Application - Apply the theory(ies) you reviewed to the case, discussing which aspects of the experience can be explained by the theory(ies), and analyse the situation (with support from literature/journal articles) to determine what could be improved from the organisational perspective (300 words). Then Recommendations - Generate recommendations that identify what Julie and/or the Directors need to do to address the issue(s), being sure to provide a clearly defined pathway (steps/goals) for improvement that highlights your understanding of the relevant theory(ies) (300 words) (side note for the tutor, the therois used are The Burnout theory is defined as a state of mental and physical exhaustion caused by ones professional life. and The amplification hypothesis describes how job demands amplify the impact of job resources on motivation and engagement) attached is a photo of the case study.

CASE STUDY DILEMA

Julie looks at her bedside table clock 3am she is still not asleep. She has had trouble sleeping for the last month or so now. Usually she just lays in bed thinking about work making mental lists of all the things that she must do the next day as well as replaying the days interactions between her and her direct reports. The workload is extremely high, but that is not the main issue. Since taking on the role of business manager, Julie has felt an enormous amount of pressure to deliver the results for TUQ that Paola, Elliot and Shannon expect. Julie usually enjoys a challenge and has a strong track record of pulling off the impossible but managing the merger between TUQ and Rolled Gold might just be the one that beats her. Lying in bed awake she wonders how it all went wrong? Physically and mentally, she is no longer herself, she feels fatigued, anxious and on-edge. Because she is so consumed with work, she has stopped doing a lot of the activities that she used to enjoy, such as surfing and playing indoor soccer. She knows that she is not performing to her usual high standard and is starting to second-guess herself at work. This self-doubt not only chews up time, but its taking its toll on her self-esteem. She wonders why the Directors thought that she could do the job. One of the things that she is really grappling with is the loss of comradery that she used to have with her TUQ colleagues. Since being promoted she has felt like more of an outsider and less as one of the team. Although there are a few employees who are still friendly with her from TUQ, most of the TUQ employees who used to be close with her are now quite distant. For instance, she knows that there have been staff birthday lunches and other celebrations that she has been purposely excluded from. She feels upset that she has lost that social connection at work, as that used to be one of the things that she enjoyed most about TUQ. An incident last week at work has also left her shaken. She was delivering some training on how to use some new invoicing software and half-way through the session one of her direct reports was packing up to leave. Julie asked where the staff member was going, and she replied that it was personal and Julie (not having had much sleep, and feeling stressed about staff being able to use this new software immediately) asked in front of the other five attendees, again, what was so important that the staff member had to leave this crucial training. The staff member burst into tears and left the room. One of the other attendees, a friend of the upset staff member, reprimanded Julie in front of everyone saying that she was unprofessional and insensitive. Julie, unsure of what to do, said nothing and awkwardly just continued with the training. Later Julie found out that the staff member had to leave to attend a psychologist appointment, she was recently divorced and was struggling with her mental health. Julie felt terrible, she knew that she over stepped but at the same time, everyone needed to be working their hardest right now. As the business manager, she should have been told ahead of time of the absence. News of what happened spread throughout both the West End and Burleigh offices, no one said anything to her directly about it, though there was a higher than usual level of incivility by some staff members towards her and there was definitely a sense that employees would comply with her work requests, but no one did more than what was asked. Another issue that is keeping Julie awake is that the annual performance reviews for staff is about to start. Now that she is in management, she is expected to take the lead on the reviews. Although she has managed people before, she feels that her authority is severely undermined now and the tension in the office combined with the lack of performance progress from most staff is going to make for some very unpleasant conversations. With the business generating little profit, the staff profit-sharing scheme has not worked to motivate staff as intended. Julie feels out of her depth and does not feel that she has enough experience, confidence or knowledge on how to conduct the upcoming appraisals, particularly delivering the negative feedback. It is 5am nowanother sleepless night for Julie. She gets up and goes to the kitchen. As she waits for her coffee machine to heat up, she wonders what she can do to make the situation better? The Directors have left Julie to manage everything and they know that she is trying her best, and she appreciates that, but she also knows that their patience is not going to last forever. Julie opens her laptop to get started on her emails and sees an email alert from your HR consulting company announcing a new blog post on your company website. Remembering the effective evidence-based leadership coaching that your company was able to provide for Julies manager at her previous employer, she wonders whether you might be able to do the same thing for her. Later that morning Julie gives you a call. She explains the situation to you.