recruitment model. By focusing on internal sources, leveraging employee networks via incentive programs, and emphasizing the recruitment of seasoned professionals, MITRE effectively maintains a high-quality workforce capable of supporting complex, mission-critical projects. While some elements, such as referral incentives and niche focus, offer valuable lessons for other organizations, their successful implementation depends on an organizational culture that values expertise, internal cohesion, and strategic recruitment practices.

References

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