General Etiquette > All In A Day's Work

How engraved does the invitation need to be?

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platypus109:
Currently I work for a company that serves a very specific population.  Over 90% of the people who work for my organization are similar in nature to the individuals we serve – for clarity’s sake let’s say they are all “purple”.  I am a member of the “green” population and at times I have encountered interesting differences of opinion that are due to growing up in a purple or green community. I’m not sure if this is one of those situations or if this is just a matter of differing personal/professional expectations. 

I am responsible for maintaining a mid-sized department in the organization with 4 full time and 4 part time staff members (all part time staff works off-site).   Last spring an employee left with no warning leaving us with a need to fill the position ASAP.  In June I contacted one of our long time part-timers through e-mail (our only point of contact) asking her if she was interested in applying for the position.  I’m not a fan of this employee’s work product but having someone in the position was a priority.  Essentially this means if her application had been the only one in the pile she would have had the job.

In July I went on a planned annual hiatus along with the majority of the staff in the organization.    When I returned from the break I discovered my boss’s boss had hired an unknown individual to fill the position.  I am actually fine with the new higher and feel she is a better fit then the part-timer would have been so I didn’t question why the part-timer wasn’t hired. Recently, I learned the part time employee never applied for the position because she was waiting for me to call to invite her to submit her application.  I was told this expectation was common in the purple culture though all the purple’s who’d hired me used e-mail exclusively. 

Ultimately, I don’t think I did anything rude but I am willing to concede part of being polite is recognizing where expectations differ and working towards minimizing those differences.  So my question to the e-hell community is this, do you expect to receive a specific phone invitation when applying for an in-house position? Would you have expected a phone call even after receiving an e-mail with the application details?

*Note my job is not at all related to human resources and I’ve never been involved in my organization’s hiring process.  I’m technically expected to be involved but the amount of authority I have in terms of staffing is laughable and I know the part timer knows this.
 
**It’s also possible she assumed I was giving her the job - even though we both used the words apply when discussing the position.  She also knows certain licensing agencies require us to formally advertise and interview for all open positions so nothing is certain in our organization.   

kckgirl:

--- Quote from: platypus109 on August 18, 2012, 10:17:15 AM ---In June I contacted one of our long time part-timers through e-mail (our only point of contact) asking her if she was interested in applying for the position.
--- End quote ---

If email is your only point of contact, how are you going to call her?

Kaypeep:
I've never heard of such a requirement.  I think it was perfectly acceptable to email the person and inform them that a vacancy was available and ask them if they want to apply.  To me, that IS an invitation to apply.  (Just like if someone says "Would you like ot dance?" that is an invitation to dance!)  The fact that you yourself were hired through email communication disproves this 'fact' that the purple people always phone to invite people to apply.  I think this is just sour grapes and someone trying to make you feel bad becaue their friend dropped the ball or didn't know any better how to apply for the position. 

If anyone ever said anything to me, I'd inform them they are mistaken about the phone call policy because you yourself only dealt with email during the hire process.  I wouldn't get into any other details because that might cross a privacy line issue, but I'd be adament that I extended all the information necessary for candidate to apply themself and it's unfortunate they missed out when boss' boss was doing the hiring.  Perhaps it will be a good lesson for the next opening, they will know better what to do to apply.

platypus109:

--- Quote from: kckgirl on August 18, 2012, 10:22:45 AM ---
--- Quote from: platypus109 on August 18, 2012, 10:17:15 AM ---In June I contacted one of our long time part-timers through e-mail (our only point of contact) asking her if she was interested in applying for the position.
--- End quote ---

If email is your only point of contact, how are you going to call her?

--- End quote ---

Sorry, I wasn't clear, I have all the numbers for the part timers but e-mail communication is pretty standard around here.  I've only "spoken" with this woman through e-mail. She's never called me and I've never called her though we've frequently communicated through e-mail and I've talked to her face to face twice when she stopped by to see a friend in my department. 

HorseFreak:
I think you did fine. One culture's expectations does not automatically overrule normal business practices. It's up to both sides to compromise, not assume the other culture will also be accommodated. You followed the procedure and emailed her and I don't imagine ever indicated you would call and roll out a red carpet. Sour grapes is all this is.

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