Personnel Management Skills

This chapter deals with specific personnel management issues that one will face as a senior scientist. One needs to be prepared to recruit, hire, mentor, promote, and fire personnel as one advances in one's career. As one progresses in one's career, one will continue to refine one's recruiting skills. Recruiting occurs through multiple media, including scientific publications, presentations, advertisements, the Internet, and word of mouth. For certain job categories and in certain institutions, such as state or federal institutions, one will need to hold a position open for a specific length of time after one has placed a public advertisement, usually in the print media. When one wants to hire someone, one should spell out in advance what one needs and expect from a potential employee. This information is invaluable during the interview process. Promotion from the position of an assistant to that of an associate professor often coincides with a tenure decision in the basic sciences. Employees may need to leave their job for many reasons, including incompetence, unsatisfactory performance, insubordination, inappropriate relationships or contact with fellow employees, breach of confidentiality, dishonesty, or criminal behavior.