Mary is a divisional manager of a nonprofit organisation that aids homeless youth. Her department focuses on evaluating the skill-building programs that support the various associated groups and individuals that work in conjunction with the nonprofit organisation in delivering these services. She reports directly to the CEO. During the last 12-months she has been very cautious in hiring staff because of the increased competition for government grant funding. Additionally, they have also suffered from increased staff turnover throughout the organisation. During this period for instance, two divisional managers, two research staff and one operational staff from within the finance department have resigned.
Mary has a very demanding work schedule that requires frequent regional travel; however, she supervises three managers who in turn are directly responsible for five staff members each. The two divisional managers have been appointed within the last six months.
Manager 1: Eve has a specific background in research. He manages staff who provide research to support another department that delivers behavioural health services to youth. Kelly supports her staff and is very organised; however, she often takes a very black and white view of issues. Upper-level leadership greatly values Eve’s latest research on the therapeutic division’s services. Eve is very motivated and driven and expects the same from her staff.
Manager 2: Rose has a strong background in social science research and evaluation. She manages staff that work on different projects within the organisation. She is known as a problem solver and is extremely supportive of her staff. She is very organised and has a wealth of experience in evaluation of homelessness services. Rose is very capable and can sometimes take on too much.
The managers are sensing that staff are becoming overworked as everyone takes on increased responsibilities due to high staff turnover. Staff have also mentioned that Mary’s ‘glass half-empty’ conversation style leaves them feeling dejected. In addition, Mary has not shared budgets with her managers, so they are having difficulty appropriately allocating work to staff. Mary said she has not received sufficient information from the finance department to complete the budgets. The finance department said they have sent her al the information they have available.