Program Managers from POME by Gautam Koppala

quietly commiserating behind closed doors.

‘‘Two years ago,” Randy confided in Josh, ‘‘I was sure I would be filling the senior operator’s vacancy that had just opened up with the retirement of one of the old-timers. But to my surprise, Raymond went ahead on his own and hired some guy from the outside. I had the qualifications, had been with the company several years, and was mad as heck!”

‘‘Well, I would be, too,” responded Josh. ‘‘Isn’t there a ‘promote-from-within’ policy here?”

‘‘You bet,” said Randy. ‘‘Right in the employee handbook. I took the matter to Chuck’s office and contested the outside hiring. I even brought Simpson, the human resources director, into the dispute.”

‘‘What happened, did you win?” inquired Josh.

‘‘I’m here, aren’t I?” Randy stated proudly. ‘‘And I’m a senior operator. They fired that outsider just as fast as you can blink an eye and gave me the position, along with an apology from management.”

After returning from a luncheon meeting, Raymond was relaxing at his desk when Paul Simpson, the human resources director, asked to come in and discuss an important matter.

‘‘Raymond, we’ve got trouble,” said Paul. ‘‘I don’t like to be the bearer of bad news, but I just had a phone conversation with an attorney representing a Mrs. Alice Hernandez. He said she intends to file a lawsuit against you and the company because of unlawful and discriminatory practices against her by you in a job interview. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

‘‘You and your dumb personnel rules, Simpson,” retorted Raymond. ‘‘You’re always on my back about this and that. The fact is that broad was crazy just like all those people!”

‘‘I’m not here to defend myself, and I’m certainly not here to attack you at this time,” asserted the human resources director. ‘‘Get this straight . . . we’re in big trouble because of your actions with that job candidate and we had better sit down and start planning how to deal with this problem. And I’m telling you right now, Raymond, if we get through this one alive, you had better straighten up and start working with me, rather than against me.”

Case Analysis

Raymond, a production manager, has a knack for getting in trouble while performing his staffing duties. He bungles interviewing, fair staff treatment, promoting and grievance procedures as well as his relationship with the human resources department.

During the selection interview with Alice Hernandez, Raymond wrongly attempted to engage in discussion of the candidate’s personal background. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) guidelines clearly prohibit discussion of such matters as place of birth (national origin), religion, and family planning.

Raymond’s ignorance—or perhaps rejection—of the EEO laws was strongly compounded by his overt bigotry toward females and/or Hispanics. In addition, his inept handling of the interview with Hernandez created serious legal complications.

The meeting between Raymond and his manager, Chuck, reveals Raymond’s total disregard for the company’s grievance procedure, which is clearly established in the company’s human resources policies manual. Of great concern to Chuck was Raymond’s refusal to let Larry, the subordinate, take his issue of unfair treatment any further as well as Raymond’s threat of reprisals should Larry do this.

The entire philosophy of any grievance policy assumes that, on occasion, differences of opinion between employees and supervisors could arise that would require satisfactory resolution by other parties. Such a policy serves the best interests of employees as well as management by providing a clear means of problem-solving while protecting the chain of command concept.

The case of Josh, the new operator, presents additional indications of Raymond’s inability to handle his staffing responsibilities. When hiring Josh, for example, Raymond failed to accurately describe the job Josh would be doing. The job description—had Raymond used one—would have been the perfect tool to help clarify Josh’s job and prevent such a misunderstanding or misrepresentation.

In Randy’s case, Raymond displayed a gross disregard for the published company policy of ‘‘promote from within” and rejected the human resources department as an important group to help in the recruitment and selection process. Had Raymond simply mentioned his need to fill the senior operator’s vacant position to the human resources director, he would have been reminded of the ‘‘promote-from-within” policy.

A working relationship with human resources and an appreciation for its support services and professional staffing advice might have prevented not only the dispute over Raymond’s wrongful hiring from outside but many of the staffing problems that he displayed in this case.

Solution:

To effectively handle the staffing side of your job, consider the following action tools:

Commit to excellence in staffing, recognizing that within your department, you may be accountable for everything from recruiting, selecting, hiring, orienting, placing, training, evaluating, promoting, disciplining, and compensating to the suspension or discharge of employees.
Obtain and maintain a current issue of the company’s human resources policies manual as well as the employee handbook. Use your manual as a working guide to help ensure that daily staffing decisions made within your department are within human resources and legal guidelines.
Get to know the human resources professionals that support your department. These individuals possess special expertise to help you solve day-to-day people problems. They may also be able to provide you with specialized staffing services, such as recruiting and screening.
Be fair in handling performance problems with employees and implementing the company’s system of progressive discipline, moving from oral to written warnings to suspension and discharge.

Gautam Koppala,

POME Author

More Technology Management Articles