Work more than money makes the world go on and for this reason hiring the best person for a specific job is very important. It makes the person involved with the search indispensable but his or her decision makes a big impact on the success on the job at hand. However, after the search one qualified candidate passed the interview. A co-worker who was also tasked to help in the selection disqualifies your candidate in mind for no other reason but she is not a good fit.It is important to find out that my co-worker advice is an indication of an easy escape since; if there is a lot of information he may wanted to shorten the search or is he assuming because we do not have enough information nor he may doesn’t really care at all? The firm is in need of a new marketing manager; the candidate in mind has the following qualification: A Hispanic woman, with 20 years of experience on the same line of work, and a master degree holder in Marketing.Based on the factual perception she is very much qualified and should be given a chance to get hired.
A co-worker who is also a senior manager gave a general viewpoint on his perception with the qualified candidate and requested that since she is not a good fit the search should still continue. Generalizing is not always a rational way in solving problem or giving out decisions but intuition on the other hand can also give a different meaning when making choices.With this scenario, the search may continue provided that the candidate in mind is short listed together with all the other qualified applicants. Management can always get a better option if there are choices because in this way things are properly weighed down through a valuing process. Holding a very important position involves responsibility.
It should be explained to my co-worker, bearing in mind his own points of view discussed above that it is still a must to dig further whether decisions are legal and was made with the best ethical practices on hiring.The reason of not hiring someone because she does not fit is vague and requires even a brief explanation. Having a general idea or relying on judgmental heuristics can be disastrous in decision-making despite that this frame of mind is 67% accurate (Koning, 2007). It should not pre-empt the 33% risks that judgment may not hold true, heuristic judgments are often very useful but sometimes they lead to systematic errors (Koning, 2007).
Common to this thinking is what we call first impression or judging a book by its cover, it is a subjective thinking that causes injustice. Preferences or availability heuristic can also be biased, when it lacks the factual evidence of our claims. Some people behaved by past experiences and it molds them. For instance many are afraid of plane crushed but there are more numbers of car accidents everyday.
It seldom happens that a mechanical problem occurs in a plane motor as recorded in the actual data.However, media magnifies the news which brought fear to travelers. The idea that it is more risky to board a plane than ride a car is generally a distorted idea caused by the media. Statistics and data are valuable tools of research or fact finding.
Finally it is also important to know if my co-worker decision was based on prejudice or the so called attitude heuristic. “An employer can be influenced on whether to hire a male or a female for a leading position on the job (Koning, 2007)”.Caution must be exercise in order to avoid discrimination and this can only be done through straight thinking. It is never correct to find out who is the right one for a specific job using heuristic methods. In some way it is always good to purify ones consciences and put a check whether we have acted with the right intention.
What is important is to hire someone who has the credential and not to dwell so much on perceptions or biases. Following ethical standards at the workplace are like the red sign posts that lead us the sure way to the right direction.
