Course Material

1. A small company is looking for a department manager. There have been
many applic
A small company is looking for a department manager. There have been many applications,
and various tests have been carried out on the candidates. The group working on this is now
left with four candidates, whom they have also interviewed.The group asks you if you can
look at the information they have about the candidates and make an assessment of which
candidate would be the right person for the position.Your task is to assess all the
information you have available, and come up with professionally justified advice on who
you think the group should recommend the board to hire. You must therefore suggest who
should be nominated first for the position, and explain why this is the right candidate to
hire.The advertised position is a management position for a department consisting of ten
people. These ten employees vary both according to age and education. The head of
department reports to the director and sits on the management team.The department is a
service department that will assist the other departments in the company so that they can
optimize their work in the market.Work assignments – The employment group has carried
out a job analysis and concluded that the following tasks are the most central to the
position: Collaborate with others. Lead a group of 10 employees. Have personnel
responsibility for the employees in the department. Adhere to and report on budget.
Represent the department in the budget process. Guide and advise other departments.
Characteristics.Furthermore, they have defined that the following characteristics are
important in the employee:Good at collaborating. Good at listening to others.Leadership:
Gets others on board. StructuredGood communication skillsCan relate to relevant law.Four
candidates remain after the hiring group has made its first rounds of selection.Here you see
an overview of the four candidates, their ability level/IQ, education and extent of work
experience.Anne, 37years: IQ 104, work experience: 12y (8y as leader).
Education:Bachelor’s degree in economy + master inadministration and management.Tor,
48years: IQ 110, work experience: 25y (13y as leader). Education:Bachelor’s degree in
History.Lise, 25years: IQ 115, work experience :1,5 year. Education: Bachelor’s degree in
economy + master in administration and management.Anders, 30years: IQ 108, work
experience: 8 years. Education:Bachelor’s degree in Psychology.Anne describes herself as an
outgoing and engaged person. This has led to her always being active in association life,
both as a student and in working life. She was leader of the student council when she got
her master’s degree, she has held positions as a shop steward at two previous workplaces

2. and she is also active in the kayak club. She is fond of the outdoors. It is in nature that she
“charges her batteries” when she has time off.Tor describes himself as a “simple boy from
the country”. He likes people, but he also likes to get things done. He is well organized and
meticulous. If you are, says Tor, then you get time to talk to the people around you, you get
time to bring them along. That recipe always works. Tor has three children and is a soccer
coach for the middle one’s soccer team. The same applies there, good structures make it
possible to both get training on what you need to do, but also to see and follow the
individual child in terms of challenges and goals.Lise describes herself as a happy, positive
girl who likes to have people around her. If no one else is present, she likes to take the
initiative herself to invite, engage and encourage others to various forms of collaboration.
Whether it is private such as a backyard sale, a splicing party or a volunteering for
something in the local area or in a professional context such as brainstorming meetings,
lectures to ensure the sharing of knowledge or arena colleague guidance. Lise is happy that
things happen, and she is good at making things happen.Anders describes himself as an
adventurer. He has traveled quite a lot, and took a “year off” after his bachelor’s degree
where he traveled and visited all parts of the world. Anders describes that year as an
important year that shaped him a lot. He is interested in people and, after his travels, he got
involved in a charity project in South America, which aims to build schools for street
children in Brazil. In recent years, he has used his holidays to go down to some of the
projects to help with his workforce. He grew up with a father who is a carpenter, so he is
good at working with his hands.Berit and Jørgen sit in the employment group. They have
interviewed the four candidates. The way it happened was that they took turns asking
questions about previous jobs the candidates have had, how they have solved challenges
they have faced in the past, as well as a bit about who they are and what they like to
do.During the interview and immediately afterwards, they wrote down some key words for
each candidate, so that they would remember the feeling and the thoughts that arose during
the interview with the individual candidate. Here is an overview of the keywords they
noted:About Anne: Responsible, cold, conscientious, will get things done. Striving,
systematic, clever, energetic.About Tor: Jovial, cosy, calm, sympathetic, clever, warm and
steady.Willing to change? (unsure) , nice, experienced, knowledgeable (appears wise).About
Lise: Wants a lot (will she get it done, or go on without involving others), warm, energetic,
clever. energetic, clever, enthusiastic, and really likes the job, knowledgeable. (enough
experience?).About Anders: Great values, warm, sympathetic and inspiring drive, (is he
structured enough?). Dedicated and loyal to his own convictions, sympathetic and
accommodatingSources to use:Arnold, J., Coyne, I., Randall, R. & Patterson, F. (2020). Work
psychology: Understanding humanbehaviour in the workplace. Pearson. Kapittel 1, s. 1-
31.Rousseau, D.M. & Barends, E.G.R. (2011), Becoming an evidence-based HR practitioner.
HumanResource Management Journal, 21, s. 221-235.Saksvik, P.Ø., Tvedt, S.D., Nytrø, K.,
Andersen, G.R., Andersen, T.K., Buvik, M.P. & Torvatn, H. (2007)Developing criteria for
healthy organizational change, Work & Stress, 21(3), 243-263.