Reference no: EM133045845

CASE STUDY: Personality and Emotions in Organizations

Carlos is a HR Manager at TCI Telecomms Limited, faced with the task of hiring a new Team Leader for their Corporate Clients Sales Department.

This role will require its incumbent to interact with potential and existing Corporate Clients, which is the highest revenue generating segment of the company. These clients include government offices, large private organizations and small to medium enterprises, that may require new or additional products and services.

One of the two main candidates being considered for the position is Belinda. Belinda has been a Corporate Client Service Representative for the last five (5) years. She deals with new and existing customers primarily via phone or email, assessing and responding to enquiries about products which she then forwards to the sales team as leads, and general queries which ranges from trouble shooting to billing issues. Based on her company and product knowledge, and her ability to warm persons up for the sales team in her initial conversations, Carlos thinks she is a serious contender for the job. However, Belinda has never worked with customers face to face and this would be necessary in the vacant position. This is a concern for Carlos as she has shown that she prefers limited direct interaction with other members in the organization, unless receiving instructions from her Team Leader. Carlos has received in the past a few complaints from customers regarding Belinda's tone when responding to some of their questions regarding delayed service delivery and incorrect billing amounts. Other team members have also reported on some of the responses they have over heard from Belinda, when calls from customers take up a significant amount of time from their perceived lack of understanding as she attempts to explain the reason for the issue being discussed, and her subsequent mood resulting from these calls.

The other contender for this position is Tom. Tom has been on the consumer sales team for the last eight (8) years and has ranked as a top sales agent for the last six (6) years, with the exception of the year before last when his mother passed away. Everyone speaks highly of Tom; customers and coworkers alike find him quite sociable and agreeable, and the evidence of his work is in the revenue he has brought in to date. Carlos' concern is that Tom in his time with the company, has never applied for previously advertised Leadership roles, prior to the death of his mother. This is despite the coaxing of other managers who hinted to him that he would have little competition. Tom has also never been involved in the corporate side of the business, therefor training may require a bit more time than Belinda who is already familiar with the products, but based on his previous work trends, this may be a worthwhile investment. - 

QUESTIONS:

1. Identify and explain two (2) key traits from the Big Five personality model displayed in the case for each candidate.

2. Explain the concept of 'emotional intelligence' and referencing the case, discuss two (2) ways it can impact an organization.

3. Who do you think should be selected for the position and why?