A Matter of Priorities

As production manager for Thompson Manufacturing, Sheila Stephens has the final authority to approve the hiring of any new supervisors who work for her. The human resource manager performs the initial screening of all prospective supervisors and then sends the most likely candidates to Sheila for interviews. One day recently, Sheila received a call from Pete Peterson, the human resource manager: “Sheila, I’ve just spoken to a young man who may be just who you’re looking for to fill the final line supervisor position. He has some good work experience and appears to have his head screwed on straight. He’s here right now and available if you could possibly see him.” Sheila hesitated a moment before answering. “Gee, Pete” she said, “I’m certainly busy today, but I’ll try to squeeze him in. Send him on down.” A moment later Allen Guthrie, the applicant, arrived at Sheila’s office and she introduced herself. “Come on in, Allen,” said Sheila. “I’ll be right with you after I make a few phone calls.” Fifteen minutes later Sheila finished the calls and began talking with Allen. Sheila was quite impressed. After a few minutes Sheila’s door opened and a supervisor yelled, “We have a small problem on line one and need your help.” Sheila stood up and said, “Excuse me a minute, Allen.” Ten minutes later Sheila returned, and the conversation continued for 10 more minutes before a series of phone calls again interrupted the pair. The same pattern of interruptions continued for the next hour. Finally, Allen looked at his watch and said, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Stephens, but I have to pick up my wife.” “Sure thing, Allen,” Sheila said as the phone rang again. “Call me later today.”

Questions

1. What should Sheila have done to avoid interviews like this one?

2. Explain why Sheila, not Pete, should make the selection decision.

3. What steps in the selection process were missed, if any? What problems might occur as a result of these omissions?