Page 249 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

248 Part 3 • Organizing
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cASe ApplicAtion 1
Candidate Selection Dilemma

rotiviti is a global business consulting and internal audit established and old insurance company in the country. He led a
firm composed of experts specializing in risk, advisory, team of more than 100 staff and was actively involved in the de-
Pand organizational transformation, and human capital velopment of the IT strategy as a mandate from the Board; how-
consultancy. Protiviti advises its clients in selecting the right ever, he had only 3 years of experience in the insurance industry
talent for the right positions as part of its advisory services. 78 while the other 12 years were in telecom and the Oil & Gas
In one such assignment, the client faced challenges in se- industries. He looked at the big picture and preferred to delegate
lecting the right candidate for a key leadership position. The a lot of tasks to the team. He expressed comfort in stakeholder
client was a newly established insurance company base in management and confidence in resolving situations where there
Oman, and had aggressive growth plans. The client wanted to are disagreements. This candidate was very well read and fol-
differentiate itself by harnessing technology in order to pro- lowed the latest global trends in insurance, banking, technology,
vide convenient services to its and related industries.
customers to carry out their Shaping organizations by iden- Candidate B is an internal
transactions from the comfort candidate leading one of the
of their home. Being in the tifying the RIGHT TALENT . . . teams in the IT Department.
nascent stage of evolution, it How do you minimize the He was a structured, planned
did not have a clearly laid errors of judgment? and organized individual and
out IT strategy to support this has been with the company
vision. since its inception 3 years ago
The existing IT Department consisted of a fairly qualified and has more than 14 years of experience in the insurance in-
team, some of whom had been with the organization since its dustry. He is well aware of the work environment, leadership
inception 3 year ago; however, the team was driven largely by expectations, growth plans, and operational aspects of IT in
day-to-day operations, fire-fighting, query resolution, and gath- an insurance company and also the regulatory and compliance
ering business requirements for system enhancements. There requirements. Being an internal candidate, he knew all the chal-
was a general perception that the IT function was not responsive lenges the department is currently facing and had a clear, well
enough to cater to the dynamic nature of the evolving insurance laid out plan for the IT function if he were offered the CIO posi-
industry landscape and consumer needs. The teams were pro- tion. His communication skills were satisfactory and showed
cess oriented and felt that requests from customer facing depart- signs that he requires to polish his capabilities in managing
ments were coming in an ad-hoc manner. stakeholder demands and expectations.
In this context, the client now wanted to fill in a key lead-
ership position—a Chief Information Officer (CIO)—and ap- Discussion Questions
pointed Protiviti to assist them in evaluating and identifying 7-14 What are some of the technical & leadership skills that you feel
the best fit candidate for the position; the bank then shortlisted should be assessed at the recruitment stage and why?
four candidates. Protiviti studied the business context, identified 7-15 Which candidate do you think should be offered the position
the job specifications and conducted preliminary assessment and why?
covering technical and leadership skills. The following were the 7-16 What impact would candidate A have on the team if selected
observations of the top two candidates: for the position? Please provide reasons.
Candidate A is a very confident and assertive individual 7-17 What impact would candidate B have on the team if selected
currently heading the IT Department of a very large, well for the position? Please provide reasons.