Scenario: The Staffing Pool

Group Size: 4-15

Scenario

"Madeleine, I’ve got great news," exclaims Josie. "I just learned that I am able to staff my analyst position from a pool of three qualified candidates. I'm so relieved. It took us a year the last time we staffed this kind of position. This is really going to reduce the time it takes to get somebody in here."

"Outstanding," replies Madeleine. "There is so much work to do in your shop. Do you have a preference amongst the candidates?"

"There seems to be one who might stand out as the right fit,” says Josie. “She's from another department but used to work here at the Department of National Defence (DND), where she gained valuable experience in project management, which is exactly what's needed here. Her name is Stephanie Mondrian. Do you happen to know her?"

"Yeah, I do,” says Madeleine. “I met her once, briefly, but I've known her partner for years. Actually, I just ran into her partner last week and heard that Stephanie would really like to come back to DND."

"Well, I'm sure glad to hear that," says Josie.

"Oh, and you should have seen her partners face when they told me that Stephanie had just found out that she was pregnant,” adds Madeleine excitedly. “They were radiant, just beaming!"

A little while later, Josie is sitting at her desk, mulling over her conversation with Madeleine. She thinks that if this candidate is pregnant, she'll only work for a few months before she goes on maternity leave for a year. It may be even longer if she decides not to come back to work right away and is unsure if she can afford that with all the work That has to be done on the team.

Josie ponders her next move.

Categories

• Principles: Respect the Dignity of all Persons, Serve Canada before Self, Obey and Support Lawful Authority
• Values: Integrity, Loyalty, Stewardship, Courage, Excellence
• Cultural themes: Service, Leadership, Teamwork
• Misconduct types: Discrimination, Harassment
• GBA Plus themes: Sex
• Audience: Defence Team

Facilitator’s Guide

Learning Objectives

• Discuss the ethical principles to “Respect the Dignity of all Persons,” “Serve Canada before Self” and “Obey and Support Lawful Authority” in relation to this situation.
• Discuss the values of integrity, courage, loyalty, excellence, and stewardship with respect to Defence Team hiring.

Facilitation Questions

1. What would you do in this situation? What are the considerations?
   • Allow open discussion from the group.
   • Ethical concerns: Now that she hears that the candidate, she thought might be the best fit might be pregnant, Josie is reconsidering her incomplete initial assessment. We know that it is not ethical or legal to discriminate against someone who is pregnant but is that what is happening in this scenario? Does the outcome or circumstances change because Madeline disclosed Stephanie’s personal information to Josie?
   • Personal factors: The potential candidate has not disclosed or confirmed her pregnancy to the potential employer, so it is hearsay. Further, it is acknowledged that Josie’s office has a lot of work to do so the position needs to be filled immediately, which brings into question what the repercussions are if the workload can’t be managed by current staff, including their wellbeing, the office’s obligations/mandates, etc.
   • Environmental factors: Josie told Madeline that Stephanie might be the best fit.
2. What is the ethical dilemma in this situation?
   • This is an example of competing obligations, where more than one decision, option or course of action are consistent with different ethical principles and values. Satisfying the demands of one obligation does not allow us to fully satisfy the demands of one or more other obligation.
   • Note for facilitators: A few principles and values are at odds in this scenario. Josie is required to treat everyone fairly and maintain a workplace that is free from discrimination (Respect the dignity of all persons); perform her duty to the highest ethical standards (Serve Canada before Self); carry out her duty in accordance with legislation, policies and directives (Obey and Support Lawful Authority); act in such a way to maintain trust of peers (integrity); make the right choice amongst difficult alternatives (courage), consider the present and long-term effect of her actions (stewardship) and improve the quality of policies, program and services while providing timely, efficient and effective services (excellence). She has already told Madeline that Stephanie might be the best fit – does she now have an obligation to follow through?
   • How can Madeline’s behaviour be interpreted as unethical? What are the personal and institutional considerations?
3. What are some potential courses of action that Josie could take in this scenario?
   • Option 1: Abandon pursuing the pool with qualified candidates and canvas employees using creative means (social media and cold calls) to find someone with experience who is looking for new at level challenges. This could speed up the hiring process.
   • Option 2: Hire Stephanie. She stands out as the right fit and wants to return to DND. Since she was previously worked at DND, any challenges related to an organization learning curve could be less impactful than if someone with no DND experience is hiring. Since she is already aware of that Stephanie might be pregnant, she can start to think ahead to backfilling the position while she is on maternity leave.
   • Option 3: Hire one of the two other qualified candidates. Josie can legitimately pick any of the candidates because all three are qualified. However, since there is an assumption that the other candidates don’t have experience at DND, there will be a risk that the person hired will need time to adjust to the organizational learning curve.