You were recently hired by the Andrews CEO as a consultant to evaluate the performance of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). As part of that process, you interview the CFO's direct reports (employees). Although they indicate that the CFO is technically competent, one individual told you stories about the CFO's verbal abuse with employees. Given this information, what would be the most effective next step in the process?

Collect more information about the extent to which this reported behavior is impacting others

Explanation:

The options are:

a. Collect more information about the extent to which this reported behavior is impacting others.

b. Tell the CEO about what you have uncovered and ask for her permission to speak about it with the CFO.

c. Focus on the CFO’s work performance since his personal behavior is inappropriate in the workplace.

d. Inform the human resources department that there is a potential problem.

Given the information provided in the question, the most effective next step in the process will be to collect more information about the extent to which this reported behavior is impacting others. This will be vital in determining whether what is being said about the Chief Financial Officer is true or not and also to know if true, whether it has an affect on the performance of affected employees in the organization.

Option B is wrong as telling the CEO right away isn't the next step as adequate information must be gathered first.

Option C is also wrong as the focus shouldn't be on his work in the organization alone. His personal behavior should be addressed as well if he's wrong. A great organization is made up of great individuals with good behaviors.

Option D is also wrong as the next step should not be to inform the human resource.

Therefore, the correct option is A.