Counselling Needs in Organizations - Essay Example

The diagram on the next page illustrates the framework to be followed by me as the counselor. The figure shows the interrelationship between the client and the counselor, within the content and process, influences that impact upon the individual, with the collaboration and intervention of the counselor.

I should work closely with policymakers in the organization, based on the theory by Savickas, Van Esbroeck, and Herr that career guidance is a socio-political instrument for advancing organizational goals while helping the individual to realize a personally satisfying career (Patton & McMahon, 2006:231).  The policymakers set the organizational system, which functions inside the social and environmental/societal systems.  Working in the system side by side with the individual is the counselor, who uses a collaborative and negotiating technique that makes up the pro-active approach.  The counselor finds out the policies and objectives in the organization and helps the individual to adjust to the constantly changing organization.

In approaching the clientele, I as a counselor must utilize the essential building blocks, namely genuineness, unconditional positive regard, emphatic understanding, and flexibility (Rogers, 1951 in Patton & McMahon, 2006:300). By this I create a working partnership between me and the individual, where we relate to each other as collaborators and equals rather than the expert and the subject.  I then gain an understanding of how to match as closely as possible the individual with the job traits, to ensure job success and personal satisfaction, under the Trait and Factor Theory.  As a counselor, I could employ the constructivist approach where the individual is asked to create a narrative to reveal his traits. Through the narrative, I gain an insight into the individual’s personality type that may suggest the work-related activity best suited for him, and therefore the career that is most reflective of his personality, in line with Holland’s Theory.

As time passes, developmental theories become useful in adapting to the change process as people mature.  The individual’s self-concept becomes identified with his working environment and experiences, according to specific age stages and developmental tasks (Super’s Model).  It is also important for me to determine the individual’s social learning, environmental conditions, and events that influence him as well as genetic influences, and from these advise the policymakers in identifying certain behaviors that are modeled rewarded, and reinforced.  The rewards system provides the client with the information he may need on what the company considers desirable behavior; this information is processed and integrated by the individuals, according to which they react (Social-Cognitive Theories). Finally, this information and influences help the individual decide critical points in his career.  The decision points become learning opportunities that an individual can refer to as a guide in the future, in light of the constantly changing environment (Decision-Making Theories).