Assume you are a manager of professional employees in the information technology industry. Steve Steady, one of your employees, asks to meet with you. The company has posted a position for a team leader in your group, and you know Steve wants the position. You are unsure how to proceed. Steve feels he has earned the opportunity on the basis of his consistent efforts at work, but you have a different view.

Since you hired Steve about ten years ago, he has been a solid employee. He is not outstanding but he is dependable and he gets the job done. He has received average performance evaluations, pay increases, and so forth. He actually makes less money than some of his peers due to the average performance reviews and his peers had stronger performance reviews.

You really want to appoint, Stella Stellar another employee with less time at the firm, to the job. She has been our top performer for several years. You want to reward her performance and you think she will be a great leader. On the other hand, you don’t want to lose Steve.

In anticipation of both your upcoming meeting with Steve and how things will work our after you appoint Stella, perform the following activities:

Describe how Steve and Stella are likely to view the situation. (use theories from this class)
Outline a brief conversation with Steve in which you convey your decision to hire Stella for the position.
What advice you would give Stella about her future interactions with Steve?