[IPAC-List] Manager-level interviews involving peers or rank-and-file ...

[Kelly Sorensen]

I agree that an informal, holistic "assessment" poses all kinds of
problems. If, for polictial reasons, you can't totally avoid it then I'd
use it only after you've identified a pool of candidates that should all be
well qualified for the job to at least mitigate the negative consequences.
Even then, though, the "fit" issues are concerning. First, you may have
discrimination come into play and/or you may learn irrelvant information or
even information that it is illegal to consider in selection. What
if a manager asks a candidate if she's married, has children, attends
church, etc.? Second, people tend to want to work with people whom they
perceive to be are like them (which ties back to discrimination as well).
Whle they may think they'll enjoy working with those folks more, it isn't
necessarily good for the organization. Having some disagreement in
perspectives, etc. promotes healthy conflict and discussion, and forces
people to think through their ideas well enough to be able to defend them.

My first instinct, however, is that this isn't high school and selection
isn't a popularity contest, though I realize that managers don't always
want to believe that they can't make good judgments about candidates...