Case study You are currently a department manager and Jim is your trusted assist
ID: 426073 • Letter: C
Question
Case study
You are currently a department manager and Jim is your trusted assistant. You have very similar working styles, and you went to the same college and worked in the insurance industry for several years. Before working in this company, you both worked at a different company together, and you have this shared history with him. You can trust him to come to your aid, support you in your decisions, and be loyal to you. Because of your trust in him, you do not supervise his work closely, and you give him a lot of leeway in how he structures his work. He sometimes chooses to work from home, and he has flexibility in his work hours, which is unusual in the department.
Now you have decided to promote him to be the assistant department manager. However, when you shared this opinion with someone else in the department, you realized that this could be a problem. Apparently, Jim is not liked by his colleagues in the department and is known as an impression manager. Others view him as a slacker when you are not around, and the fact that he gets the first pick in schedules and gets the choice assignments causes a lot of frustration on the part of others. They feel that you are playing favorites.
--What would you do? Would you promote him? Why or why not?
--How would you address this unpleasant situation within your department?
--What do you tell others regarding your decision?
Explanation / Answer
What would you do? Would you promote him? Why or why not?
I would not promote him now without understanding the truth behind the allegations. As Jim is my long time companion from my college time I do not give much attention to his work like others and hence I have not tried to notice any error from his side. When the employees complain about his behavior, I should not take any action without investigating on the complaint. If I promote him in this scenario, the allegation of favoritism would become much stronger and employee frustration would become uncontrollable. I need to ensure the support from all the employees to ensure smooth functioning and hence I need to convince the employees on my position before promoting Jim.
--How would you address this unpleasant situation within your department?
I would address the situation very carefully because favoritism is a serious allegation. I need to ensure that the employee interests are protected in the work place and Jim is not misusing our relationship. I would try to monitor Jim’s activities and understand the truth behind the allegations. If their allegations are right, I would discuss with Jim, take necessary actions and ensure that he is not repeating his mistakes. If the employee allegations are found to be wrong, I would arrange a discussion with the employees to address their concerns and try to convince them regarding the facts.
--What do you tell others regarding your decision?
I would tell others that Jim is being considered for the post of Assistant department manager based on his performance and employee support. A 360 degree performance appraisal method would be used for rating his performance for the position by collecting feedback from his coworkers. I would assure that Jim would be promoted only if he receives enough employee support and there would not be any chances of suspecting favoritism.