Case 2.3: Recruiting for the Bank
Case synopsis and analysis
Pat Nelson is the assistant director of human resources tasked with recruiting college graduates
who can be groomed for higher-level leadership positions within a bank. He hires people with
Learning objectives:
• Students should be able to evaluate key traits that may be important for novice yet
high-potential employees in a financial institution.
Answers to questions in the text:
1) Based on the ideas described in the trait approach, do you think Pat is looking for the
right characteristics in the people he hires?
Trait approach suggests that leaders typically have high levels of intelligence, sociability,
2) Could it be that the retention problem raised by upper management is unrelated to Pat’s
recruitment criteria?
3) If you were Pat, would you change your approach to recruiting?
Some students may argue that Pat’s criteria for selection are grounded in research. Trait
Potential teaching approaches:
This case study is conducive to group discussions and exercises.
Below is a way to structure a class based on trait theory and case study 2.3:
• Begin the class in small groups with students developing a list of the top 5 (or 10) major
traits they believe are important for a strong leader. Students should prepare this list
Exercises for this case study:
– In small groups, students will write new criteria to help Pat in his hiring process. Each
group will come up with 5 to 10 traits that should be considered and rank those traits in