Case 8: Spas International

This is a case of Spas International that presented Polly White, the problems she went through the employment screening, her job and her experiences with Spas International managers, Rex Smith, the Corporate Controller and her direct Boss.

This paper is an analysis of the case that will attempt to answer the questions – how the situation came about, how it could have been prevented, who were at fault and why.Polly and the BossThe case at first appeared to be a simple problem on employee-boss relationship. Polly, the employee who was given a simple assignment, efficiently accomplished the assignment but was not good enough, not even satisfactory from the point of view of the Boss. It was clear from the beginning that the Boss had a dislike on Polly because he did not like the process by which she was hired at the corporate headquarters. The Boss was not informed or even involved in the hiring process and therefore had a bias on Polly.

He could have intentionally made unclear instructions and intentionally wanted Polly to make a mistake just to get back at the corporate management to show them how poorly they screened people.Polly was not at fault in this particular case. She tried her best but she was caught in a cross-fire between the local and the corporate management. The problem could have been prevented if the system of hiring was proper. In recruiting employees, the Human Resource Department makes sure that the supervisor or manager is directly involved in the recruitment process because he is the one with direct involvement in the performance of the employee.

The standard recruitment system would have observed proper protocol and the problem could have been avoided.Polly and the Corporate ManagementDigging deeper on the causes of Polly’s problems, we analyze how Polly went through the recruitment process, first, with her interactions with Rex Smith, the Marketing Specialist. The practice of SI was unusual, with management trainees having to go back to their university to recruit staff. Although it would have been a strategy so that management will be assured that their hired employees have good character background. What was intriguing was, a marketing specialist did the recruiting, and apparently without any procedure being followed.

Polly was selected by Rex Smith because “they hit it quite well and they had a lot in common”. For such a reason, he sent Polly to the corporate headquarters just to be seen by the Corporate Comptroller and also be noticed. Polly was pampered just because they liked her personally, and she was hired because the Comptroller was impressed with her. This was decided after they wined and dined out.This recruitment process is way out of standard. It is the Human Resource Department that has the responsibility of recruiting employees.

For a 60-branch company, it should have such a unit in the corporate headquarters. It is also expected for such a big company that they have recruitment systems in place. Ethics in the profession should have been practiced by Rex Smith and the Corporate Comptroller. They should have avoided intimate relationship with the recruit. They should not have chosen Polly just because they liked her, but she should have been assessed on her background experience, her aptitude and her potentials particularly in the accounting field.ConclusionWhat Polly and Spas International have experienced is a consequence of a disorganized recruitment system.

The problem could have been avoided if the company had in place, a human resource department that has established recruitment procedures and has expert staff to efficiently process recruitment of people. Rex Smith and the Corporate Comptroller could have focused their efforts on their specific jobs, they were free to like Polly but her screening could have been expertly handled by human resource professionals. Likewise, the Boss could have been more friendly and fair, and the employee-supervisor relationship could have been better. This case has shown how important it is to have systems and standard procedures implemented in the management of human resource.