Effects of Trauma

Part 1

Discuss at least one way a manager should respond to staff achievements, and at least one way to respond to sub-par performance.

A manager should recognize staffs exemplary performance. Recognizing the accomplishments made by an employee is a great motivator and morale booster for the workplace. Depending on the organization, there might be several ways a manager could recognize the employees performance. The best way is by offering personalized prizes to employees. Whenever an employee reaches a set milestone or makes an accomplishment, they should be offered a list of choices for recognition. The list could include tangible and non-tangible items. Tangible items include physical prizes, gift cards, or cash rewards (Worth, 2020). Non-tangible rewards include an extra day off, flexible working hours, or the chance to leave work early for a given period. Employees will appreciate the reward since it is something they genuinely want and desire. Overall, the goal should be to reward the employees performance to motivate and increase the morale of the other employees to improve too (Worth, 2020).

The best way to deal with subpar performance is to speak with the employee as soon as the performance issue comes to the managers attention. The manager should approach the meeting aiming for a solution and not vent or reprimand the employee. Managers should be leaders, and they are charged with motivating employees to improve their performance. Therefore, the meeting should be done privately, and the goal is to find a solution to any problem the employee faces. The issue might be that the employee does not understand the goals set by the manager. The employees goals could have been set without their participation, making them ambiguous (Worth, 2020). The employee struggles to attain the goals the best way possible, but they keep failing. Therefore, the manager should discuss areas where they struggle with the employee and find a way to assist them in achieving the set goals. Clarifying the goals is vital for the organization because they are now understood, and the employee knows what is required of them.

Choose at least one management theory and explain how it connects to the manager responses you identified

Maslows hierarchy of needs is the best theory to explain how a manager responds to employees who achieve their goals and those who fail. An employee has lower-level needs that, if they are not met, they cannot attain higher-level needs (Stewart et al., 2018). Therefore, when an employee achieves their set goals, the manager must offer the employee a reward that is consummate to what the employee wants. The need the employee wants to fulfill determines the reward they will select. For example, an employee who has a young child might struggle to keep the office hours and might appreciate getting out of work early or having flexible working hours. The goal of a reward is to ensure that it meets the employees needs and they get the satisfaction they desire. Maslows hierarchy of needs speaks about how difficult it is to attain higher-level needs if the lower-level ones are not met, and employees who have a higher performance have most likely met their lower-level needs. Employees who feel safe will focus on what matters the most at work.

The reverse is true for subpar performers. Employees whose performance is low could be struggling to meet their low-level needs, impacting their overall performance at work. For example, an employee might be too worried about losing their job since forcing them to only focus on bringing innovation to their work. Their worry might stem from their past performance, where they might have been threatened with job loss. Sticking with the basics means their performance stagnates since there is nothing exemplary in their performance, and they attain what is set for them. A manager should discuss with the employee their worries and figure out how they can assist them in eliminating their worry and challenging them to aim higher. Another subpar performer might be worried about their child in daycare, making it hard for them to focus on attaining greater achievement. The employees mind will be on their childs safety, and they cannot pay much attention to what they are doing. To improve their performance, the employee could be allowed to leave an hour earlier so they can pick up their child, or the organization can allow the employee to bring their child to work.

Part 2

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) seeks to change the lives of children facing adversity for the better. Its mission is Create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. The vision for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is All youth achieve their full potential. The organization serves youths by offering mentorship matches of Littles and Bigs. They serve youths from age 5 to young adults across the 50 states. In the past decade, the organization has served nearly 2 million Littles. The population is mostly Littles facing adversity, and the organization aims to stem juvenile delinquency.

The organization uses a functional structure, and it is a decentralized organization. A functional structure organizes employees based on their specific skills. The organization has three functional areas: governance, administration, and programs. Due to the organization having numerous agencies all across America, it has allowed the agencies to operate autonomously. The board of directors oversees the organizations operations by ensuring that the executive team follows the organizations policies. The board members have different roles they play based on their expertise. However, the major one is to promote the organization to the public. The board makes final decisions on the organizations direction and oversees all the other agencies. The administration arm includes all the people assisting in running the organizations programs. The CEO oversees all the organizations administration aspects and provides guidance for the organizations programs. The CE is responsible for overseeing the activities of all the agencies and ensuring they follow the guidelines of the organization. Finally, we have the programs run by the organization. All the professionals who directly work with the organization to achieve its mission form the programs. Human resources, marketing, fundraising, volunteers, and other staff working directly with the Littles and Bigs fall under programs.

The organization has numerous partners from different backgrounds who support it in one way or another. Some of the partners are African Methodist Episcopal Church, Caron Treatment Centers, Communities in Schools, and Tragedy Assistance Program. Most of the funding received comes from government partners comprising the US Department of Justice and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. There are corporate and community donors who come to support the organization through donations. The organization also requests assistance from individual donors through its website. The organization relies heavily on state and federal government grants, philanthropic trusts and foundations, corporate partnerships and donations, and general fundraising activities.

The top competitor for funding against BBBSA is Mentor. Mentor received funding of $1.5 million compared to BBBSAs $1 million. The two organizations offer mentorship services to young people across America. BBBSA might be the largest and oldest youth mentoring organization in the United States, but it has faced stiff competition from organizations that have come after it, like Mentor. Mentor was founded in 1990, and it has managed...

…development, as we have seen in Amarikas case, where she regressed from eating solid food and was only taking milk. Amarika suffered some development disruptions where she found herself unable to eat solid food and acted like an infant (NCTSN Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma Task Force, 2012). Her refusal to take solid food is an inability to take part in developmentally appropriate activities due to the trauma she suffered. Her refusal to take solid food was post-trauma adversity, and it was not by choice. She might have regressed to a point where her mind does not recognize solid food and only recognizes milk.

Is Amarika or any member of the family showing signs of the DSM 5 diagnosis of PTSD? Which diagnostic criteria are they demonstrating? Support it with two case examples.

Amarika is demonstrating symptoms of PTSD as described in the DSM 5 diagnosis of PTSD. The diagnostic criteria demonstrated by Amarika are criterion A where she directly experienced the event; criterion B, recurring and upsetting dreams about the event (Vasileva et al., 2018); criterion C, increased lack of interest in activities that she used to enjoy; and criterion D, problems with sleeping, increased irritable behavior or angry outbursts. Criterion A where she directly experienced the event, is supported by her being with her mother when she was shot in the park. Amarika experienced her mother being shot, and she fell to the ground backward. This experience is demonstrated further during play when Amarika pushes the dolls to fall backward, signifying what happened to her mother.

Criterion B recurring and upsetting dreams about the event could be why she has trouble sleeping at night and can sleep comfortably at night. Amarika might be having nightmares about the event. While she does not state she has nightmares, we can positively assume she does because her sleeping problems began after her mothers shooting. Also, she only struggles with sleep at night, meaning she attaches darkness to what happened to her mother.

Criterion C increased lack of interest in activities she used to enjoy is demonstrated by her lack of interest in eating solid food, and she was a good eater, her disinterest in playing with her aunt whom they used to play with often, and her lack of interest in watching Animal Planet her favorite show. The disinterest in activities she likes started after the traumatic event. Even when she is left with her aunt, she does not stop crying though Amarika used to enjoy playing with her. Her failure to calm down when her grandmother leaves and her favorite show is put on indicates she has lost interest in something she previously enjoyed.

Criterion D problems with sleeping and increased irritable behavior or angry outbursts have been demonstrated by Amarika ever since she experienced the trauma. Amarika no longer sleeps through the night, and she wakes up screaming. The grandmother indicates she does not sleep ever since her mother got shot. Before the traumatic event, she used to sleep soundly at night, but now she wakes up more than once screaming. The only time she sleeps peacefully is during the day. Amarika is demonstrating irritable behavior by crying whenever her grandmother leaves. Before the shooting, Amarika never had such irritable behaviors, and she was always a good girl. However, now she seems angry when her grandmother leaves, and she does not want her to leave. Attempts to calm her down do not work. Crying could be due to fear of losing her, too, because they have grown close since Amarika is left with her when her mother goes to school. Latanya might be helping to care for her, but she…