Staff Management in Human Services: Behavioral Research and Application

A critical component in the provision of human services is the effective supervision of staff performance. In essence, supervisors in human service agencies are responsible for the work performance of the staff they supervise, with subsequent responsibility for the services staff provide to clients. It is the purpose of this text to describe and critically review organizational behavior management research and application as it pertains to the supervision of staff performance in human service settings. Over 120 applied research investigations are discussed that have evaluated methods of improving staff work performance in a variety of human service agencies. The developing technology is discussed, with special emphasis on those supervisory procedures that have been successfully used to resolve noted problems with staff performance as well as on current shortcomings of existing procedures. A portion of the research to be discussed in the following chapters is based on the authors own investigations in the management area and those of their colleagues. In light of the focus of organizational behavior management on developing supervisory strategies for improving staff work performance, and on applied research to demonstrate the effectiveness of the procedures, the information to be discussed in this text should be of particular relevance for two major audiences. One primary audience is supervisors (and aspiring supervisors) in the human services sector. The second audience is current and future researchers in the management field.