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Case 34

Accidents Happen

Part 1—Selecting the Best

Background Information

Betsy Wheeler had been a supervisor in the Data Production Center of American

Security, Inc., for two years. She was responsible for six data entry clerks who

worked the 4:00 p.m. to midnight shift. Four of the clerks worked full-time in a

key-punching capacity, and two of the clerks combined some key-punching with

clerical and administrative chores.

The Data Production Center was responsible for key-punching data taken daily at

the 65 office locations spread across the state. It was a production job with high and

demanding standards (150 items per hour). Betsy had worked for three years as a

data entry clerk before assuming her current job. She knew that after a reasonable

training period, these standards could be met by most anyone.

Betsy had done well as a data entry clerk and was doing well as a supervisor. She

liked supervising others, especially dealing with the multitude of “people problems”

that came her way during each shift. Nonetheless, she was not prepared for the lat-

est problem that had developed. There seemed to be no solutions for it, and it was

starting to wear her out.

Betsy’s problem was centered on Bob Jenkins, a recently hired data entry clerk,

although Betsy was not sure whether the problem was caused by Bob or by her

boss, Sharon Leigh. Betsy reviewed the situation, going back two months to the

very beginning.

At that time, one of Betsy’s data entry clerks had quit, and she had sent a hiring

order to Personnel. Three days later, one of the interviewers in Personnel called to

say that she had found “a good applicant” by the name of Bob Jenkins. The inter-

viewer explained that Bob had a disability and was confined to a wheelchair and

had been referred by the State Rehabilitation Department.

The interviewer told Betsy, “He has been extensively trained by the state in key-

punching. I think you’ll like him.”

The next day, Betsy went to Personnel about 20 minutes before her shift started

in order to interview Bob Jenkins. Rather than ask a lot of questions, she listened to

Bob talk about himself. He said he was finishing his associate’s degree in finance at

the local community college and that this night shift job would allow him to go to

school while he worked. He also mentioned that he had a colostomy (removal of a

portion of the bowel, which required him to wear a collection bag for his waste

matter). Betsy asked if Bob would have transportation problems getting to work,

and he assured her there would be no problem.

Betsy liked Bob. She was also in a rush to start her shift and decided to end the

interview on that note. Although Bob was the only applicant she interviewed, she

decided to rely on her intuition and offered Bob the job. He accepted and began

working the following week.

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Case 34 (continued)

CASE QUESTIONS

1. Given Bob’s disability, what kinds of questions should Betsy have asked

during the interview? What legal considerations exist?

2. Evaluate how well Betsy interviewed Bob and completed the selection

process.

3. What kind of selection procedure should Betsy have used in order to identify

the best candidates for her data entry position? Design a complete selection

process.