The problem with Julie

[brookeamy]

Scenario:
Brooke is the Director of a 60-place long day care centre with a staff of 18. Brooke is an experienced Director who works hard to maintain a good quality service. Brooke is patient, caring and respectful of her staff. Julie is a trained EC teacher and has worked at the centre for eight years. Brooke and Julie have a lot in common and are quite good friends. They often discuss good books they have read or movies they have seen.
Until recently, Julie was a strong team member, well respected by both colleagues and parents. Over the last two months Brooke has noticed Julie’s performance has been slipping. She has become disorganised, her room is becoming cluttered and messy. She has not been keeping up with her assigned responsibilities and has been short tempered with children and team members.
Parents and staff are beginning to complain, so after gathering and documenting her concerns Brooke decides to speak to Julie. The conversation was very difficult for Brooke because she really likes Julie and does not want to add to her obvious stress. When confronted by Brooke’s concerns Julie becomes very defensive and says she has a lot of personal issues going on at the moment.
Brooke acknowledges that striking a balance between home and work is never easy; however Julie must not neglect her obligations as a teacher at the centre. The two work on some strategies for Julie and agree to review progress in three weeks.
At the next review meeting Brooke feels that Julie’s performance had not improved. She starts the meeting by saying ‘I really like you Julie but I must tell you that your work is not of a satisfactory standard’. Julie bursts into tears and runs from the room.

Question:
What options should Brooke now consider in relation to Julie’s continued poor performance?

I'm not quite sure how to answer this, I'm not sure if she should be given another try with the situation by discussing what is going on that is making her perform this way?

[Lorina]

This may help:

Managing Underperforming Educators

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Lorina