Facility startups and major hiring expansions are some of the most stressful activities that a Human Resources Manager will face during the course of a career. Other than a mass layoff or facility closing, there is probably not a major Human Resource activity that causes more sleepless nights than a facility startup. Hiring several hundred people over a compressed and ever-shifting timeline can be an incredibly daunting challenge.

Many HR professionals will go through their entire career without managing more than one major facility startup. In the course of a typical year Select International will partner with our clients to manage multiple major hiring events or startups. From my perspective one of the key factors that produce stress in my HR colleagues is the “unknown”, those events/things that can’t be controlled. I recall working on two manufacturing plant startups in 2008 when the recession hit. After much community outreach and public relation efforts focused on local job seekers had been completed there was a sudden freeze on all startup activities. Thousands of local applicants had to be informed that jobs were on hold. Many of these individuals had already completed a series of competency and skill assessments and interviews. These were very challenging communications to deliver, and all due to market conditions. I remember another startup where a tornado ripped through the hiring office complex during a critical project period. Thankfully no one was hurt, but a new office location had to be found in a short amount of time, and assessment sessions and interviews had to be rescheduled. The team had to work around the clock to make up lost time. Hiring deadlines did not change because of unlucky, extreme weather. These are just a couple of examples of stress inducing factors that are out of an HR professional’s control.

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