504. The Selection Process

“The interview is over. Whom are we going to select?” asked Sundaram, the Personnel Manager.

“This is a promotion interview for a Department Manager. That manager will be working under you. So, your opinion is the most important,” said Raju, the General Manager, looking at Selvam, the Divisional Manager.

Before Selvam could reply, Sundaram interjected, saying, “We have already shortlisted two people, right? We only need to choose one of them. What is your choice?”

‘Isn’t this the same question the GM had just asked me? And now, just to show off your authority as the Personnel Manager, you are repeating it to me!’ thought Selvam irritably. He turned to Raju and said, “Sir, between Ram and Neelakantan, my choice is Neelakantan!”

“Neelakantan? His profile is not that impressive, is it?” said Sundaram.

Suppressing his urge to hit back Sundaram with the retort ‘Then how did you even agree to have him shortlisted?’ Selvam said, “You are looking at the profile. I am looking at the person.”

“Correct. You are the one who interacts with both of them directly, right? That is why I said your opinion matters,” said Raju. “But before finalizing the selection, let us list out the strengths and weaknesses of both the candidates.”

For the next few minutes, the three of them together listed the strengths and weaknesses of Ram and Neelakantan.

“Now that we have listed both their strengths and weaknesses, if we assign positive marks for strengths and negative marks for weaknesses, who do you think ends up with a higher score?” asked Raju, looking at Selvam.

“Certainly, Ram has a better score. Based on my personal interactions with both the candidates, initially I thought Neelakantan was the obvious choice. But, when we look at it through this approach you suggested, it is clear that Ram is the better candidate” admitted Selvam.

“Very good! So shall we, the three of us, unanimously finalize Ram as our selection?” asked Raju.

The other two silently nodded in agreement.

After Selvam had left the room, Sundaram turned to Raju and said, “Sir, Selvam was biased! I think he had decided even before conducting the interview that Neelakantan should be chosen. Only when we compared both candidates’ strengths and weaknesses as per your suggestion, did he change his mind.”

“True, having a bias may be Selvam's weakness. But he also has many strengths. First, he admitted that he had a bias. Second, he has a sense of fairness. Even after forming an opinion, he is willing to listen to others, consider the validity of their reasoning, and change his decision, if he finds their reasoning is justified. So, on balance, the positive qualities of Selvam outweigh his flaws. Can’t you see that?” said Raju.

Sundaram nodded his head, agreeing with his General Manager.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 51
Assess Before Accepting

Verse 504 (in Tamil):

guNam nAdik kuRRamum nAdi avaRRuL
migai nAdi mikka koLal

Meaning:

Examine the good and bad in a person and judge his character according to what predominates in his composition. 

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'thErvuk kuzhu' by the same author.)

Verse 505
Verse 503