Case Study: If Only I Had Known

A few months ago, Maria Turks, manager of client care at Willowpark Retirement Centre, was asked to review a job description for caregiver as 25 people in this job report directly to her. Maria was busy, so she quickly skimmed the document, which has been written by the HR director, and thought it was fine. However, Maria quickly learned that when the duties and responsibilities listed in the job description do not reflect current job content, disagreements and other problems can arise.

Jane Freemont joined Willowpark 3 months ago, and during her recent probationary performance review, Maria had to convey to Jane that her work as a caregiver was not meeting expectations. Jane was not properly cleaning the rooms she was assigned, was not ensuring that the residents were arriving for meals in a timely manner, and was not checking on her assigned residents at least 4 times per day as required.

Janes response to Maria's feedback was not what she had anticipated. Instead of welcoming the comments and wanting to improve, Jane lashed out and said none of these functions were noted in the job description she had been given on her first day of work. Furthermore, Jane indicated that she had been "told a very different story" regarding what her work would entail and that she felt micro-managed and constantly watched. Jane found this to be demeaning and far beneath her capabilities. Jane also stated that she had left a good job to work at Willowpark and never should have done this as she was "sold a bill of goods." "If only I had known, I would never have accepted this job."

Maria could relate. "If only I had known, I would have been more careful when reviewing and approving the job descriptions."

Questions to Answer:

In your answers, please make reference to the specific content covered in this chapter. Also include any professional or personal examples when able. The length expectation of this assignment is approximately 1 page double spaced. These are reflective questions, so no APA citations are required.

1. Why are the job descriptions for caregivers in this case inaccurate? Going forward, what should be done differently to ensure that these documents are correct?
2. What could be done to enhance the job of caregiver so that it isn't as "demeaning" based upon Jane's feedback?