Maple Leaf Shoes Limited

Overview

Robert Clark, president and key shareholder of Maple Leaf Shoes, knew that he had a tough situation on his hands. In less than a month, Maple Leaf Shoes will have to negotiate a contract with a newly formed union in its plant, covering approximately 23 percent of the nonmanagerial workforce. Asecond and more militant union is due for contract negotiations a few months later. Recently, the firm's human resource manager, John McAllister, left the firm for a better position in Toronto. Despite its best recruitment efforts, Maple Leaf Shoes has not been able to fill the vacancy. The firm ran ads inTheGlobe and Mail, National Post, Vancouver Sun, andHalifax Herald. The ads yielded only 34 potential candidates, out of which a preliminary screening had reduced the number to nine (including a current employee of Maple Leaf Shoes). All nine were interviewed by Clark and five were eliminated from further consideration after this preliminary interview. The remaining four were interviewed a second time by Clark and three senior officers. Summaries of the rsums submitted by the four candidates are given in Exhibits 1 through 4.

Based on their rsums and on his impressions of the interviews with the four candidates, Robert Clark made the following mental evaluations of the applicants: Michael Anderson, Arthur Dougherty, Jane Reynolds, and Steven Robinson. Clark felt that each applicant had several strong points, but also possessed weaknesses.

Michael Anderson:Anderson was the oldest of the lot (observed Clark). A widower with two grown-up children, he had the most diverse background. Anderson impressed Clark as a very interesting, if somewhat reserved, person. He had seven years' experience in the Canadian Armed Forces (with an outstanding record there) and knew several trades ("Jack of all trades"?). During the interview, Anderson came across as a results-oriented individual. As a previous employer noted, Corner Brook Arts and Crafts, where Anderson worked in the past, was about to be declared bankrupt when Anderson entered the company ("for peanuts money") and turned it around to become a successful firm by refining its planning and control systems. In Clark's mind, Anderson was someone who could take charge, but one of the references had warned about Anderson's "need for autonomy in his workplace." Clark felt that personally he would get along better with someone else (for example, Dougherty) than with Anderson. But then, his personal feelings shouldn't play that important a role in the hiring decision. Or should they?

Arthur Dougherty:Dougherty impressed Clark as the most gregarious of the four he interviewed. He was totally at ease with the interviewers and displayed the best interpersonal skills among the four. Not only was he comfortable in the presence of others, but he seemed to have the knack of making others feel comfortable as well. It was true that Dougherty's past experience was mostly in saleshe had moved to human resources after more than 15 years of a sales career ("I wanted bigger and more challenging things to do. You can only do so much selling shoes and steel"). He also had a good knowledge of the shoe industry. His references described Dougherty as "a very pleasant person to work with" and "always offering help to anyone who needs him." But Clark wondered whether Dougherty would be able to play the

leader and catalyst role in HR at Maple Leaf. In favour of Dougherty was another fact: his children had all grown up, so he should be able to devote extra time to the new position. This job, with all these union contract negotiations ahead, was going to require a lot of 18-hour workdays!

Jane Reynolds:The fact that struck Clark about Reynolds every time he saw her was the way she dressed. She was so meticulously dressed and had impeccable manners (she reminded him of his German aunt who was very formal and methodical). Reynolds was popular among her colleagues, except for the finance manager, Tim McDonald, who didn't like her at all ("I can't stand that female! She is always asking me to do new things and she wants it yesterday!"). Considered a real "mover," Reynolds had been active at Maple Leaf Shoes, always working on some project or other. John McAllister, the previous human resource manager and Reynolds' boss, had, however, mixed evaluations of Reynolds' job performance ("She is very competent, I will say that; but her management style can alienate at least some folks here"). Reynolds was also probably quite junior for the positionafter all, she had not held any senior administrative positions until this point. Will she be able to meet the challenges posed by Maple Leaf's growth and change? Clark did not know. Clark also had doubts about the wisdom of hiring a woman for the position. Can Reynolds really face up to Steven Mathews, the new leader of the Leather Workers' Association, who was known for his aggressive bargaining? Mathews had the reputation of being a tough, militant leader who was out to get results for his union. And while Clark didn't consider himself prudish, he still found it hard to accept having a child out of wedlock. Do other managers hold any prejudices against her? Will she fit into the team? The references from Reynolds' previous employers had given her consistently very high to outstanding ratings. There is a rumour that Reynolds has been offered a better position in another local firm and may move out soon. Reynolds impressed Clark as very career-minded.

Steven Robinson:The first thing that struck Clark about Robinson was what hiring him would do to the public's and employees' image of the company. Hiring an African-Canadian is just the thing to do right nowno one could criticize you any more about being insensitive to the multicultural mosaic of Canada. Just by hiring Robinson, he could create the impression of being a "progressive employer." Maple Leaf Shoes Limited has been facing a barrage of criticisms about human rights law violations; now, just by a single act of hiring Robinson, the firm could eliminate all those negative impressions. During the interview, Clark had received good "vibes" from Robinson. Robinson, who is divorced, has a small child. Robinson's mother lives with him to take care of the child. Robinson's referees gave him satisfactory recommendations, although not outstanding. Robinson was the youngest of all the four applicants and seemed full of energy and enthusiasm. Robinson was also the only one with a CHRP certification and extension courses in new information technology and the Internet. If the firm is to embrace new technology soon, Robinson will be the person to hire, Clark concluded.

Clark knew that he had a difficult decision to make. To complicate matters, there was not much agreement among the three managers who interviewed the four job applicants. The rankings given by the finance, marketing, and production managers to the four candidates are shown below (1 = first, 4 = last).

Interviewer	Applicant
	Anderson	Dougherty	Reynolds	Robinson
Finance Manager	2	1	4	3
Marketing Manager	3	4	1	2
Production Manager	1	3	2	4

Clark realized that he didn't approve of any one of the four applicants completely. Each also had specific strengths that others did not have. He also knew that he urgently needed an energetic, results-oriented person. The person selected should be able to deal with unions, redesign jobs to cut down costs, handle the growing number of employee complaints, and manage the challenges posed by the firm's growth. In the next three years, the firm was planning to expand its operations to other Canadian provinces and two other countries. The firm's management cadre was expected to grow by roughly 3 percent each year for the next four to five years, and the need for management training existed now more than ever. This meant that the new person should be a mover and shaker, but at the same time be able to work with people without offending them.

"A tough problem to resolve," murmured Clark to himself as he sipped the seventh cup of coffee of the day. His doctor had warned him against having too much caffeine in his system due to his heart condition, but this was going to be one of those long, dreary days. In less than an hour, Clark had a meeting with Sam Polanyi, shop steward of the Vinyl and Leather Workers' Union, who wanted to talk about a "serious problem that exists in Plant 1." How much he wished he had a manager who could do all these thankless jobs!

QUESTIONS

1.	Based on the information given in the case, what education, experience, job skills, and other competencies what would seem to be required for the future human resource manager of Maple Leaf Shoes?
2.	What is your evaluation of the selection process employed by the firm (especially Robert Clark) in this instance? If you were in charge, would you have done anything differently? How?
3.	Among the candidates, who (if any) would seem to be suitable for the position? What are the issues you should consider and trade-offs you should make when selecting one of these candidates for the position?