Ashley Group

OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Human Resource Frame Worksheet
1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

I will be choosing to keep the name of the organization and its members anonymous to protect
privacy. I work as an administrative assistant for “organization.” There are five other
administrative assistants I also work with daily, one of them being my supervisor. Some
essentials of the job are managing clientele enrollments, maintaining hard files and e files, and
daily communication with supervisors, staff, and clientele. We also handle PTO requests from
staff as well as client and staff cancellations.

There is a new data collection and e filing system being implemented that will be replacing our
current system, which is notoriously a hassle to configure. With this change occurring, new
processes have developed, one of them being someone appointed to scheduling. One of the
administrative assistants was promoted to a scheduling position where she handles much of the
client and staff cancellations, along with PTO requests and client filing/client enrollments. She is
essentially taking on two roles that should be split into two. The situation is ‘Bella” now has too
much responsibility on her plate and cannot keep up with all the work. The work she is doing
should be split between a team of three people, but it is all on one person right now. She has
expressed her distress about her new role to her supervisors, but no further actions have been
taken to support her in this new role.

2) Describe how the human resources of the organization influenced the situation.

The utilization of human resources is bare in this situation. Bella is clearly overworked and
underpaid and has expressed this to her supervisors and to the Human Resources department.
She can identify with feeling like a pawn being moved where needed and sacrificed when
necessary. (Bolman and Deal, pg 121) Along with Bella, other administrative assistants have
advocated for her and her needs, like expanding our team to one or two more people. None of us
want to see her so overwhelmed so we do our best to speak up for her when we can.

As a response to Bella’s situation, our supervisor has decided to train the administrative
assistants on the essential job duties of Bella. I think it is good that they chose not to outsource
employees, but we are not being compensated for the work we are doing. I am happy to be of
assistance to Bella, but now I have much more on my workload. We are all slowly beginning to
experience burnout. Reflecting on the expectancy theory, most of our efforts are not being
compensated or appreciated, so it is difficult to keep motivation. (Bolman and Deal, pg 127)

3) Recommend how you would use the human resources for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

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Given the unfortunate circumstances, there are many ways I would handle this situation. First, I
will identify what type of human resource structure is most relevant to this situation. The theories
of Chris Argyris discuss how employees deal with frustration in the workplace. I believe what
Bella has been experiencing is the second option: “They stay on the job but withdraw
psychologically, becoming indifferent, passive and apathetic.” She has asked so many times for
help, like hiring on one more person to take on the additional responsibilities that she can’t get
to, but no one seems to really truly listen to her needs.

If I were given the power to make a difference in this situation (if I were her supervisor), I would
intently listen to her concerns. Her main one being that the work load is too much. She is doing
the job of two to three people currently. I would closely evaluate the work she does daily and see
how work can be divided into different days or if other administrative assistant can support in
different areas until I have an opportunity to speak with HR about hiring an additional assistant. I
know that things can’t be fixed overnight, but I would show the initiative to help support her in
any area. I would make it a priority to communicate with upper management and HR that we
need additional support desperately.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

Her current supervisor already has a lot on her plate to keep up with. But as a leader, you need to
do your due diligence for your team and show that you care. There is a lack of empathy when
considering the workload of others. I know there is not much power that she has, but she could
advocate for Bella much more than she is. The current human resource frame in structure is not
sustainable at all. It is not employee driven, it is expansion driven. They are more focused on the
expansion of the company than the ones that are contributing valuable work and resources to the
company.

One thing I would not have done is dismiss her concerns so nonchalantly. I can identify that the
company and its management is reflecting Model 1 archetypes: “assume that the problem is
caused by the other person or group” or “since the other person is the cause of the problem, get
that person to change.” Everyone keeps trying to change Bella’s mind about how she is feeling,
invalidating her very visible distress caused by her workload.

I would take an approach reflected by Model 2. First, I would emphasize common goals and
mutual influence. (Bolman and Deal, pg 169) I would express to Bella that I will do the best I
can do to ensure she is supported in her new role. We both want her to be less stressed and be
able to get what she needs to get done without being overwhelmed. When taking action, I would
express to upper management that there needs to be extra support for her job duties and see what
feedback I receive. Then I would communicate openly by meeting with the other assistants and
discussing how we can divide up duties to give Bella extra support until we can hire someone to
help out with her workload. With that change, I would insist on raises as now the other assistants

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will be taking on additional roles not in their normal job duties, as they are now cross trained to
perform the duties of Bella as well.

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Reference

- Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and

Leadership (7th ed.). Jossey-Bass.