Improving a Supervisor’s
Knowledge of Work and Responsibilities
Yesterday, my wife shared with me a
conversation she had had with a lady at church. It seems there had been further
cuts in the supervisory/management ranks of the person’s organization. The
lady’s comment was, “Well, it’s good they are making those cuts because we
peons really do all the work.”
Isn’t it interesting that supervisors and
managers are not usually thought of as skilled workers?
To do their job, they need certain skills.
But skills are not enough.
They must have specific knowledge. For example . . .
- They need to know the ins
and outs of what goes on in their department and what is needed to turn out the
necessary production.
- They need to know what the men
and/or women on their team must be able to do to successfully meet their goals.
- They need to know what is
expected of them as their manager’s representative.
-
They need to know their responsibilities.
I believe there’s a huge training field here that is often ignored by assuming “the
supervisors know, otherwise they wouldn’t be supervisors.”
It
is your job as a coach, HR director, or trainer to provide a way for supervisors
and managers to acquire what they need to know.
I remember being hired in the role of
operations manager for a manufacturing company.
- One main challenge was that
I didn’t know enough about equipment manufacturing to do the job as effectively
as it needed to be done.
- The bigger challenge was
that the role changed after I was hired.
I took the time to create a profile of the “new”
position using the CRG Job Style Indicator and compared the
results to the scores of my own CRG Personal Style Indicator. The
results were exactly what I expected them to be. I was not suited for that position—both
when I started and after the job responsibilities changed.
I took the scores to the owner of the company
and showed him what was happening and why we were both getting frustrated. In
fact, I told him that if I were hiring for this position, I would bypass me as a
candidate because there was such discrepancy between the JSI and the PSI
scores.
Unfortunately,
he insisted we could make it work.
Famous last words. Well, it lasted another 6 months. Then I hired
my replacement for that position and took on a role within the organization for
which I was better suited.
What
abilities do supervisors/managers need?
1. The
ability to convey information
Do your supervisors need to communicate
information to a group of people? Do they ever try to get a department to
accept some change? If your supervisors can’t “put across” the ideas you are
wanting to implement, your program may fail.
Although skilled communicators are rare, people
can learn simple techniques that can be of value in any company. Why not
consider enrolling your supervisor in a Toastmasters group?
2. The
ability to improve methods of work
Training or retraining people to do their
work in a more effective, efficient way may be new to some organizations. Managers/supervisors
need to know how to continually improve their areas of responsibility. In an organization
or department, you must continually improve or face stagnation or possibly a backward
slide.
How about enrolling your managers in a Lean
Manufacturing course or a course on Organizational Behavior offered at a local
college? Or sending them to your industry’s tradeshows so they can interact
with others in the same field and bring home fresh ideas?
The
ROI for those training dollars will be returned multiple times to your company.
As a side note, please make sure the right people are getting the right training. That will
ensure they use it. The result will be a positive investment in their time management,
use of the equipment and materials, and their overall efforts.
3. The
ability to work with individuals and groups
Consistently applying the fundamentals of
good interpersonal relations will prevent many problems. CRG has numerous proven
learning and communication tools that can help people understand themselves and
others much better. Why not attend the next CRG Assessment System Certification
program? Check here for upcoming dates.
So let’s get back to the comment about who
really does the work in an organization. You are correct that the people on the
work floor are the ones who carry out much of the physical work required to help
an organization reach its goals. To be most effective and efficient, however, the
people doing that work require the expertise of a manager or supervisor who . .
.
- has the right knowledge
about how the work can best be done, and
- can organize the team in a way that will capitalize
on everyone’s strengths.
To find out more
about the full holistic suite of CRG solutions,
please visit us online at http://crgleader.com/assessments-and-solutions.
Yours truly,
Neal Diamond
| Who: | Ken Keis Presents | | What: |
CRG Assessment Systems Certification Workshop | | Where: | Vancouver, British Columbia | | When: | October 21,22,23, 2010 | | Register: | Register Now |
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Building Relationships with Style | | Where: | Canmore, Alberta - Private Event | | When: | October 17, 18, 2010 |
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Building Your Business with Style using ESSI
| | Where: |
Masters in Leadership Class
Trinity Western University - Langley, BC
Private Event | | When: | October 28, 2010 |
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CRG Assessment Systems Certification Workshop | | Where: | Vancouver, British Columbia | | When: | February 10,11, 12, 2011 | | Register: | Register Now |
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