CASE: SUPPLEMENTAL Chapter 11
Case: Unequal-Equal Supervisors
Hubert Johnson is a department head. He has been with the company for
30 years and knows his way around quite well. He has two employees, Harriet
Green and Neil White. Harriet has been with the company for 15 years and Neil
has been with the company for six years. Harriet has always been cooperative,
loyal, dependable, but not an especially good supervisor. Recently Hubert has
noticed that Harriet has begun to slip in the performance of some of her duties.
Neil, on the other hand is a very ambitious, energetic, and dependable supervisor
who grasps problems quickly and easily. Hubert has to complete performance
appraisals on both individuals annually.
Ten months ago he did his appraising with a great deal of displeasure
because he hated to face the unpleasantness of a negative performance
appraisal review. As a result, he rated the both employees about the same.
When a discussion about the ratings was conducted, both supervisors appeared
to be satisfied with the rating they had received.
Six months ago business began to fall off and a reduction in force was put
into effect. This week, after a number of other people were laid off or demoted, it
became necessary to move either Harriet Green or Neil White from the position
of a supervisor to that of a worker until sales picked up. Hubert wants to keep
Neil on the supervisor job, but on the basis of the appraisals there is no
difference between the two. In the past when two employees had the same
ratings, the person with the most seniority receives priority. Hubert must decide
today what to do.
Questions
1. How have the inaccurate performance ratings created more
problems?
2. What HR and legal issues could be raised in this case?
3. What should Hubert do?