CASE 46 Lighting a Fire Background Information Allison Clark was a reluctant supervisor. As executive assistant to the Com- missioner of Client Services with the Department of Disability Rehabilitation, she had the responsibility to supervise the day-to-day work of a secretarial and clerical support staff in the Commissioner's office. While she liked her work, she did not enjoy supervising. Allison, white, supervised a three-person staff of female minority-group members. Given her distaste for supervising, she was fortunate that her staff performed their work smoothly and competently, even when they were busy. Wilma Johnson was the senior secretary, having been with the Commissioner for over eight years. Wilma was very professional and competent, able to handle her various tasks skillfully and effectively. Joan Carter handled more of the techni- cal procedures and operations associated with disability rehabilitation matters, Joan, in her position for just over a year, was just beginning to achieve profi- ciency in this complex area and was doing an adequate job. Both Wilma and Joan were grade 8's in the civil service system, ‘And then there was Lenora Haskins, a 21-year-old office clerk, grade 6. Lenora had been moved into this front office position six months ago under less than favorable circumstances. Before the transfer, she had been working as a clerk in the nearby regional administrative office. However, her performance in that job was lethargic and uninspired. She had to be supervised closely on a regular basis, and while the work she did met minimum standards, there were occasional errors and lapses. Non-exempt employees in the department be- longed to the State Service Employees Union. Rather than risk problems with the union over firing her, the decision was made to move her to the Commis- sioner’s office. Allison saw Lenora as quiet and without much of a personality, "a real lump" as Allison put it. In addition, Lenora had very poor communication skills, and others in the office had little to do with her and showed little enthusiasm for ‘working with or supporting her. Lenora spent about three months learning the routine assignments associated with her new position. At that point, Allison decided to expand her responsibili- ties so that Lenora could serve as a back-up for most of Wilma’s and some of Joan’s duties, on an as-needed basis—for example, whenever either Wilma or Joan were on vacation or out sick. Both Wilma and Joan supported this plan. The effort to cross-train Lenora met with two problems, though. The first problem became obvious fairly quickly: Lenora just did not seem to understand ‘What was going on. She appeared to be personally uninvolved in, almost bored 46.1Fifty Case Studies for Management & Supervisory Training by, the cross-training efforts. For example, whenever Wilma or Joan would ex- plain a procedure, Lenora seemed to pay little attention to what they were say- ing, although she did take a lot of notes. Consequently, on a few occasions when Wilma or Joan was absent, Lenora could not do the work, saying she did not know how. Lenora’s reluctance to participate in the work of the office could be espe- cially troublesome when things got busy, for she rarely pitched in and helped others. The Commissioner's office was frequently assigned special "rush" pro- jects that had to be prepared, completed, and distributed to various field offices ‘or constituent groups as quickly as possible. When these conditions arose, eve- ryone was expected to help out. Too often, Lenora seemed content to sit pas sively at her desk, even when her work was completed, and watch as everyone else hustled to meet deadlines. ‘After one such particularly frustrating episode, Allison talked to Lenora pri- vately, cautioning her about her lackadaisical approach to her work. During the conversation, Lenora mentioned that she had been taken advantage of before and felt she was being asked to do grade 8 work when she was only being paid to do grade 6 work. “This comment posed a second problem that faced Allison in cross-training Lenora. Shortly after her meeting with lenora, she discovered that Ted Mat- thews, the personnel officer for the department, was concerned about this same issue. According to Ted, the union could file a grievance claiming that Lenora was in the wrong pay classification to the work assigned to her. He suggested that they avoid any union problems by giving Lenora a temporary adjustment in salary; if Lenora performed well, she would be given a permanent increase to a grade 7. Allison and Ted agreed that for them to make the increase permanent, Lenora would have to do a much better job than she was presently doing. ‘Ted, algu a minority employce, explained the decision to Lenora in a private meeting. He also gave her a pep talk, pointing out that extra effort now would pay off down the road, Lenora’s reactions were difficult to gauge, although she id not appear overly enthusiastic during or after the meeting. Allison figured it ‘would take a litle time for Ted’s message to sink in and did not become imme- diately concerned. She knew it was unrealistic, and unfair, to expect an instanta- neous transformation. Nonetheless, over the course of the following three weeks, Allison became more and more perplexed: It appeared that Lenora simply had not "gotten the message” at all, Finally, one afternoon she had a discussion with Wilma that not. only confirmed the issue, but made Allison realize the further action was neces- sary. ‘Wilma came into Allison’s office shortly after lunch and closed the door. "I need to talk to you about Lenora," she began. "You know how busy we've been with the new regulations and the downsizing. I've got work piling up and Lenora is just not pitching in.” Allison knew what Wilma was talking about, having given her a couple of big assignments earlier in the day. However, Allison was also surprised by Wilma’s observations. Even though Wilma had never been particularly enthusi- astic about Lenora’s performance, she usually implied that Lenora was doing her work acceptably. 462Case 46: Lighting a Fire Wilma continued: "I’ve got a pile of things to do and Lenora won't help out. I've asked for her assistance a couple of times, but she either ignores me or re- ally complains about helping. And just a minute ago, when I asked her, she just looked at me and said, ‘I'm not going to do that.’ I need help, and I’ve no time to argue with anyone.” Allison leaned back in the chair, wondering what to do next. CASE QUESTIONS 1, What kind of program exists: supervisory or motiva- tional, or both? 2. What steps should Allison take to address the prob- Jem? 463