Case Study: Effective behaviours in Organizations

Dr NDAO, Souleymane.
Laura is an associate director of a non-profit agency that provides assistance to children and
families. She heads a department that focuses on evaluating the skills-building programs the
agency offers to families. She reports directly to the agency's management. Overall, the agency
has been cautious in hiring this year due to increased competition for federal grant funding.
However, they also experienced high staff turnover. Two directors, three key research staff and
one finance staff member left.
Laura has a demanding schedule that requires frequent travel; however, she supervises two
managers who, in turn, are responsible for five staff members each. Both managers have been
appointed in the last six months.
Manager 1: Kelly has specific research training. She manages staff that provides research
support to another department that provides behavioural health services to youth. Kelly supports
her staff and is highly organized; however, she often has a very black and white view of the
issues. High-level leadership appreciates Kelly's latest research on therapeutic services. Kelly
is highly motivated and expects the same from her staff.
Manager 2: Linda has extensive experience in social science research and evaluation. She
manages the staff who work on various projects within the agency. She is known as a problem
solver and is extremely supportive of her staff. She is very organized and has extensive
experience in assessing family services. Linda is very capable and can sometimes take too
much.
Managers are feeling that staff are overworked as everyone assumes increased responsibilities
due to high staff turnover. Staff also mentioned that Laura's "half-empty glass" conversation
style leaves them discouraged. In addition, Laura has not shared budgets with her managers,
making it difficult for them to allocate the work properly to staff. Laura said she did not receive
enough information from the Department of Finance to complete the budgets. The Department
of Finance said they sent he all the information they had access to.
As staff grieve, managers become frustrated. They feel that they are unable to defend their staff
or solve problems without key information such as the departmental budget.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. How can Laura most effectively use management and leadership skills in her role as
Associate Director? What combination of the two do you think would work best in this context?
2. What steps could be taken to build staff confidence?
3. What advice would you give Laura on improving her leadership skills and how to improve
their management skills?
4. What management style do you think should be effective in this situation?
5. What do you think of the organization of the aura? Strengths and Weaknesses?