hree years, tripling its budget and hiring two additional staff caseworkers to replace some of the work previously done by trained volunteers. One of these, Anne D., has more than 10 years' experience in the field. Only 18 months of this is recent, however, as she took 12 years off to begin a family. Anne is 38, married, and the mother of two boys.
The director of the organization, Linda R., previously supervised all the client work herself, including that of the volunteers. She hired Helen to assist her with the increased professional staff. She hoped that this would also free her to spend more time strengthening the board and seeking new funding for the organization's programs.
Helen is a recent M.S.W. graduate. Her previous work experience was primarily clerical and in retail sales; she also has considerable volunteer and intern experience with human service organizations, primarily with a shelter for battered women. Helen is 29 and single.
Richard L. Edwards and David M. Austin observe, "Managerial performance in any type of organization occurs in a context of organizational change" (1991, p.7). Helen was learning to become a supervisor in the midst of quite significant change within her agency. The organization's swift expansion had put a severe strain on staff and resources. Office space was overextended, and volunteers were feeling ignored and unappreciated. Helen's hiring was initially seen by the staff as a welcome relief from the increased workload, though most were uncertain how this addition would affect day-to-day operations. Most of the staff had even less specific ideas than Helen about what her duties and responsibilities would include.
Anne in particular was concerned about having a new supervisor, although she did not express her concerns to Linda. As Robert W. Weinbach observes, this was not an unexpected reaction:
Many sources of resistance to change have one thing in common: they re...