Introduction
It’s an all-too common scenario – how do you balance your desire to improve the workplace against entrenched attitudes and mores? Take a few moments to read and think about the situation below and make some notes. What would you do? Before you begin, please review assigned materials related to performance reviews from Grote, Levinson, and Goler, Gale & Grant, and view the required video. This activity aligns with module outcome 1.
Case Study
You have been newly hired into a supervisory role in a busy Financial Aid office at a local college. You have six direct reports. Three have worked for the University less than five years; the other three have more than ten years in the department. Overall, you have been impressed with the staff’s dedication to serving the department’s administrative needs and responding to requests from lenders and students. However, you have observed that one of the long-time staff members, Marie, seems to take a long time with any of her assignments and is avoided by most of the students requesting services. Her behavior strikes you as unwelcoming and you have overheard her raise her voice a few times. When you bring up the issue with your boss, Noah, he says Marie is known for being hard to work with, and she knows the President of the college. Her difficult behavior has been a long-standing issue and the last supervisor did little to change the situation. Noah is also new to his role and wants to have a high performing office. Noah wants you to address Marie’s behavior.
Case Study adapted from: Arsenault, M. (2017). Managers & supervisors: Scenario three (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://www.umass.edu/wld/scenario-three
Discussion Questions
- You need to find an emotionally and culturally intelligent approach for how to address Marie’s behavior. Write up a performance evaluation you would like Maria to sign at her yearly performance evaluation, and be sure to utilize at least two concepts from the readings as you write.
- Initial Discussion Post
- Your initial post should be at least 250 words and must substantively integrate the assigned readings from the module with proper APA style formatting. You may use additional sources and materials as long as they are relevant to the discussion and cited properly. For assistance with APA style formatting, visit the Library (Links to an external site.) or the Excelsior OWL (Links to an external site.).