1. GL E N N LE W I S JE N S E N , SPHR
G R E A T R E S U L T S . D E L I V E R E D .
Bountiful, Utah • (801) 309-6462 • gjensen3000@gmail.com
Mercer
Attention: Nicole Cozzo
Salt Lake City, Utah
Re: Sino Swearingen Case Study
Dear Nicole,
I just wanted to take a minute to touch base with you and share a case study from my past. I think
this will provide insight into how I think and operate in a setting that is somewhat similar to that of
your manufacturing client. I hope it is helpful.
Best regards,
Glenn Jensen

2. GL E N N LE W I S JE N S E N , SPHR
G R E A T R E S U L T S . D E L I V E R E D .
Bountiful, Utah • (801) 309-6462 • gjensen3000@gmail.com
IN THE SUMMER OF 2005 I BECAME THE VICE PRESIDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES AT SINO SWEARINGEN. SINO WAS A MATURE
COMPANY, IN TERMS OF YEARS OF EXISTENCE, BUT VERY UNDERDEVELOPED IN THE AREA OF HUMAN RESOURCES. WHEN I
ACCEPTED THE POSITION I KNEW THAT HUMAN RESOURCES WAS NOT VIEWED AS BEING OF STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE. WHAT I
DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WAS THAT THE HUMAN RESOURCES TEAM WAS STRUGGLING WITH THE BASICS AND THAT THERE WAS A
NEAR TOTAL LACK OF TRUST BETWEEN THEM AND ALL OTHER AREAS OF THE COMPANY. THE FOLLOWING IS A BRIEF HISTORY OF
HOW I LED THE EFFORTS TO TRANSFORM THE DEPARTMENT INTO A HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM.
PHASE 1 – INTRODUCTION AND VALUES
BEFORE I ARRIVED AT SINO, MY TEAM HAD NO IDEA THERE WAS GOING TO BE A CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP. THEIR BOSS WAS THERE
ON FRIDAY AND I TOOK OVER ON MONDAY MORNING. I INHERITED A TEAM THAT WAS IN SHOCK AND VERY CONFUSED. WITHIN A
FEW MINUTES OF MY INTRODUCTION I INTRODUCED THE FIRST DRAFT OF OUR TEAM VALUES. MY TEAM DESPERATELY NEEDED
SOMETHING MEANINGFUL THAT THEY COULD HOLD ON TO. THEY QUICKLY LEARNED THAT I WAS OPEN-MINDED,
COMPASSIONATE, TRANSPARENT AND CANDID WITH EVERYONE. MISTAKES WERE TO BE EXPECTED AND LEARNED FROM.
HONESTY, TEAMWORK AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT WERE A MUST. WITHIN A FEW DAYS MY TEAM SHOWED SIGNS OF
TRUSTING ME. ONE BY ONE, TEAM MEMBERS BEGAN TO OPEN UP AND WE BEGAN TO MAKE NOTICEABLE PROGRESS ON ALL
FRONTS.
PHASE 2 - GAP ANALYSIS
ON DAY 2 I MET WITH THE LEADERSHIP TEAM AND STARTED TO CONDUCT A GAP ANALYSIS. IN SHORT, I COMPARED OUR CURRENT
PRACTICES WITH BEST HUMAN RESOURCES PRACTICES. AS I DID SO, I BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WERE HUGE GAPS IN
OUR PRACTICES AND THAT WE SIMPLY WERE NOT TRUSTED BY OTHERS. THE GAP ANALYSIS REVEALED THAT OUR RECRUITING WAS
HORRIBLY INADEQUATE AND EXPENSIVE. THE ON-BOARDING PROCESS WAS VERY WEAK.
IN ADDITION, THE BASIC CONCEPT OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT WAS NOT UNDERSTOOD. MEANINGFUL PERFORMANCE
EXPECTATIONS DID NOT EXIST AT ANY LEVEL. PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS WERE GENERIC AND MEANINGLESS AND THERE WAS
NO LOGIC OR STRUCTURE TO COMPENSATION. I ALSO FOUND THAT WE WERE INCREDIBLY SLOPPY AT DOCUMENTING
PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS. SHOCKINGLY, PEOPLE WERE BEING TERMINATED WITHOUT PROPER WARNINGS, INVESTIGATION OR
DOCUMENTATION. LASTLY, I FOUND WE WERE PAYING FULL RETAIL FOR ALL OUR BENEFITS AND OUR BROKERS WERE NOT
PERFORMING THEIR DUTIES AS AGREED AND COLLECTING A SIZEABLE PAY CHECK FOR DOING NOTHING.

3. PHASE 3 – DEVELOPING THE ACTION PLAN
ONCE THE GAP ANALYSIS WAS COMPLETE, I WORKED WITH MY TEAM AND THE LEADERSHIP TEAM TO PRIORITIZE THE NEEDED
PROJECTS. ONCE THE PRIORITIES WERE ESTABLISHED, I WORKED WITH MEMBERS OF MY TEAM TO DEFINE THE DETAILS AND
DEADLINES FOR PROJECT COMPLETION. SOME OF THE PROJECTS WERE SIMPLE. SOME WERE VERY COMPLEX AND COST INTENSIVE.
I PERSONALLY LED THE MOST COMPLEX AND COSTLY PROJECTS AND WORKED HARD TO INVOLVE MEMBERS OF MY TEAM IN
LITERALLY EVERY PROJECT.
ONCE THE PLAN WAS SET, I MET WITH THE ASSIGNED TEAM MEMBERS AT LEAST TWICE A WEEK TO REVIEW PROGRESS AND
PROVIDE THE NEEDED SUPPORT. THESE MEETINGS WERE SHORT AND TO THE POINT. I FOLLOWED UP WITH THE NEEDED COACHING
AFTER THE MEETINGS TO MAKE SURE THAT EACH TEAM HAD THE APPROPRIATE SUPPORT.
PHASE 4 – BUILDING THE HUMAN RESOURCES TEAM
AS I GOT THE TEAM USED TO A RIGOROUS RETURN AND REPORT ROUTINE, MOST OF THE TEAM REACTED WITH POSITIVE
PERFORMANCE. THEY WERE EXCITED TO BE MAKING PROGRESS AND DEVELOPING PROFESSIONALLY. THEY BEGAN TO NOTICE A
DIFFERENCE IN HOW THEY WERE PERCEIVED AS THEY WORKED WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS. IMPROVEMENT WAS NOT RAPID, BUT
IT WAS NOTICEABLE AND STEADY.
UNFORTUNATELY, TWO OF THE FOUR MANAGERS THAT REPORTED TO ME PROVED TO BE DISHONEST. RATHER THAN COMING
FORWARD AND BEING HONEST ABOUT SOME SERIOUSLY FLAWED DECISIONS AND BEHAVIORS, THEY CHOSE TO TRY TO LIE AND
COVER UP. ONCE I WAS CERTAIN THAT THEY HAD VIOLATED OUR VALUES, I REPLACED THEM. IN THE SHORT TERM, IT WAS
PAINFUL. AFTER A FEW MONTHS WE SAW TREMENDOUS IMPROVEMENT.
IN ADDITION TO THE SIGNIFICANT PROJECT LOAD, I SPENT CONSIDERABLE TIME TRAINING MY TEAM. I SOON REALIZED THAT FEW
MEMBESR HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE I HAVE HAD AND THEREFORE DID NOT HAVE THE DEPTH AND BREADTH OF EXPERIENCE THAT I
HAD BEEN ABLE TO ACQUIRE. THIS EFFORT WAS MET WITH GREAT ENTHUSIASM.
PHASE 4 – ONE PROJECT AT A TIME
MY FIRST PRIORITY WAS TO STOP THE SLOPPY AND DANGEROUS EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES THAT CAUSED LEGAL LIABILITY,
EXPENSE AND A HUGE CREDIBILITY PROBLEM FOR HUMAN RESOURCES. I IMMEDIATELY REQUIRED THAT ALL DISCIPLINE RUN
THROUGH ME AND THEN FOLLOWED UP WITH PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE TRAINING FOR ALL MANAGERS. OUR LEGAL COST
IMMEDIATELY DROPPED TO ZERO.
WE IMMEDIATELY BEGAN TO TOTALLY OVERHAUL OUR RECRUITING EFFORTS. IN SHORT, WE HAD TO ADD APPROXIMATELY
TWENTY FIVE SKILLED PEOPLE EACH MONTH AND WERE ONLY ADDING FIVE TO TEN. THESE POSITIONS WERE A COMBINATION OF
MECHANICS, ENGINEERS AND MANAGEMENT AND WERE DIFFICULT TO FILL. WE IMMEDIATELY SCRAPPED OUR JOB FAIR EFFORTS
THAT WERE HELD IN VARIOUS AEROSPACE-RICH MARKETS. INSTEAD WE FOCUSED ON A NEW IN-HOUSE RECRUITING PROGRAM, A
SERIES OF OPEN HOUSES, AND AN INTERNET-BASED SEARCH EFFORT. WITHIN A FEW MONTHS WE WERE HITTING OR BEATING OUR
RECRUITING GOALS. NOT ONLY DID WE HIT OUR NUMBERS, BUT WE ALSO IMPROVED THE QUALITY OF HIRES BY 50%+, AS
MEASURED BY OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM.
SOON AFTER MY ARRIVAL WE ALSO BEGAN THE PROCESS OF SELECTING A NEW FULL SERVICE BENEFITS BROKER AND REWORKING
ALL OF OUR BENEFITS OFFERINGS. WITHIN A FEW MONTHS WE COMPLETELY OVERHAULED OUR PLAN DESIGN AND BENEFITS
OFFERINGS. WE ALSO RENEGOTIATED THE COST OF EVERY SERVICE AND LAUNCHED A WELLNESS PROGRAM. ALL THIS WAS DONE

4. WITHOUT A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THE QUALITY, COST OR CONVENIENCE TO EMPLOYEES. WITHIN A YEAR, WE SAVED $1.3
MILLION.
LASTLY, WE LAUNCHED A MASSIVE PROJECT TO INTRODUCE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND A RATIONAL COMPENSATION
SYSTEM. THIS REQUIRED A GREAT DEAL OF EFFORT TO DEFINE THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE CORPORATION AND THEN DRILL
THEM DOWN TO MEANINGFUL EXPECTATIONS FOR EVERY POSITION. THIS APPROACH GREATLY REDUCED CONFUSION AND
EXPOSED MANY ORGANIZATIONAL WEAKNESSES THAT NEEDED ATTENTION. THIS PROJECT ALSO FORCED US TO DEFINE THE JOB
SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED FOR THE BASIC, INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED LEVELS OF ALL POSITIONS.
BY DOING SO, WE ALSO PROVIDED CLEARLY DEFINED CAREER PATHS. ONCE THIS WAS DONE, I WAS ABLE TO INTELLIGENTLY
DEFINE THE PAY BANDS/RANGES. I WAS THEN ABLE TO RE-ENGINEER THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL PROCESS AND INTRODUCE
SUPPORTING SOFTWARE TO MAKE IT MEANINGFUL AND EFFICIENT. THE NET EFFECT OF THE PROJECT WAS THAT I WAS ABLE TO
FOCUS THE ATTENTION OF THE ORGANIZATION AND VIRTUALLY EVERY MANAGER AND TEAM MEMBER ON WHAT WAS MOST
IMPORTANT.
PHASE 5 – RESULTS
IN A LITTLE LESS THAN TWO YEARS, I WAS ABLE TO LARGELY TRANSFORM HR FROM A CLERICAL FUNCTION, TO A STRATEGIC
PARTNER. UNFORTUNATELY, SINO SWEARINGEN SHUT DOWN BECAUSE IT LOST FUNDING. HERE ARE THE RESULTS WE ACHIEVED:
 SAVED OVER $380,000 IN DIRECT RECRUITING COSTS, WHILE IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF HIRES BY 50+%
 REDUCED LEGAL COST FROM APPROXIMATELY $200K PER YEAR TO $0
 SAVED APPROXIMATELY $1.3 MILLION IN COSTS EACH YEAR WITHOUT COMPROMISING QUALITY OF CARE
 DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED A PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND COMPENSATION SYSTEM THAT EFFECTIVELY
FOCUSED THE ATTENTION OF ENTIRE ORGANIZATION