Staff development tool box: using a systems approach.

Staff development is one of the most critical components of a successful camp program. It is also one of the most undervalued. More often than not, staff development programs are comprised of a week-long series of workshops on topics such as procedures, team building, and child development that are repeated every year. What we may fail to realize is that each staff member comes to camp with different skills and experiences that are suited to particular jobs. The ways staff members, both new and returning, interact and blend with each other also has an impact on your camp program.

A.J. Romiszowski's book, Designing Instructional Systems, promotes on open-minded approach to solving staff performance problems. No hard and fast procedure is suggested. Rather, the author presents a range of techniques, which acts as a tool box, to tackle a wide variety of staff development problems.

One tool in the book, a model for analyzing performance problems, can be very useful for camp directors and administrators. This model can be applied whenever staff problems emerge. The first step in analyzing staff members' poor performance is to determine if the root of the problem lies in staff members or in their environment.

Problems with staff who have never performed well

The first quadrant of Romiszowski's schemata focuses on problems with staff who have never performed well. Take Anthony, a first-year cook in the kitchen. He is too slow preparing meals and the other cooks must take up the slack. The director must decide if Anthony has the necessary skills to perform the job.

If Anthony does not have the skills, possible alternatives include redesigning the job to eliminate the difficulty or transferring Anthony to a different job. For example, Anthony could begin his food preparations an hour earlier or become an assistant to the other cooks. Or perhaps his skills are better utilized on the maintenance crew.

If Anthony does have skills and experience to work in a food service program, training may be the solution. It could be as simple as offering opportunities to practice on the job. Anthony could be given a few simple foods to prepare; as his experience increases, his responsibilities would also increase. An experienced cook could serve as Anthony's mentor.

Problems with staff who have performed well in the past

The other half of the upper sector in Romiszowski's model deals with staff members who have performed well in the past. This quadrant applies to a situation involving Cathy, a returning three-year counselor. Cathy did not follow proper procedures when one of her campers was badly injured. Cathy rarely has to deal with emergency situations and has had few opportunities to practice procedures. It is not uncommon to forget how to perform in this kind of situation, particularly when rapid reactions are required. To avoid this problem, provide job manuals and require all staff to review them for procedures. As reminders, hang posters throughout the camp identifying emergency procedures.

Rebecca is in her second year as counselor-at-large. Some of the counselors have complained that she is never available to assist and that she sits in the staff cabin most of the time. Rebecca has performed well in the past, but her work is now unsatisfactory. Forgetfulness is not causing the problem; Rebecca has performed the tasks often. There may be two explanations for Rebecca's deteriorating performance. She may have lost interest in her job, or she may be unaware of her performance. In either case there are several options to improve Rebecca's performance. If she is bored with her job, job enlargement or job enrichment could be used.

Job enlargement combines several tasks into a single job. For example, Rebecca's job could be enlarged to include conducting staff meetings with the counselors. She could also assist in the camp staff's evaluations.

Job enrichment provides staff members with greater responsibility. Allow them to check and organize their own work, or involve them in decisions about planning and organizing the work of their units. For example, is Rebecca responsible for providing support to the other counselors? If so, then include her in the decision of where to place counselors. Also, allow her to meet with each of the counselors and help them set personal goals. She can then work with the counselors to reach their goals.

If Rebecca is unaware of her poor performance, the solution is to provide information through direct feedback. This can be accomplished in a one-on-one meeting between Rebecca and her supervisor.

The third and fourth quadrants found in the lower sector of Romiszowski's model reflect performance problems resulting from the environment, including work methods, management systems, and job organization.

Consequences of staff performance

The third quadrant examines the consequences of staff members' performance. It may be that there are no obvious consequences. If staff members never know the final results of their work, how can they try to improve? If no one else in the organization seems to be taking an interest in their performance, why should they try to improve it? A camp director has two options in this case: plan feedback of results and increase rewards for good performance.

Camp directors must also ensure that poor performance is not rewarded. This could be true with Matt, a new counselor this year. Generally, you are very pleased with his performance. His campers adore him and he has lots of camp spirit. His cabin wins a clean cabin award every day. However, his cabin is almost too clean. You suspect that Matt is actually cleaning it himself and is not teaching his 6- and 7-year-old campers to clean it themselves. Matt wants to be the best counselor and wants to show everyone that his cabin group is the best. Instead of taking the time to instruct his campers how to properly make a bed or sweep the cabin floor, Matt believes it will be easier and quicker to do it himself. He also ensures that his cabin will win each time. Awards such as "The Most Improved Clean Cabin" and "The Clean Cabin with the Greatest Teamwork" could replace or be added to the "Clean Cabin Award." This would encourage Matt to teach his campers to improve and to use teamwork.

In some instances, desired performance may be unwittingly punished. Staff members know what is expected of them, but the actual performance of the duty is physically uncomfortable or socially threatening. The performer attempts to avoid the punishing or threatening aspects of the job, resulting in poor job performance. For example, Amy is an excellent counselor. She is very attuned to the needs and interests of her campers and she is very conscientious. However, Amy is also very shy. She finds that getting up in front of over a hundred people to lead a camp song or a skit during campfire is a terribly frightening experience. When it comes time to volunteer her cabin group, Amy refuses, despite the pleas of the young campers in her group.

There are two options for Amy:

* Eliminate the punishing consequences.

Amy can coach and prepare her cabin group to perform at campfire and not be on stage with them.

* Increase punishment for nonperformance.

Create a threat of equal punishment for nonperformance, not by inventing disciplinary threats, but by an organizational change that makes Amy responsible for a certain amount of leadership at campfire. If her cabin group does not perform one night, she will be required to lead two songs or skits the next.

The last sector of Romiszowski's model concerns the internal organization of the job. Problems that emerge in this quadrant often appear to be solvable with a training session. However, problems are more often found in the physical and practical aspects of the job or in the methods used.

Rick, the environmental science leader, has skills and experience in aquatic studies, yet he only takes campers on nature hikes each day. The campers seem bored with his class. Rick could dramatically improve his performance if he were given more access to microscopes and the pond area, which is used primarily for canoe classes. A schedule allowing both the canoe instructor and Rick to have ample access to the pond needs to be created. With the right equipment and work environment, Rick will be able to provide fun and educational classes for his campers.

Romiszowski's model emphasizes the flexibility and the overlap that exists in the process of selecting a solution. No sequential steps of analysis are required. Rather, Romiszowski encourages systematic consideration of all the aspects of the problem in relation to all the others. The final ring around this model indicates solutions available in a typical camp program. Any combination of the six types of intervention is a viable solution to a given problem.

Training is not always the answer to staff performance problems. It has a positive impact only when other conditions are met. Taking time to properly analyze problems is an important step in developing a worthwhile staff development plan.

Maureen Hosty is a 4-H extension agent in Portland, Ore. A former Peace Corps volunteer, she worked in youth development in Micronesia.