Question

Human resouce management

Part I

You are the HR Manager at the Atlantic Widget Company (AWC), a successful Company that manufactures widgets in Canada. Recently your Director of Supply Chain retired after working at AWC for 30 years. His departure has created a huge human resource gap in your Senior Leadership Team, and you know it will be difficult to replace him and his experience. To add to these issues, AWC is set to begin planning for an overseas expansion which will require the exponential growth of the current supply chain system.

Hiring or promoting the right person for the Director of Supply Chain position will set AWC up for long term success. How would you go about recruiting, selecting and onboarding the new member of your Senior Leadership Team?

Part II

Your new Director of Supply Chain has been working at AWC for the past 8 months. The CEO has come to you expressing her concern that the Directors performance has not been as solid as she expected. As the HR Manager, what questions would you ask the CEO about the Directors performance and her response to his performance to date? Also, what advice or guidance would you offer to the CEO on her next steps?

Part III

The CEO has asked you to come to her office ASAP. She informs you that she will be terminating the new Director of Supply Chain before his one-year anniversary with AWC. Are there any risks for the CEO with this course of action? What is your advice to the CEO? What are the next steps for you (the HR Manager), and CEO before, during and at the time of the termination?

Answer 1

Part 1

Recruitment , selecting & onboarding : Understanding key competencies , culture fit , aptitude , cross cultural experience , out of the box thinker , longevity in the past roles ,adequate educational qualifications , self driven and possibly experience in a similar line would be key requirements of the position .

After shortlisting , we will design a test or ask questions on above parameters . We will ask key management team members to meet the candidate to assess culture fit -

we will have an extensive orientation program to onboard him once other recruitment parameters are met .

part2

Questions we would ask:

• Are the goals clearly laid out
• Is the candidate clear on expectations and deliverables
• is he allowed to make decisions
• instances where he did not meet the expectations
• what according to CEO are the issues
• Is it a competency issue or behavior issue or both
• is he a victim of politics

Based on above guidelines , CEO can use this blueprint for further actions .

Part 3

There are risks associated with a sudden termination . These may be

• disruption of existing work
• setting a bad example in case he was perceived to be competent enough
• was he given enough chances to improve or not
• My advice would be to check on the questions again given on part 2 , and only if he doesn't meet the criteria to fire him , provided we had a successor was in mind .
• in case of termination explain the logic and have an exit interview

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