| dc.description.abstract | You are a leader in your organization, and you have just left a staff meeting that uncovered that your staff is overwhelmed with paperwork, and some workers are beginning to feel burnout with the job. What do you do? This study addresses this problem in a non-profit organization and aims to identify and recommend steps leaders can take to address these common issues. Using the data collected, I provide findings and recommendations to the partner organization. The environment analyzed in this study is a non-profit organization called Empower Cherokee. Serving 124 individuals who have developmental disabilities, the organization strives to provide job and life skills to individuals learning to integrate into the community. Located in Cherokee County, Georgia, Empower Cherokee uses a Person-Centered Planning Process to support clients in having a voice and choice in what is important to them in their daily lives. Interviews with support staff revealed that there is too much documentation and paperwork and an overall feeling of burnout. To further understand burnout, I reviewed literature on excessive documentation and its effects on employees, as well as empirical theories related to job stress. The problem experienced by the organization and analysis of the literature led to the design of three primary research questions. 1. What is the current structure of timely and accurate completion of documentation practices? 2. What do administration/staff understand about documentation procedures? 3. In what ways does paperwork contribute to burn out? A mixed-methods approach was utilized to explore these questions. Interviews with Empower Cherokee support staff were conducted. After coding the data, this information gave way to important themes and patterns. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) was sent to support staff via email to measure three types of burnout: work-related, client-related, and personal. The interviews and survey data brought about definitive insights from which the following findings emerged: 1. Inconsistent documentation practices 2. Understanding of what to document 3. Understanding why to document 4. Staff do not ask for help 5. Impact of excessive workload 6. Burnout experienced by staff Drawing upon these findings, realistic and attainable recommendations were offered to Empower Cherokee to address the documentation and burnout challenges. My recommendations include the following: 1. Setting and communicating clear expectations 2. Assigning a mentor to support staff as a source of help 3. Assessing workload expectations and reevaluate necessary paperwork/documentation demands 4. Providing rewards and recognition to employees 5. Strengthening employee relationships 6. Focusing on fairness 7. Promoting value Given the many challenges organizations are faced with today, excessive documentation and burnout remain at the top of the list for some professions. Empower Cherokee’s challenges are no exception. Pertinent insight into the perceptions of support staff as well as notable data were discussed in the findings. The recommendations given will provide Empower Cherokee an opportunity to fully support its staff and adjust its practices based on the challenges it faces. Empower Cherokee has a reputation of working together when faced with trials and will continue to thrive and be successful within its community. | en_US |
