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• Person specification
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• Head hunting and poaching
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• Applications and short listing
• Testing
• Interviewing
• Selection
• Offer of employment
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• Case studies
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Case studies

Getting married – culture and expectations

The wrong doctor – sympathy was not what they were looking for

Getting married

The programme needed teams to take long, three to four-day trips off-road to assess the food needs of the drought-affected population. Both male and female team members were recruited. The teams worked well and were able to collect and cross-check information from men and women. Recovery from the drought, however, was far slower than anyone thought, and the programme continued for a number of years.

The female team members were single when they applied for the job, but as was the custom in that country, many were soon married. Their families then forbade them to go on long field trips and expected the organisation to employ them in the office instead. This problem had not been foreseen during recruitment or when the contracts of employment had been drawn up. Lengthy and at times heated discussions were needed to find a solution.

The wrong doctor?

Team members complained that the new driver had an obvious and permanent problem with one eye, and said that they were not confident in his ability to drive safely despite his excellent references and apparent ability to compensate for the problem when driving. He was sent to a doctor for an eye test. The results were surprising – he was declared to have perfect vision in both eyes. Faced with such a report, it was difficult to decide what to do. It was believed that the doctor had given a generous assessment out of sympathy for the driver who risked losing his job. It was equally disappointing that the recruitment process had not picked up the problem earlier.