Example Of Human Resources Case Study

This case is a perfect example of ‘Crisis Management’. This case also signifies how ‘Gender biasedness’ still prevails in our systems. A UK based global insurance company faced heavy financial setbacks as the company was plagued with fraudulent security scandal which eventually lead to stepping down of its current CEO and how the HR Director – Arlyn James faces challenges in bringing about a change in the system by getting a high-stake appointment.
HR forms an important part of any ‘Change management’ and sensing the need for a strong and ethical leader (CEO), Arlyn makes her way by discussing the case directly with board Chairman – David Millet without consulting the top management and other Directors.
Arlyn finds one of her female candidate suitable for the new CEO’s role. While discussing her candidature with David, Arlyn realizes that he had different views and was gender biased towards the candidate’s credentials.
There is a management model prevalent in Romania known as “bucket model” where the managers are aware of the problems faced by their organizations but are not very successful in solving it. The end result is that the problems are gathering, they become acute and induce spontaneous conflicts.
According the data from the Human Development Report 2007-2008, the percentage of women that occupy a management position in the central administration is 12.5%, comparative with Germany, the country that leads from this indicator point of view, where 46.2% of the employees in public administration are women.
As much as Arlyn would like to help get Martha Leigh’s foot in the door, the odds are squarely against her. David’s disinterest toward Martha and Arlyn’s claim that the board members were gender biased makes the situation difficult for Martha to be an effective CEO, even if she were to be selected. 
Considering the situation that David did not take Arlyn’s suggestion seriously and analyzing the discriminatory practices prevalent in the organization, below are the following steps that Arlyn should take to handle the ‘crisis situation’.
Arlyn should remain neutral and not discuss her favored candidate with any other director. To start, she needs to recommend some sweeping changes in the review and selection of the appropriate candidates.
Since many candidates had been interviewed unsuccessfully, Arlyn needs to stick to the stand that the appointments committee should do competency mapping for the required CEO candidates.
Apart from this Arlyn should take a stand that potential candidates should be portrayed directly to the nominating committee in order to make sure that all members have an equal and fair opportunity to consider each candidate.
Hiring an outside search firm will ensure that internal and external candidates are considered without bias and it will also fast-track the whole process. Hiring a different firm will also give a feeling that the board is committed and determined to hire the right person for the job of CEO.
Romanians are task doers; they don’t express any opposite opinions with their managers and are always following their suggestions when accomplishing a task without asking for further explanations. In order to bring about a change in the functioning of the organization, Arlyn should gather on hard evidences and build a strong case before the board members which will not only make her point stand strong but will also save her from treading on thin ice.
Romanians give high importance to strong qualification and experience. Therefore Martha could be a strong candidate considering her skill-sets and value that she brings to Scotia. However, Arlyn should make Martha meet all the board members and take a collective feedback rather than concluding the whole case based on David’s suggestion.
In order to deal with the current ‘crisis’ situation, Arlyn could suggest the board to replace the vacant CEO position with an ‘Interim CEO’ so that the situation could be dealt more patiently and would also provide a sense of security to the employees.