Selection Process - the Conman of St. Lukes - Case Study Example

The Conman of St. Luke’s Your Name University Name Continued success in any organization depends on the quality of managers it has. The selection of managers is, therefore the most critical step in the entire process of organizational management. Based on the case, ‘The conman of St Luke’s’, it can be noted that the selection of unsuitable managers may lead to significant losses and consequently lead to organizational failure. This paper analyses the key issues present presented in the case, then recommends on what could have done in handling such a situation and finally, proposes the safeguards that can be built into the selection process of an organization in order to minimize the chances of such problems arising. Since qualified managers are critical to organizational success, the HR department, together with the Chief Executive Officer and other top executives, has the ultimate responsibility of adopting a systematic approach to selection and assessment of managerial personnel. Selection involves the process of choosing the most suitable individuals from among many candidates for a current position in the organization. The analysis of the case shows that, John Frederick Bundy was not a suitable individual to take the responsibility of managing the prestigious St Luke’s hospital. The selection criteria used by the organization in employing Bundy stands questionable. How could the 13 member board consisting of prominent persons be convinced that Bundy was the right individual and yet he wasn’t? This one of the key issues presented in the case. It is evident that Bundy had no academic knowledge and relevant experience of managing. He had rather hoodwinked the hospital board to believe that he was a qualified university graduate, a successful businessman and a man with a stable family life. They came to realize that Bundy was a person with a history of business failure and had no commerce and accountancy credentials as he had stated in his curriculum vitae (Hills, 1992). They had, therefore, entrusted a wrong individual to take care of the 200-odd patients at St Luke’s in Potts Point and its adjacent nursing home. Another concern in this case is poor management as portrayed by John Frederick Bundy. His management in all three organizations, Otto Corporation of Cologne, HCA’s Warrigal Hospital and St Luke’s hospital, was a total failure (Hills, 1992). They all made lost millions of money under his reign. In fact in St. Luke’s Hospital, he spent a lot of money doing unnecessary things rather than focusing on how the hospital could move forward. Selection is a key responsibility for HR in an organization (Jackson & Mathis, 2007). As an HR director, I would have done the selection process by matching individual characteristics of the candidates, such as intelligence, skills, knowledge, attitudes and experience to the managerial requirements. Selection of such a senior person in the organization requires a thorough assessment of the candidates’ skills ranging from technical to design, and their education. This helps in identifying somebody with analytical and problem solving abilities as well as desired personal characteristics. According to Koontz & Weihrich (2006), managers must have the ability to analyze complex situations, identify problems encountered and by solving them, they would be able to exploit the opportunities present. As an HR Director, it is also necessary to check for the required personal characteristics for the position of a manager during the selection process. These characteristics have been highlighted by Koontz & Weihrich (2011); who says that effective managers must possess personal characteristics such as the desire to manage, the ability to communicate with empathy, integrity and honesty. He also notes the necessity of having personal experience of present or past performance as a manager. Therefore, the selection process for such a senior position in the organization aim to inquire the basic motivation of the candidates to performance, the ability to understand the feelings of others, the demonstration of interpersonal skills and relevant educational qualification for the job. Catano (2009) argues that recruitment and selection practices determine the organization’s success or failure. Hiring someone with the right skills may result into positive economic outcomes in an organization. On the contrary, a wrong person like Bundy can make an organization fail. An organization that uses effective recruitment and selection approaches tend to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace over the others. Such practices ensure the placement of suitable individuals who are able to exhibit proper role behavior in various positions within the organization (Billsberry, 2007). This increases employee motivation, reduces dysfunctional behavior, lowers operating costs, improves quality, raises productivity resulting into higher profitability. As an HR director, it is necessary to ensure that the organization remains competitive by putting in place human resource strategies for recruiting, identifying and selecting suitable individuals who can contribute to the overall effectiveness of the organization. Qualified applicants can be selected from the rest through a systematic collection of information on how much of knowledge, skills and abilities one possesses. According to Gatewood, Field & Barrick (2008), “the systematic collection of information from applicants can range from being fairy simple to being very complex.” For simple jobs, a brief interview provides the necessary data for evaluating the candidates. This is similar to the old methods of hiring involving review of a resume and a brief interview without a thorough assessment of the candidates. However, for complex jobs such as the managerial ones, the job applicants should be properly assessed through detailed interviews, tests, job simulations or any other effective measures. Billsberry (2007) suggests that effective recruitment and selection real matter in today’s new economy. Employment of an individual in such a senior position requires selection and not hiring. Gatewood, Field & Barrick (2008) give a clear distinction between the two terms. Selection occurs when job related information is collected from applicants and offers of employment are given to those apparently posses the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to do the job. Often, however, offers of employment are given with no evaluation of the applicant’s job related qualifications. We refer to this type of employment as hiring. p.4. Availability is actually the critical variable and the organization does little or no evaluation of the candidate’s knowledge, skills and abilities. The analysis of this case, therefore, indicates that Bundy was hired and not selected. Selecting the best managerial personnel differentiates the winning organizations from the rest. Various safeguard should therefore be put in place during the selection process to ensure problems that arose at St. Luke’s do not have chances of occurring. Firstly, the organization should develop an assessment centre where the candidate’s suitability for a managerial position is determined. The administering of various individual and group exercises in the centre under standardized conditions would stimulate the best abilities and skills for successful performance (Fisher & Boyle, 1997; Carless, 2009). Involving a team of trained assessors would assist in observing the candidate’s behavior. With their qualifications and familiarity to the job requirements they are able to observe the individuals’ behaviors and inter-personal skills in their interaction at the centre. Assessment centres are of value to organization due to their content validity, objectivity, predictive accuracy, relevance and overall utility. Thorough job analysis in the assessment centre includes the identification of the critical competencies and functions required for effective job performance. According to Carless (2009), ability tests, interviews, business simulations and presentations are made to analyze a person’s ability to perform, key competencies and critical skills required for the job. He further suggests that such assessment programs help in identifying an individual’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to the job. According to Billsberry (2007), oral presentation exercise is one of the activities conducted in the assessment centres where a candidate is required to defend his or her position and make recommendations on a given issue. Through analysis exercises, the HR is able to evaluate the candidate’s analytical skills in reviewing qualitative and quantitative information of complex organizational issues. Role plays assess problem solving, communication, and interpersonal skills where a successful participant is expected to be persuasive, maintain control and demonstrate appropriate sensitivity and empathy. Leaderless group discussions help in measuring such qualities like cooperation, decision making and interpersonal skills. The assessment centre may also offer additional opportunity for the assessment of those skills that do not surface in oral interview or in written tests. Conclusion An organization’s success depends on having strong managers who are able to perform to their best abilities and make informed decisions. Without strong organizational management, both the short and long term objectives of profits do not stand any chance. Managerial positions must be filled with the right individuals who are able to address management concerns more appropriately. The HR department should adopt a systematic approach to selection of employees, more especially to managerial personnel since they are critical to the success of the organization. Great care should be taken to ensure a suitable person who meets the job requirements is selected. Individuals who are untrustworthy such as Bundy with no academic qualifications and experience for the job should be avoided. Managers should generally learn from this case and avoid Bundy’s management style if they want their organizations to succeed. It is the role of HR department to ensure that senior management positions are filled after a thorough assessment is done in the assessment centre to ensure that they posses the required educational qualifications and skills. References Billsberry, J. (2007). Experiencing Recruitment and Selection. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Carless, S. (2009). Psychological testing for selection purposes: a guide to evidence-based practice for human resource professionals. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 20 (12), 2517-2532 Catano, V. (2009). Recruitment and Selection in Canada. Ontario: Cengage Learning. Fisher, C. & Boyle, G. (1997). Personality and Employee Selection: Credibility Regained. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 35(2), 26-40 Gatewood, R., Feild, H & Barric, M. (2008). Human Resource Selection. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Hills, B. (1992). The Conman of St. Luke’s. Sydney Morning Herald Jackson, J & Mathis, R. (2007). Human Resource Management. Willard, OH: Cengage Learning. Koontz, H & Weihrich, H. (2006). Essentials of Management. New York, NY: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Read More