2. Dr. Simon Kingston works for the international executive search consultants Heidrick and Struggles. Read his interview and complete the chart below. M ethods for identifying candidates

……….¹ in Asking for ……..³ Own original

newspapers or from the organization ………….⁴

…………..²

From our From talking to From beginning to

…………..⁵ ……………..⁶ ……..⁷ the business …..⁸

Cross-……….⁹

Interviewer:

How do you identify and attract the best candidates for a particular job?

Dr. Simon Kingston:

Well, the most important thing for us at the beginning is to have clear and full briefing from our clients. So we spend a great deal of time talking to a range of people in the client organisation. And then, according to the sort of job that we are seeking to fill, we will use three different sorts of method for identifying candidates. One, the most obvious one, is advertisement in appropriate newspapers or journals. The second is by asking for nominations from within our client organisation of appropriate candidates. And the third, and most labour intensive for us, is our own, original research. And that will be derived from our database, from talking to authoritative sources in the relevant market place, and then from beginning to map the business sector in which we think we are most likely to find good candidates. All three of those different methods of identifying candidates will cross-reference, and ideally we'd like to find candidates who're sourced from each of the three areas. And sometimes, when we’re very fortunate, we will find an individual who comes referred from each of the three approaches.

In respect of our own research, it’s always very valuable for us to be able to speak, at the beginning of a search, to experts

Simon mentions three different types of experts which his company usually speaks to at the beginning of an executive search. Who are they?

Which qualities does Lord Browne at BP demonstrate, according to Simon?

DISCUSSION

1. Read the two case studies below and answer these questions.

1 What job did the men do?

2 Why were their employers upset?

3 Who apologized? Who accepted the change?

4 Who intends to sue his employer? Why?

Case 1

John Humphries aged 62, is a lorry driver who is proud of being well-dressed for work. However, his employer told him that he must not come to work in a collar and tie to drive his 17-tonne lorry. If he did so, he faced the sack. When working, Mr Humphries, an ex-Royal Airforce man, wore dark blue trousers, a light blue shirt, and a red and grey striped tie. He felt he looked smart and impressed the customers. ‘If you present yourself properly, you look good and get respect,’ he said.

Mr Humphries’ employers were not impressed when he refused to give up his collar and tie. They wanted him to conform to the company’s new image of casual clothing such as T-shirts or sweat shirts. They even threatened to dismiss him if he didn’t accept their new dress code. Union officials advise him to accept the change and follow the company’s policy. He agreed.

Case 2

Yoshiaki Nishiura, a 25-year-old lorry driver from western Japan, was sacked because he dyed his hair brown. (This is a popular fashion with a growing number of young Japanese.) Although he apologised and dyed it back again, he was still fired. His employer, Mr Yamago, believed that behaviour like Mr Nishiura’s undetermined discipline and corrupted morale. He blamed it on American influence. ‘We need drivers to maintain a professional appearance to make a good impression,’ he said. A Japanese journalist said, ‘Japanese firms expect all employees to look the same and think the same.’ When you enter a company, you sign away your human rights.’ Mr Nishiura is going to sue his employer for unfair dismissal.