Vocational Counseling Essay

Vocational Counseling

Counseling can be described as the act of helping someone to explore their emotional as well as psychological states of mind by dedicating time to talk about their difficulties. Counseling helps the individual to change their perspective about the situation through analysis which assists the individual focus on their feelings and emotions with the aim of resulting in positive change. Also, counselling may be described as the mutual confidentiality between two willing parties that arise in trust which is not judgmental nor advising the affected party (Reid, 2015).

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Generally, counselling can be viewed as taking into account the situation of the affected party and internalizing it into their point of view. The counselor may not give advice but may describe their emotional state when they were faced with a similar crisis and how well they reacted to it. This builds confidence in their relationship, hence the counselor becomes emotionally involved in the situation, consequently analyzing the condition according to their own skilled or unskilled value system.

Career counseling preferably vocational counseling has been selected as the counselling specialty due to its diverse applications in the professional world. Career counseling assists individuals in the corporate industry as well as the workplace to handle tough decisions in their respective fields. Career counseling is also known to help individuals and professionals to focus on what matters especially those who often contemplate on career change. The counselor will majorly support the individuals in gaining a better understanding hence they can plan for their careers independently as well as working out conflicts with employees (Reid, 2015).

In every workplace environment, a career counselor is essential to help the workforce find suitable placement for jobs and to focus on their career goals hence separating the attachment between their personal life and their career attachments. These strategies improve the worker's efficiency as well as increasing the country's employability at large. The paper serves to magnify the use of vocational counseling and its use in the field.Identification of the Client and the Problem.

In many restaurants as well as large corporations and companies, many employers are tackled with the challenge of managing difficult employees. In many cases, during a period of high customer influx into the business during the peak season for example during lunch hour for the restaurant. Customers tend to complain about the slow service in the restaurant that could be accrued to the employees. This is experienced in various fields which may require the need for a vocational counselor for both the employer and the employee.

The imbalance brought by the miscommunication resulting from complaining customers may cause the employer or supervisor to lash out on the employees. Since the employees are under pressure, they may also lash back causing them to strike. This disruption in the workplace due to poor communication and the pointing of fingers is the suggested problem. This problem leads to the deterioration of the quality of services as well as the product provided by the particular company hence the loss of customers leading to immense monetary degradation (Shonk, 2018).

Not only do the managers, employers and the supervisors contribute to the problem, but also the presence of few employees that may be difficult to handle could be a problem since they may sabotage the rest of the workforce against the compliance of simple workplace rules. This issue should at least be taken into consideration through counseling where the blame game may start and end. The counselor should be able to assist both the managers and employees to focus on themselves rather than the other person.

The Human Development Theory

The human development theory that is closely related to this scenario and the problem is the fundamental attribution error developed by the American social psychology professor at Stanford University, Lee Ross. The works of Ross were actively progressed by a team of brilliant psychologists Edward Jones and Victor Harris. The hypothesis that was brought about by Ross stated that the average person especially the majority would emphasize the internal characteristics of the person regarding behavior as compared to the external traits or the environment. For example, in the above situation, it may be noted that the managers will attribute the lateness of the food delivery as well as poor customer service to the rebellious nature of the workforce rather than the working environment they provide (Hooper, Erdogan, Keen, Lawton, & McHugh, 2015).

The fundamental attribution theory forms the basis of social psychology, and the phenomenon affects every person's life. In this case, the client in the counseling session will be both the employer and the employee since the employee may also judge the working environment, as well as the scolding from the seniors, is due to their sadistic and bossy nature as higher members of staff. They may also gauge the situation as being oppressive without thinking that the employer may be under pressure from the customers or maybe the government that requires the business to deliver quality services (Moran, Jolly & Mitchell, 2014).

The Counselling Theory that Relates to the Problem

As a counselor, understanding the fundamental attribution error will adopt the cognitive theory of counseling. In this theory, the therapist will focus on how the peoples' thinking and behavior may influence the actions of others. In a session with the employees as the client, the counselor may focus on making them understand that their managers are also under pressure from the customers on service delivery. This theory is brief and may allow the employee to view the situation from the perspective of the manager. The cognitive theory will also help the employee to acquire a problem-solving approach to the condition rather than scolding and complaining attitude.

Once the counselor is done with the employees as the client, the managers will become the clients. The employers will be assisted through cognitive theory to make the working environment for their employees more favorable. Apart from this, the managers may also take their time to invest in motivating the workforce on doing their various duties through issuing of commissions and pay rises. They may also increase the workforce during the peak season on a temporary basis hence easing the pressure on the permanent workforce. Also, the counsellor may be deemed to help the managers understand the issues brought about by the junior staff during the sessions in a generalized manner without pointing fingers. The managers will comprehend the predicament the workers are faced with during the peak season.

The Counseling Techniques Used to Approach the Problem

The techniques that could be used during the counseling of both the staff and their employers will start by listening skills. The counselor should employ the skills of uninterrupted listening accompanied by non-judgmental comments during the listening. This will assist in knowing and understanding the client's experiences during their time in the workplace. Apart from the active listening, the counselor will have to adopt congruence technique whereby he or she will become more genuine with the feedback given. The more genuine the counsellor becomes means that the clients will be more trustworthy and credible with their words and experiences. With congruence, the client will be able to benefit from the assistance that will be provided by the counselor due to the sincerity and confidence of the conversation (Bright & Pryor, 2015).

The other essential techniques include encouraging and the hierarchy of needs. Through the encouraging skill, an environment of confidence and respect is cultivated during the conversation. With the mood of encouragement, the clients may feel compelled to reveal their strengths and weaknesses where the counsellor may use this to his or her advantage to foster progress and at times reschedule the members according to talent. Apart from this, the hierarchy of needs may assist the counselor to assess the particular individual's level of requirements that may influence their behavior in the workplace (Bright & Pryor, 2015).

Counselling Approach

The approaches to be adopted will first include the fact-finding approach whereby the manager should be advised to resist the need of pointing fingers but they should be quick in finding the cause of the truth for the greater good in the workplace. The managers could ask the employees in case of a mistake to give their account of the situation and how it went on. This will allow the management and staff to work together to fix the problem rather than playing the blame game. This approach will result in a harmonious working environment whereby the administration will not be compelled to jump to conclusions and judgment that may result in demotivation (McMahon, 2016).

The next approach will be the brainstorming of both parties in finding solutions to the problems and make the necessary adjustments. The involvement of the employees in this exercise will make them more confident with their job, hence they may propose various ways of making the workplace more safe and favorable for optimum service delivery. The management could also employ a technique that encourages a learning environment for the employees rather than an environment of scorn and criticism. By this technique, the employees will be able to make mistakes without fear but within the range of getting to know what is right and acceptable. This will also give room for the employees to be creative and explore their interests within the workplace which may lead to imaginative means of doing jobs hence innovation (McMahon, 2016).

Conclusion

From the above scenario, it is evident that the counseling procedure will assist the company to become one unit from the administration all the way to the employees. Apart from this, the managers will gain knowledge and mutual understanding from their employees which will assist them to acquire innovative ways on how to improve service delivery. Counseling is an essential tool which should be integrated into the system to assist individuals to maximize their potential with minimal conflict hence creating a harmonious workplace environment.

References

Bright, J., & Pryor, R. G. (2015). The exploring influences on career development technique. Ideas for Career Practitioners: Celebrating Excellence in Career Practice, 39.

McMahon, M. (Ed.). (2016). Career counselling: Constructivist approaches. Routledge.

Hooper, N., Erdogan, A., Keen, G., Lawton, K., & McHugh, L. (2015). Perspective taking reduces the fundamental attribution error. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 4(2), 69-72.

Moran, J. M., Jolly, E., & Mitchell, J. P. (2014). Spontaneous mentalizing predicts the fundamental attribution error. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 26(3), 569-576.

Reid, H. (2015). Introduction to Career Counselling & Coaching. Sage.

Shonk, (2018). Managing Difficult Employees-and Those Who Just Seem Difficult. Retrieved from https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/dealing-with-difficult-people-daily/managing-difficult-employees-just-seem-difficult/