You have recently been hired as the HR Manager in a relatively small firm (549 employees), which makes control valves that are shipped all over the world. The company is 28 years old, and its original founder is still the President and CEO at the age of 64. The CEO is a large man, at 6'5" and 325 pounds, with an imposing mane of white hair and a red blazer signifying his membership in the University of Alabama Alumni Association. He was a two-time All-American lineman at the University in his college days, and most of the management team are graduates of Alabama.

The President wants to be involved in all hiring decisions - from the VP of Operations to the secretary in the Marketing Department. He insists on interviewing all of the top 3 candidates for every job opening. Right now, the company employs an almost totally male workforce even though a great majority of the jobs could be handled by just about anyone. Based on your recent experience with him in the process where you got hired, you know he has terrible interview skills - he starts all interviews with women by addressing them as "Little woman" and refers to men as "Bubba". He probably drives away many qualified applicants. How would you approach the situation? Can you teach him to be a better and more effective interviewer?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Approaching this situation requires a delicate balance between respecting the CEOs preferences and addressing potential issues in the interview proces... View the full answer