Workplace
Success Stories - Best Practices 2003
Maximizing Employee Input in Managerial Decision-Making
| Practice
Name: Broad Staff Inclusion in Recruitment and Hiring |
Workplace
Issues Addressed: |
Description of the practice
For hiring management and key staff positions, Residential &
Family Living/New Student Services involves many levels of the organization
in the decision-making process, which makes a team of inclusion that
has varying degrees of investment in selecting the "right"
person for the job. This practice moves the control of the decision-making
process from the top to the bottom. Staff and student opinions are
often given equal or greater weight in the final hiring decision.
Student employees play a critical role in the decision-making process.
Benefits
of adopting the practice
Employees at all levels have felt included in the process, they
report that their opinions matter, that what they value in the workplace
is able to be represented throughout the hiring process. From students
to career managers, they are given equal access to the process, and
in most cases, the opinion of the staff group often determines who
is ultimately hired.
How
this practice works
The hiring manager, with support from the Training and Development
Specialist (depending upon the position) coordinates the recruitment
and selection process for the vacant position. Staff participation
includes: those who report directly to the vacant position (students/staff/manager-subordinates),
those who work as colleagues (within department and campus colleagues),
and those to whom the position reports (manager or director-superiors).
This makes a team of inclusion that has varying degrees of investment
in securing the "right" person for the job.
What
you need in place to replicate this practice
To replicate this practice, a department needs to genuinely value
the opinion of all staff -- from students to managers.
The managers need to be willing to suspend their authority and let
go of the need to control the hiring process. Managers need to trust
the process and the staff, and be willing to take a risk on a hire
who many not be their personal first choice.
Tangible
improvements to the department as a result of adopting this practice
There is a fair, equitable and inclusive hiring process; employees
feel included in the hiring process and more people are involved in
the recruitments. There is a comfortable work environment and employees
feel more satisfied and valued. Employees are motivated and there
is team buy-in on hiring decisions. Staff members are helping to shape
the organizational culture of this unit.
Why
this practice was so successful and is worth replicating
The department's commitment to the active practice of its values
of inclusion and staff development have helped make this practice
successful. Also, continuing to hire managers who share these values
helps the continuity and greater realization of reaching the department's
goals. Having a workplace that is conducive to interpersonal relationships
and one that places a high value on cultivating this kind of culture
is another reason why this practice is successful.