Case Study: Daniel Kita

Daniel Kita is an Extension Agent assigned to 4-H Youth Development (50 percent) and Agriculture and Natural Resources (50 percent). He has five years of experience in the position and previous volunteer management experience when he was employed with the City Parks and Recreation Department. Previous performance appraisals have shown that Daniel meets expectations in managing his workload and serving both youth and adult audiences. Some examples of his performance this past year include:

Every Monday morning, he considers questions from clients he received the previous week and incorporates these into his biweekly radio program and/or weekly blog posts. He is adept at using social media to share research-based information and promote upcoming Extension events. His marketing is very intentional, and he consistently uses the Extension logo in marketing.

After two months of unusually high rainfall, Daniel provided an educational program regarding invasive insects that could thrive in the moist conditions

. Daniel did not address required questions on the County Civil Rights Compliance Report until six weeks after the deadline. The County Director, Secretary, and another Extension Agent in the office have all tried to set up schedules for completing reports with him, and they have offered numerous suggestions. However, Daniel gives their requests the cold shoulder.

The overall county Extension program is strong. However, Daniels co-workers do much more than their fair share to accommodate his poor workload management and interoffice communication skills. At times, the Secretary does not know Daniels location or work schedule.

Daniel has a current professional development plan that includes his desire to increase his knowledge of residential horticulture, and this year he completed three in-services in residential horticulture topics. He attends in-service and professional meetings that are consistent with his job assignments; he is a member of the Tennessee Association of Agricultural Agents and Specialists; and he serves on the organisations Teaching and Educational Technologies Committee.

Daniel led a multicounty group of colleagues in conducting a field day in sensor technology. He is consulted by numerous colleagues outside his county, producers and volunteers for his knowledge of using sensors to measure soil features like organic matter content. He made three proposals for funding this field day, and one was funded. Volunteer Management On an annual basis, Daniel works with approximately 50 4-H volunteers in various roles. The majority of these volunteers are episodic, volunteering occasionally during the year. These volunteers work directly with 4-H youth in officer training, day camps, livestock shows, project group meetings and community service projects. University policy requires checks of the National Sex Offender and Tennessee Abuse Registry annually for all Level 2 Volunteers. These are volunteers who work directly with minors with no overnight involvement and no frequent contact for longer than two 2 weeks with minors. Daniel repeatedly told his County Director that he finds the policy too confining and that he never had to do this in his previous job managing volunteers. Daniel recruited 10 volunteers to assist with teaching various 4- H project groups and Junior Master Gardener activities, but he did not perform required checks of the National Sex Offender and Tennessee Abuse Registry, despite various communications and face-to-face meetings with the County Director regarding the required checks for Level 2 Volunteers. Looking for Ways to Improve In early July, the County Director called the Regional Director to review Daniels performance and in her words look for ways to improve Daniels performance. The County Director and Regional Director carefully considered the source of low performance over the previous six months including the potential for insufficient job training; inadequate communication within the organisation; the employees inability to perform the job; the employee refusing to perform the job; the employees excessive workload; and the employees boredom with the job. They determined that the most likely causes of Daniels poor performance were related to Daniels boredom with the job and his refusal to perform the job. The Regional Director and the County Director met with Daniel. They explained the critical importance of checking the National Sex Offender and Tennessee Abuse Registry annually for all Level 2 Volunteers and how this policy is essential for keeping minors safe from abuse. The County Director suggested that Daniel delegate these checks to a secretary in the office who performs them in a timely and accurate manner. Daniel reiterated his statements that he finds the policy too confining and that he never had to do this in his previous job managing volunteers. The County Director and Regional Director reviewed the following performance issues with Daniel:

During the first six months of the year, Daniel did not report any direct or indirect contacts.

Daniel frequently misses office conferences. He shows positive customer service, but does not respond to requests within the Extension organisation in a timely manner (and in some cases he does not respond at all).

The County Director expressed the positive aspects of Daniels programming, especially sensor technology and invasive species.

The County Director and Regional Director made suggestions about how Daniel could improve time management and interoffice communication skills.

The County Director and Regional Director took appropriate disciplinary action. They also took the time to discuss the Universitys Employee Assistance Program. Daniel immediately started attending office conferences on a regular basis. In discussing the County 4-H Youth Enrolment Report, Daniel told the County Director and his co-workers he would make additions to volunteerism, projects, activities and group enrolment. His co-workers volunteered to help, but he said he would make sure the report was completed and would submit it on time. The report was not submitted on time. Focusing on the Team During the last two months of the year, Daniel made significant improvement in engaging with his co-workers. He offered assistance with various programs. In one-on-one meetings with the Secretary and other Agents, the County Director learned how much they noticed and appreciated Daniels improvement. In one-on-one meetings with Daniel, 3 the County Director praised Daniel for focusing more on the team over the last two months and continued to encourage Daniel to follow through with volunteer background checks, monthly activity reports and outcomes. End of the Year By the end of the year, Daniel had completed no reporting of outcomes. His activity reports for contacts showed very few direct and indirect contacts (see Figure 1). Regarding checks of the National Sex Offender and Tennessee Abuse Registry annually for all Level 2 Volunteers, Daniel followed the policy for only 25 of 55 volunteers (45 percent), despite various communications and face-to-face meetings with the County and Regional Directors.

Figure 1. Daniel Kitas Direct and Indirect Contacts Available at: https://www.studypool.com/documents/4405287/daniel-kita-case-study

Question 1 (10 Marks)

Daniel possesses many positive strengths. With reference to the case study above, identify and discuss Daniels key performance criteria.