A Mini Case Study
Background
You have been working at a software company for about 5 years. You enjoy the job and have recently applied for a new role (supervisor). You interviewed and felt you did well. Additionally, you believe you chances of getting the job are high because you have been with the company for awhile, have done well and are an internal candidate. You have never supervised others but were confident you could handle the job.
You know there were a few exernal candidates and one other internal candidate. In fact, one of the external candidates was someone you worked with 10 years ago at another company. You have not had good experiences with this person and would be reporting to them if they are hired for the job.
It’s been about 3 weeks since the last interview and you decide to reach out to HR.
The Current Situation
HR tells you that they have hired an external candidate and were just about to notify all other candidates, including you. This particular external candidate had more experience and deeper skills for the supervisor role, including having managed employees employees in a virtual environment and globally. HR tells you that his references were excellent.
HR encourages you to apply for another supervisory role that is open in another division of the company; although it will require you to move to another state.
The external candidate is the person you know from 10 years ago. You are surprised that he has the experience HR told you he has; a close friend of the both of you (who currently works with him) recently told you that he is about to be fired for not being effective as a supervisor in his role. Additionally, you know he doesn’t work well with others (including clients) – he never has. That is one of the reasons you left the company you were both working at 10 years ago.
Your Dilemma
You want to tell HR that he isn’t qualified for the role; in fact you think he lied on his resume to get the job in the first place. You also doubt that HR knows he is about to be fired from his current job. You also don’t want to report to him given your past experiences with him. Your friend tells you to drop it; you’ll just come across as bitter because you didn’t get the role. He also tells you if HR asks him, he’ll just deny what you are saying and you’ll look like a fool – plus, he’ll make the job difficult since you have to report to him.
And the questions to you…
- What will you do in this situation?
- What are the pros and cons of talking with HR about this candidate?
- Is it unethical to say nothing since you really don’t know everything about this person other than second hand knowledge and what you knew about him from 10 years ago?
Please provide your ideas in the COMMENTS field below.
We’ll update you on how it was handled by the employee in a future post.
I see two concerns at play here. One is you, the employee, and the other is the company.
You’ve been working at this company for 5 years but haven’t progressed other than technically. What have you and HR or your ,manager been talking about when it comes to your own career path? What have you done to make yourself the ideal next supervisor? Have you shown any initiative or was this your only effort?
HR suggesting you apply for a job in another state is just them trying to placate you since they see you as not qualified for the position. They know who you are already and are not interested. What can you be doing to make yourself the obvious choice next time?
If this company isn’t interested in investing in their own employees, doesn’t fully vet candidates nor include direct reports in the hiring process, maybe you should see all those red flags that are flying around.
Talk to HR or your manager about what you can focus on to get to the next step in your career. If they’re not interested in grooming you, take your 5 years of experience somewhere that is.
Gina, I am currently a senior attorney in a law firm, but I also have a lot of non-law experience. Basically I have learned that management litigates against you whenever you protest anything (from the mis-hiring of a supervisor to replacing the rotten apples in the vending machine), so I adopted the “my statement once” memo approach- I write a memo (or email) putting my opposition down, and telling them that this is my one time to complain. After that, I do my best – so that if it succeeds, I’ve contributed, and if it fails, I can’t be accused of sabotaging it.
And never say “I told you so – read my memo.”
The memo is there as a CYA in case they say “why didn’t you voice your concerns?”
(It’s sad, but it’s a side effect of everyone trying to fid their “rights” instead of their responsibilities)
This is a difficult situation, yet I have coached around the similar circumstance. My first advice is to not go to HR and discuss. You would be best to take a deep breath and put up with the “inside” information you learned, basically on hearsay. Ten years is a long time and people do change.
You mention you “have not supervised people.”
Since I come from a strong technical background and a solid management background, please note: Good technical people do not make the best supervisors. This is really the truth.
Why not consider this? Welcome the person when s/he joins, be certain to look the person eye-to-eye and tell them you also applied for the position, then go to school to obtain a Management Certification as proof-positive you have the moxie, knowledge and carry-through to take their job as soon as or if there is a failure.
Apparently this individual has something that grabbed the attention of management. Don’t work towards failure; Personally, you need to work for your individual success.
Thank you.
Best, Jim
Thanks Rich – stay tuned…what the employee did will be shared next week!
Hi Rick – thanks for your thoughts. At first my reaction was that I wouldn’t write a memo myself but rather try to have a conversation with someone in HR; however, I then thought of a friend of mine who had someone she wsa working with promoted over her and the situation has not been good (not this same story by the way.) Her new boss has been unprofessional and it is rather obvious he doesn’t want her around.
I agree with Rich and especially the last sentence. Also, I might assume that this person has grown in the last 10 years and maybe doesn’t have the same problems. However, if this were to be someone I had to report to, I would write a memo and ask that it be put in my HR file and it would anticipate problems (I.e., “my past experience with this person is that he cannot delegate properly and then blames the team when a project fails”) so that future problems do not look like “sour grapes” over not getting the position.
Thank you
I wouldn’t take it up with HR. I would take it up with the hiring manager. I would ask for an in-person meeting to discuss. I would be honest and open with all of the factors that are a concern to me. Bottom line is I’m already an employee here and if I’m uncomfortable with a hire then I owe it to my company to speak up. The goal isn’t personal advancement. The goal is preventing my company from making a hiring mistake.