HR Assignment#8

Information To Understand The Topic: ( Requirements bellow) ! - This week DB focuses on The case study "Fire Me, Why Don't You?" ( Attached) ! - Of particular importance to our discussion are the issues of "The Peter

Principle" (explained below) and whether senior management should "cull or cure" employees' based on their performance.

- “The Peter Principle is a concept in management  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. theory formulated by Laurence J. Peter  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. in which the selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate's performance in his/her current job role, rather than on abilities relevant to the candidate's intended job role. Thus, employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively; and, as the theory suggests, 'managers rise to the highest level of their incompetence.' See the picture below for a visual explanation of the concept; and, if you are interested, the following detailed article about the Peter Principle's affect on Promotion and Declining Productivity from the Hoover Institution and Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.  The Peter Principle - Promotions and Declining Productivity.pdf � �

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! Simply stated, in an organizational structure  (Links to an external site.)

Links to an external site. , assessing an employee's potential for a promotion  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. is often based on his/her performance in the current job, which eventually results in the employee's being promoted to his/her highest level of competence  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. and potentially then to a role in which the employee is not competent (i.e., the employee's highest 'level of incompetence.' Thus, the employee has no chance of further promotion, having reached his/her career's ceiling in an organization. Peter noted that the employee's incompetence may be because the required skills are different, but not more difficult. For example, an excellent engineer may be a poor manager  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. because he/she might not have the interpersonal skills  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. necessary to lead a team. Rather than seeking to promote a talented "super-competent" junior employee, Peter suggested that an incompetent manager may set them up to fail or dismiss them because they are likely to 'violate the first commandment of hierarchical life with incompetent leadership: [namely that] the hierarchy must be preserved."'1  ! 1  Excerpted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle ! The Requirement: ! • The case study "Fire Me Why Don't You" cites McKay (2008) ( Attached to

understand the topic) , who states, "... managers and leaders have three opportunities to do something about their employee’s performance: at the time of hiring (hire correctly in the first place); through training and coaching; show poor performers the door. [However,] if a manager feels they have hired an individual who does not have the right personality, mental

ability and attitude to do the job, no amount of training or coaching will matter. Take a stance and select one of these positions:

◦ Do you think Paul: ▪ Was promoted to his highest level of incompetence (Peter

Principle) ▪ Was the right person for the job (hired correctly in the first

place) ▪ Can be cured through training and coaching, or ▪ Should be culled (show poor performers the door). ◦ Explain why you chose your stance and ◦ Support your position with examples from the case study and the

article "Cull or Cure." ( Attached ) ! NOTE: It should be a page and a half long- double spaced. Due: May 4th, 2017