Effective Staffing and Performance Management in Human Services

This essay addresses critical aspects of staffing within a human services agency, specifically from the perspective of a probation officer supervisor. It outlines key considerations during the hiring process, including prioritizing candidates familiar with required tasks, assessing resourcefulness to ensure proactive contributions to decision-making, and evaluating communication skills crucial for effective teamwork and idea articulation. The essay further explores strategies for holding employees accountable through well-defined responsibilities and clear understanding of rules and regulations. Finally, it provides guidance on addressing negative quarterly evaluations with supervisees, emphasizing the importance of constructive communication, encouragement, and collaborative problem-solving, while maintaining ethical and multicultural sensitivity. The essay references professional literature to support its arguments and recommendations.

Running head: HUMAN SERVICES 1
Human services
Name
Institution

HUMAN SERVICES 2
Human services
When hiring officers in my agency, as a probation officer supervisor, there are various
things that I will consider to ensure I get the right staff. According to Nicole (2016), a person
who is responsible for hiring should ensure he/she is aware of the skills and experiences which
he/she wants the applicants to portrays, and in this case, I will first consider people who are
familiar with the tasks undertaken in their respective positions. The reason why considering this
factor is crucial is that it enables an organization to minimize time and money which would be
used to train employees who do not have experience
Another thing that I will consider is whether the candidate is resourceful. A candidate is
termed resourceful if he or she can help managers with ideas during the decision-making process
to ensure that they plan well for the success of the business (Bob, 2011). In this case, I will
ensure the persons I hire are productive to the company by considering those who know what the
organization wants to attain in short and long run and some of the measures which can be used to
attain those goals. Although knowing a person who can be productive is difficult during hiring,
Lesley & Gail (2015) affirms that using various techniques such as conducting proper interviews
can assist recruiting officers to understand this factor even if they have never worked with the
interviewee before.
The other thing that I would check when hiring for this agency is communication skills.
According to Lesley & Gail (2015), communication skills are fundamental in organizations
because they help employees to communicate their ideas and also to work in groups. One of the
strategies that I will use to check if they have good communication skills is their fluency when
answering questions, ability to arrange ideas in the right manner and being able to portray critical
thinking when communicating.

HUMAN SERVICES 3
One of the strategies that I will use to hold employees accountable is having well-defined
responsibilities for every employee. According to Mark & Chad, (2013), one of the factors which
make it difficult for employees to be held accountable is failing to have well-defined
responsibilities because it becomes challenging to know who has not accomplished what. Having
rules and regulations and making employees to understand the repercussions of breaking them
can also be a good way of holding them accountable. The reason why rules and regulations are
important, in this case, is that it makes employees to know what is right or wrong and what is
likely to be done when they do what is not right.
If a supervisee earns a negative quarterly evaluation, there are various things which I
should consider when talking with him. One of these things is ensuring that I do not use words
which appear to provoke him because of his negative performance. I would also consider trying
to use words which can encourage him to do better, and provide some of the strategies which he
can use to improve. It is also crucial to try to find out what might have caused the negative
performance while trying to ensure I use polite words. Some of the questions and statement that I
may ask include, “please, tell me some of the things that might have led to the problem, are there
some ways or things which the company can do for you to improve? you are capable of making
positive changes in the next evaluation, please, work harder”.

HUMAN SERVICES 4
References
Bob, D. (2011). Contestability in Human Services Markets. Journal of Australian Political
Economy, 20-50
Lesley, D.R & Gail, G.R. (2015). Promoting Wellness in Human Services Training: Infusing a
Wellness Model across the Undergraduate Human Services Curriculum. Journal of
Human Services, 35(1), 90-120
Mark, K & Chad, S. (2013). Challenges Facing Rural Human Services Agencies: A Survey.
Journal of Human Services, 33(1), 50-120
Nicole, K. (2016). Creating an Interdisciplinary Human Services Program. Journal of Human
Services, 36(1), 80-100