Case Study: Daniel Kita weeks with minors. Daniel repeatedly told his County Director that he finds the policy "too confining" and that he "never Daniel Kita is an Extension Agent assigned to 4-H Youth Development (50 percent) and Agriculture and Natural had to do this in his previous job managing volunteers." Daniel recruited 10 volunteers to assist with teaching various 4- Resources (50 percent). He has five years of experience in the position and previous volunteer management experience H project groups and Junior Master Gardener activities, but he did not perform required checks of the National Sex when he was employed with the City Parks and Recreation Department. Previous performance appraisals have shown Offender and Tennessee Abuse Registry, despite various communications and face-to-face meetings with the County that Daniel meets expectations in managing his workload and serving both youth and adult audiences. Some examples Director regarding the required checks for Level 2 Volunteers. of his performance this past year include: Looking for Ways to Improve . Every Monday morning, he considers questions from clients he received the previous week and incorporates these In early July, the County Director called the Regional Director to review Daniel's performance and in her words "look for into his biweekly radio program and/or weekly blog posts. He is adept at using social media to share research-based ways to improve Daniel's performance." The County Director and Regional Director carefully considered the source of information and promote upcoming Extension events. His marketing is very intentional, and he consistently uses the low performance over the previous six months including the potential for insufficient job training; inadequate Extension logo in marketing communication within the organisation; the employee's inability to perform the job; the employee refusing to perform the job; the employee's excessive workload; and the employee's boredom with the job. They determined that the most likely . After two months of unusually high rainfall, Daniel provided an educational program regarding invasive insects that causes of Daniel's poor performance were related to Daniel's boredom with the job and his refusal to perform the job. could thrive in the moist conditions. The Regional Director and the County Director met with Daniel. They explained the critical importance of checking the Daniel did not address required questions on the County Civil Rights Compliance Report until six weeks after the National Sex Offender and Tennessee Abuse Registry annually for all Level 2 Volunteers and how this policy is deadline. The County Director, Secretary, and another Extension Agent in the office have all tried to set up schedules essential for keeping minors safe from abuse. The County Director suggested that Daniel delegate these checks to a for completing reports with him, and they have offered numerous suggestions. However, Daniel gives their requests the secretary in the office who performs them in a timely and accurate manner. Daniel reiterated his statements that he cold shoulder. finds the policy "too confining" and that he "never had to do this in his previous job managing volunteers." The County Director and Regional Director reviewed the following performance issues with Daniel: The overall county Extension program is strong. However, Daniel's co-workers do much more than their fair share to . During the first six months of the year, Daniel did not report any direct or indirect contacts. accommodate his poor workload management and interoffice communication skills. At times, the Secretary does not . Daniel frequently misses office conferences. He shows positive customer service, but does not respond to know Daniel's location or work schedule requests within the Extension organisation in a timely manner (and in some cases he does not respond at all). Daniel has a current professional development plan that includes his desire to increase his knowledge of residential . The County Director expressed the positive aspects of Daniel's programming, especially horticulture, and this year he completed three in-services in residential horticulture topics. He attends in-service and sensor technology and invasive species professional meetings that are consistent with his job assignments; he is a member of the Tennessee Association of . The County Director and Regional Director made suggestions about how Daniel could improve time management and Agricultural Agents and Specialists; and he serves on the organisation's Teaching and Educational Technologies interoffice communication skills Committee. . The County Director and Regional Director took appropriate disciplinary action. They also took the time to discuss the . Daniel led a multicounty group of colleagues in conducting a field day in sensor technology. He is consulted by University's Employee Assistance Program. numerous colleagues outside his county, producers and volunteers for his knowledge of using sensors to measure soil Daniel immediately started attending office conferences on a regular basis. In discussing the County 4-H Youth features like organic matter content. He made three proposals for funding this field day, and one was funded. Enrolment Report, Daniel told the County Director and his co-workers he would make additions to volunteerism, projects, activities and group enrolment. His co-workers volunteered to help, but he said he would make sure the report Volunteer Management was completed and would submit it on time. The report was not submitted on time. On an annual basis, Daniel works with approximately 50 4-H volunteers in various roles. The majority of these volunteers are episodic, volunteering occasionally during the year. These volunteers work directly with 4-H youth in Focusing on the Team officer training, day camps, livestock shows, project group meetings and community service projects. University policy During the last two months of the year, Daniel made significant improvement in engaging with his co-workers. He requires checks of the National Sex Offender and Tennessee Abuse Registry annually for all Level 2 Volunteers. These offered assistance with various programs. In one-on-one meetings with the Secretary and other Agents, the County are volunteers who work directly with minors with no overnight involvement and no frequent contact for longer than two Director learned how much they noticed and appreciated Daniel's improvement. In one-on-one meetings with Daniel,the County Director praised Daniel for focusing more on the team over the last two months and continued to encourage Daniel to follow through with volunteer background checks, monthly activity reports and outcomes. End of the Year By the end of the year, Daniel had completed no reporting of outcomes. His activity reports for contacts showed very few direct and indirect contacts (see Figure 1). Regarding checks of the National Sex Offender and Tennessee Abuse Registry annually for all Level 2 Volunteers, Daniel followed the policy for only 25 of 55 volunteers (45 percent), despite various communications and face-to-face meetings with the County and Regional Directors. Annual Summary of Direct Education Outputs Direct Mail / Telephone Calls Client Visits to On-Site Visits (Farm, Group Meetings / (this will include electronic mail) Extension Office Home, and Workplace) Demonstrations Single Session 15 15 Multisession 1 Total 15 16 Annual Summary of Indirect Education Outputs Radio Socia Exhibit(S) Newspaper Program(s) Program(S) Article(S) Publication(s) Other Media Number of Methods 10 Number of Contacts Reached 5,000 Annual Summary of Direct Education Contacts White/Not of Black/Not of American Asian or Pacific Total Hispanic origin Hispanic origin Hispanic Indian/Alaskan Native Islander Female Adult 100 112 Female Youth 50 12 5 73 Male Adult 150 5 182 Male Youth 45 60 Total 345 12 5 427 Figure 1. Daniel Kita's Direct and Indirect Contacts Available at: https://www.studypool.com/documents/4405287/daniel-kita-case-study Question 1 (10 Marks) Daniel possesses many positive strengths. With reference to the case study above, identify and discuss Daniel's key performance criteria. Question 2 (20 Marks) With reference to literature, discuss ways in which the Country Director and Regional Director can solve the relevant performance issues? END OF PAPER