Joe Chaney joined your architectural firm two years ago as a draftsman. He is 35 years old and has been a draftsman since graduating from a two-year technical school right after high school. He is married and has four children. He has worked for four architectural firms in 12 years.

Joe came with mediocre recommendations from his previous employer, but you hired him anyway because you needed help desperately. Your firm’s workload has been extremely high due to a local construction boom. The result is that a lot of the practices that contribute to a supportive, well-managed work environment have been overlooked. For instance, you can’t remember the last time you conducted a formal performance review or did any career counseling. Furthermore, the tradition of closing the office early on Friday for a social hour was dropped long ago. Unfortunately, the tension in the office runs pretty high some days due to unbearable time pressures and the lack of adequate staff. Night and weekend work have become the norm rather than the exception.

Overall, you have been pleasantly surprised by Joe’s performance. Until recently, he worked hard and consistently produced high-quality work. Furthermore, he frequently volunteered for special projects, made lots of suggestions for improving the work environment, and has demonstrated an in-depth practical knowledge of architecture and the constructions business. However, during the past few months, he has definitely slacked off. He doesn’t seem as excited about his work, and several times you have found him daydreaming at his desk. In addition, he has gotten into several heated arguments with architects about the specifications and proper design procedures for recent projects.

After one of these disagreements, you overheard Joe complaining to his officemate, “No one around here respects my opinion. I’m just a lowly draftsman. I know as much as these hotshot architects, but because I don’t have the degree, they ignore my input, and I’m stuck doing the grunt work. Adding insult to injury, my wife has had to get a job to help support our family. I must be the lowest-paid person in this firm.” In response to a question from a coworker regarding why he didn’t pursue a college degree in architecture, Joe responded, “Do you have any idea how hard it is to put bread on the table, pay a Seattle mortgage, work overtime, be a reasonably good father and husband, plus go to night school? Come on, be realistic!”

1) As Joe’s supervisor, identify and provide a clear description of the central problems faced by Joe Chaney.

2) How would you as a leader address these problems? Select and use no more than three relevant course concepts, and/or theory-based models of leadership, motivation, and/or others to support your analysis.

A note on structuring your responses: You may use bullet points as long as they provide enough detail to support your response. You may also address 1 and 2 above simultaneously by indicating the problem and proposed solution #1, problem and proposed solution #2, and problem and proposed solution #3.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Joe as an employee is facing problems which are as follows Lack of employee engagement as a newly hi... View the full answer