Employer Search - the Interviewing and Hiring of New Employees - Case Study Example

Introduction to the Case The case discusses a conversation taking place between Dr. Tao Wong and Mr. Anthony Rodrequez who is the assistant manager Human Resources at the Great Southern University. This conversation is subsequent to a teaching position that Dr. Tao Wong had accepted at the Great Southern University, which was proposed by Professor Elizabeth Sinclair. The terms and conditions that Dr Wong had accepted in Hong Kong which were verbally communicated by Professor Elizabeth Sinclair have been changed once Dr. Wong landed in Australia for the teaching position. His case discusses that Dr. Wong had accepted a position that was on a continuing basis and for which he would be compensated for the airfare to Australia, which had been borne by Dr. Wong for the relocation of his family in Australia. Moreover, Professor Sinclair had communicated that Dr. Wong would be given a relocation allowance along with a permanent position as faculty member of the University. Upon reaching Australia, Dr. Wong is told by Mr. Rodrequez that Dr. Wong will not be compensated for any air fare and will not be given any relocation allowance. Moreover, Dr. Wong will be on a two year contract as a visiting faculty member. In this case, several issues pertaining to Human Resource Management and Ethics arise in relation to the terms of employment communicated to Dr. Wong and the way the communicated to him, along with the discrepancies that arose in the employment terms. The paper analyzes various elements of the case in the light of peer reviewed articles that have been sought to understand and evaluate the case. What is the main issue in the case and how did it arise? There has been a gross miscommunication of terms of employment between Dr. Wong and Professor Sinclair. Considering the scenario that Dr. Wong faced, Mr. Rodrequez was responsible to rectify this issue and communicate the right terms of employment to Dr. Wong. (Michael, pp. 14 - 42) Dr. Wong was communicated the fact that he was being employed on a permanent basis with perks including airfare for travelling to Australia and relocation allowance to move from Hong Kong to Australia. Upon reaching the university, Dr. Wong was informed that he was to be employed on a two year contract with no perks that were mentioned by Professor Sinclair. Moreover, Professor Sinclair was merely stating general terms of an employment contract and was not specifically informing Dr. Wong about the terms considering she does not have the authority to extend employment on behalf of the university. (Neckerman, Kathryn M.; Kirschenman, Joleen) There are several reasons why such a problem can arise. The first and foremost is the communication gap between the Human Resources Department and the professor. Both the HR Department and the Professor were talking of two different employment terms and therefore, this left Dr. Wong in the lurch as he was not able to figure out which terms were correct and which terms were not a part of his employment contract. It is mentioned in the case that Mr. Rodrequez had to specifically inform Dr. Wong that the professor was not entitled to inform any employment terms to potential employees and therefore, the confusion had arisen. (John M & Bishop, John & Dunkelberg, William C, pp. 43 – 52) Another reason because of which this issue arose was not informing the Professor about the particular employment terms of Dr. Wong. In this case, we have to look into two different elements, one being an ill defined hierarchy which caused the miscommunication of terms and loss of control because of which both the Professor and the Assistant HR manager had quoted the terms to Dr. Wong. Because the hierarchy is not defined correctly there is a loss of control amongst the HR department and the professor and both have ended up communicating two different sets of terms to Dr. Wong. In this case, if the hierarchy of communication had been properly defined, the professor would have been informed about the terms that had to be informed. Moreover, if the professor was not entitled to allow expression of employment terms then it was the responsibility of the HR department to inform the professor about how to discuss employment with Dr. Wong. (Clyne, M, Ball, M and Neil, D, pp. 251–274; John M & Bishop, John & Dunkelberg, William C, pp. 43 – 52) How could the situation have been avoided? There are various ways and means through which this situation could have been avoided. The responsibility of the HR Department is to develop the various terms and conditions of the employment or job. In this case, these terms had to be clearly defined and then communicated to the professor as well so both the Assistant Manager, HR and the professor would be on the same plane and inform Dr. Wong of the same terms and conditions of the employment. (Clyne, M, Ball, M and Neil, D, pp. 251–274; John M & Bishop, John & Dunkelberg, William C, pp. 43 – 52) Additionally, Dr. Wong should have been careful about the various terms of employment and should have conducted thorough research before accepting the contract of employment. In this case, Dr. Wong had only discussed the issue superficially with Professor Sinclair and had not confirmed the terms before arriving in Australia to sign the contract. Having a complete interview with background details and discussing with other professors who have relocated to Australia to teach in the university, would have given Dr. Wong a better idea of the various elements involved in the employment. (Barron, John M & Bishop, John, pp. 363 - 382; Clyne, M, Ball, M and Neil, D, pp. 251–274; John M & Bishop, John & Dunkelberg, William C, pp. 43 – 52) What ethical issues are involved in this case? There are various ethical issues attached to this case the primary one being that there was improper communication of employment terms to Dr. Wong which he realized after landing in Australia. Dr. Wong had been told a different version of employment terms by the professor. In such a case, this is an ethical issue because Dr. Wong had reached Australia under the impression that he would be getting a permanent faculty position in the university while upon reaching there, all terms and conditions had changed leading him to have dissonance about his decision to join the university. (Barron, John M & Bishop, John, pp. 363 - 382; Clyne, M, Ball, M and Neil, D, pp. 251–274; John M & Bishop, John & Dunkelberg, William C, pp. 43 – 52) Another problem that has arisen in this case is that Dr. Wong had not evaluated the job responsibilities and employment terms thoroughly before coming to Australia and accepting the position. In such a case, he should have evaluated the offer before accepting it verbally. At the moment, Dr. Wong has to sign a contract with the University which should have been provided to Dr. Wong before he had come to Australia while he was in discussion with the university, for the teaching position. (Barron, John M & Bishop, John, pp. 363 - 382; Clyne, M, Ball, M and Neil, D, pp. 251–274; John M & Bishop, John & Dunkelberg, William C, pp. 43 – 52) What advise would you give Dr. Wong? There are several ways that Dr. Wong can solve the problem at hand. First and foremost is that he should have a dialogue with the professor in order to understand where the problem arose and he was quoted the wrong set of terms and conditions in the beginning when he was in Hong Kong. In this manner, he will be able to identify why this situation arose for him in the first place and he can then take action to get those terms on which he had agreed to work with the university. (Barron, John M & Bishop, John, pp. 363 - 382; Clyne, M, Ball, M and Neil, D, pp. 251–274; John M & Bishop, John & Dunkelberg, William C, pp. 43 – 52) Secondly, he can have a word with the higher level of management in order to understand what are the terms and conditions on which the university hires teachers and professors and whether if all outstation professors are hired on contractual basis. This will help clarify if there is any reason to discuss the issue further with the university and avail a permanent faculty position with the university. (Barron, John M & Bishop, John, pp. 363 - 382; Clyne, M, Ball, M and Neil, D, pp. 251–274; John M & Bishop, John & Dunkelberg, William C, pp. 43 – 52) Furthermore, Dr. Wong can ask the university management for a settlement and decline the offer for employment taking the matter further up and discussing with a lawyer on how tackle the issue on legal grounds. (Barron, John M & Bishop, John, pp. 363 - 382; Clyne, M, Ball, M and Neil, D, pp. 251–274; John M & Bishop, John & Dunkelberg, William C, pp. 43 – 52) References Barron, J. M., & Bishop, J. (1985). Extensive Search, Intensive Search, and Hiring Costs: New Evidence on Employer Hiring Activity. Economic Inquiry, 23(3): 363-82. Clyne, M, Ball, M & Neil, D. Nonstandard Employment Relations: Part-time, Temporary and Contract Work Intercultural communication at work in Australia: Complaints and apologies in turns. Multilingua - Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication. 10(3): 251–274. John M & Bishop, J & Dunkelberg, W C, (1985). Employer Search: The Interviewing and Hiring of New Employees. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 67(1): 43-52, Murphy, M. (2000). New Faculty for a New University: Toward a Full-Time Teaching-Intensive Faculty Track in Composition. College Composition and Communication, 52(1): 14-42 Neckerman, K M. & Kirschenman, J. (1991). Hiring Strategies, Racial Bias, and Inner-City Workers. Social Problems. 433 Read More