The Situation
ProScout Marketing is a recruitment agency that prides itself on having high standards of quality of service as well as adhering to the ethical norms of business conduct. The company’s mission statement is:
We scout talent for tomorrow’s work. We are a focused team of professionals committed to finding the best-qualified candidates for our clients. Job candidates are screened for the highest ethics, talent, skills, and abilities. We stand behind our efforts and candidates at the time of hire, or we will not charge our clients a fee if the candidates are not acceptable. (Robbins & Judge, 2015, p. 231)
One day, a customer calls. It is an athletic sports team that requires an athlete.
There is one suitable candidate that the boss wants to hire. However, the athlete is suspected of using steroids in order to bolster their physical strength and performance. The athlete refuses to undergo drug tests in order to clear these alleged suspicions. The problem needs to be communicated to both the boss and the client.
The Problem
The problem with this scenario is two-fold. On the one hand, refusing to hire the athlete would upset the boss and the customer. On the other hand, hiring an athlete that is suspected of using steroids means putting the company’s reputation at risk, as there is a possibility of being accused of unethical conduct by providing the customer with an athlete that could potentially ruin the entire team.
Clarifying the Problem
Communication between the boss and the employee would need to go both ways in order to ensure mutual understanding (Robbins & Judge, 2015). The Boss will need to know if there is any evidence that the athlete is using steroids. In addition, it would need to be clarified if using steroids is disallowed for the type of competitions that the athlete is supposed to participate in. The employee, on the other hand, would be required to communicate his reasons and findings in a clear and efficient manner. Communication with the team would be necessary in order to offer a second opinion regarding the findings and the potential courses of action.
Approaching the Problem
The company mission states that the candidates are scanned based on the highest standards of ethics, skills, and abilities. In this case, fulfilling either of these promises is impossible, as the athlete is not willing to pass the drug test. His candidature should be rejected. If the customer insists on hiring him, the company should make an argument that they would not violate their ethical statements and provide the team with an athlete that they cannot stand behind. As an employee, I would communicate the problem to the boss and ask for his or her guidance, after which I would follow the instructions laid out before me. The responsibility for the ultimate decision in this scenario lies with the boss once he or she is made aware of the situation.
Effective Communication Process
In order to effectively communicate the message to the boss, the members of the team, the client, or any other interested parties, the employee would need to follow these communication steps (Robbins & Judge, 2015):
- Developing the idea: In this scenario, the idea is that the athlete is an unfit candidate because there is circumstantial or factual evidence of him using steroids.
- Developing the message: this stage suggests encoding the idea into a perceivable form. In this case, it would be a verbal or a written message.
- Transmission of the message: the employee transmits the message to the boss or to the members of the team, sharing the idea through the message that he or she conveyed.
- Receiving the message: all interested parties receive the message.
- Decoding: the message is interpreted by those who have received it.
- Feedback: the boss or the team offer their opinions in regards to the situation. The employee then operates based on the feedback he or she had received.
Reference
Robbins, S. P. & Judge, T. A. (2015). Organizational behavior (16th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.