Best Practices Manual for Supervisors

Best Practices Manual for Supervisors

Supervisors play a critical role in business and have a great responsibility in regards to training employees, demonstrating strong leadership skills, establishing communication between employees and management, being prepared for and resolving conflicts before and when they arise. Productivity is only a small element to the success of a business and, although it is an important one, it comes from maintaining a strong commitment to ensuring a productive and satisfying working environment. This manual will help you understand the important aspects of a supervisory role and give the guidelines that are necessary to create a successful workforce.This manual includes six supervisory responsibilities and two best practices for each.

1. Demonstrating Communication Skills

2. Determining Effective Orientation and Training Methods

3. Improving Productivity for Teams

4. Conducting Performance Appraisals

5. Resolving Conflict

6. Improving Employee Relations

1. Demonstrating Communication Skills

Supervisors must routinely communicate with employees and management in order to transmit information that is necessary for optimal functioning of a company. Good communication skills can provide supervisors a key tool in overcoming problematic situations, training new employees to do the job correctly, and creating good relationships with all of your employees.

Miscommunication can cause all kinds of problems in the workplace. When training employees, it is important to clearly communicate exactly what is expected of the employee, in order for them to complete the task successfully. If an employee is unsure of what is expected of them, they could perform poorly at their job, which rests the blame on the supervisor's inability to properly communicate the necessary methods of operation when training. Supervisors must have the ability to motivate their employees and persuade them to work at the best of their ability. Motivating by communication can be a difficult task when dealing with many different types of employees. Some employees might be easily motivated, while others might have a harder time becoming motivated by your words alone. In order to communicate effectively, you need to, first, understand your audience. The only way to understand your audience is to communicate with them one on one. Employees are much more likely to respect their supervisor if they feel they are understood and respected as well.

One of the most important aspects of communicating a supervisor must have is the ability to listen. By listening, a supervisor can absorb the information needed, recognize problems, and understand other people's viewpoints (Rue, 2004). Unfortunately, often times, when people are communicating, they are not actively listening to the person talking. They might be thinking of their own response during a conflict, half-listening to what is being said, or interrupt the person talking. In order to actively listen, you must comprehend exactly what the person is saying and repeat, in their own words, what has been said. This creates a mutual understanding that you are interested in what they are saying, as well as how they feel. If you actively listen, you will be able to identify the purpose of the conversation and identify their main ideas, as well as being able to respond effectively and appropriately.

2. Determining Effective Orientation and Training Methods

Making sure there are training programs available for new employees is a tool that could only be beneficial for all companies. Properly trained employees will result in knowledgeable staff, greater productivity, and better customer service. Training not only allows an employee to understand the job requirements, but continued training and education can motivate employees to learn new skills and techniques to better preform their jobs and creates goals to move into higher positions.

As a supervisor, you want to obtain and develop the most qualified people for the job. Although the Human Resources Department may be involved in obtaining the new employee, it is the supervisor's responsibility in communicating with the department the specific needs of the position needing filled. After the position is filled, a supervisor is responsible for the orientation and training of the new employee. If the supervisor is in charge of the orientation process, than the following steps should be included:

1. A welcome.

2. Objectives and philosophy of the organization.

3. An explanation of the organization's operations and levels of authority and of how these relate to each other.

4. A brief history of the organization.

5. What is expected of the new employee: attitude, reliability, initiative, emotional maturity, and personal appearance.

6. Job functions and responsibilities.

7. Introduction to the department and fellow workers.

8. General office practice and business etiquette.

9. Rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.

10. Why the organization needs the new employee.

11. City, state, and federal laws, if applicable.

12. Skill training.

13. Performance evaluation criteria.

14. Promotional opportunities.

15. Conditions of employment, punctuality, attendance, conduct, hours of work, overtime, termination.

16. Pay procedures.

17. Benefits, salary, job security, insurance, recreational facilities, employee activities, rest periods, holidays, vacation, sick leave, leave of absence, tuition refund, pension.

18. Safety and fire prevention.

19. Personnel policies.

20. Functions of management.

21. Techniques for learning.

22. Encouragement.

Training new employees properly is essential to the success of the company and its productivity, as well as the new employee's success