The Chris Evans Case

1. Why did this problem occur?

1.1 I have been asked to explain why a problem has occurred with regards to the Chris Evans case. In this particular situation a problem has arisen between three people. Those three people are Chris Evans, Sean Thomas the Director of Finance and Martha the supervisor in Finance. After reading this case I have noted that the problem is that Chris Evans had become withdrawn from his work and had begun spending frequent periods of time looking out the window. His work was becoming careless and he did not report back to Martha when his task was completed. In turn his behaviour was disrupting the work in the office. As this was the problem in hand there are several reasons as to why this problem had occurred in the

Firstly it is noted at the very beginning of this case that Chris had just completed a four year degree and had also partaken in a six month work placement program where he picked up valuable skills and experiences in which these skills were not being fully utilized in his current role given out my Martha. At first Chris began his training in the Finance Department working as a deputy for Sean Thomas who was a very experienced accountant but he lacked management experience and was it not for the experienced supervisor that Sean had in his previous job that handled people problems Sean would have not been able to deal with such situations that can arise in a business. As a result Chris was now working under an inexperienced manager who as I will explain now showed very poor management skills. Such poor management skills included not discussing with Martha that she had to train Chris and show him around the work place, as a result Martha was a bit taken back and wasn’t prepared for Chris’s arrival. This shows a lack of management skill from Sean as he should told Martha in advance that she would have to show Chris around and in turn that would have eased any pressure off Martha as she would have been prepared for Chris’s arrival had she known he was

Such appropriate action would be in the implementation of learning strategies. I believe learning could play a huge role in resolving any problems with Chris and his current situation in work because, as Honey and Mumford (1996) pointed out that ‘learning had happened when people can demonstrate that they know something that they did not know before, and when they can do something they could not do before’. Learning and development can improve individual’s capabilities and provide more efficient work. With respect to the statement above Chris can learn from his current situation in work and in turn deal with a similar situations that may arise further down the line because he would be able to handle that situation better by approaching routine and boring work in a more positive way. If a learning strategy was put in place I believe Martha and Sean would have handled the situation better which in turn would help out Chris and in turn would not leave him feeling dejected. As Martha was the supervisor in the Finance office in which Chris was working in, Martha should have been aware of Chris’s abilities and should have known that the work that she was giving him was not fully utilizing his potential and skills. Also if Martha had of picked up on Chris’s skills then she might not of given him a six inch thick