Kersha is the Associate Director of a non-profit organization that provides health services and programs for children and families, such as mental health services for youth.
management
Description
Part 1: Case
Study
Please carefully read through the Case Study
and answer all of the questions. Your
answer for EACH QUESTION must be approximately 150-300 words.
Kersha is the Associate Director of a
non-profit organization that provides health services and programs for children
and families, such as mental health services for youth. She is the head of a
department that focuses on planning, conducting, and evaluating the health
education programs that the organization provides to families. She reports
directly to the Executive Director of the organization. As a whole, the
organization has been cautious in hiring because of increased competition for
federal grant funding. However, the organization has suffered from high staff
turnover and there are a number of open positions.
Kersha has a demanding schedule that requires
frequent travel. She supervises two managers who in turn are responsible for
five staff members each; two of the five staff members are shared by the two
managers (one is an administrative assistant and the other is a data analyst).
The managers have been at the organization for different lengths of time.
(Please note that Kersha's preferred pronoun is "she.")
Manager 1: Chris has a
specific background in research and evaluation. They manage the evaluation
support provided to another department that delivers behavioral health services
to youth. Chris supports their staff and is very organized; however, they often
take a very black and white view of issues. The organization’s leadership and
Board values Chris’s latest findings on best practices for providing the
current services more efficiently. Chris is very motivated and driven and
expects the same from their staff. Chris
was appointed as manager three months ago. (Please note that Chris' preferred
pronoun is "they.")
Manager 2: Linda has a
strong background in social science research and evaluation. She manages
different projects within the organization, primarily around evaluation. She is
known as a problem solver and is extremely supportive of her staff. She is very
organized and has a wealth of experience in evaluation of programs and
services. Linda is very capable and can sometimes take on too much. Linda has been with the organization for more
than five years. (Please note that Linda's preferred pronoun is
"she.")
The managers are sensing that staff are
becoming over worked as everyone takes on increased responsibilities due to
high staff turnover. Staff have also mentioned that Kersha’s “glass half-empty”
conversation style leaves them feeling dejected. In addition, Kersha has not
shared funded grants and their deliverables for next year with her managers, so
they are having difficulty appropriately allocating work to staff. Kersha said
she has not received sufficient information from the development department. As
staff become distressed, the managers are becoming frustrated. They feel like
they are unable to advocate for their staff or problem solve without key
information like the grant deliverables.
