Why New Supervisor Training Services Found To Be Key A Key Ingredient Of Business Growth

By Nancy White


If commercial enterprises are to do well, then providing new supervisor training services needs to be a key element in their strategy. Yet to often it is in this area that enterprises fall down in so far as they tend to promote people into supervisory jobs before they have acquired the required expertise.

It would be very unusual for a business to promote a technical or trade related person into a position having not first insured date that they possessed the skill and qualifications to do the work. Yet in the field of supervision it seems that people are often appointed into positions for which they are ill equipped. It is small wonder therefore that these employees frequently find themselves unable to carry out their key supervisory tasks, regularly develop doubts regards their own ability and their confidence diminished. This in turn may lead into a cycle of stress and anxieties that build up and aggravate the situation further.

Sometimes the cause of this problem is the belief in an old mistaken theory that great managers are born not made. This belief advocates throwing people into the deep end trusting that their natural abilities will eventually surface helping them to cope and ultimately thrive. Another is the practice of promoting staff into supervisory roles based on their technical competence. In these instances it is believed that the primary duty of a line manager is to deal with the technicalities of the job role, and that if this is successfully achieved, the process of man management, perceived as a secondary level duty, will naturally follow.

Of course technical knowledge is important, but successful organizations know that for their companies to thrive it is necessary to invest heavily into this area of management development. Such investment of both time and resources needs to take place not only prior to appointment, but also throughout the ongoing career of the incumbent. Some companies even refer to this type of preparation as as the process of empowering their future line managers with a toolbox of supervisory skills. In large companies these programs could be run in house whilst smaller concerns could elect to send trainees onto courses run by specialist training consultants.

Ideally a supervisory development course should be subdivided into the core areas of management. Leadership in both theoretical and practical format will naturally receive a lot of attention. Topics covered would typically include how to motivate staff, effective decision-making, effective communication, how to empower subordinates. Another important aspect of leadership is the process of selecting and developing employees to fill the roles within the work section.

Another important area for a new or prospective supervisor is the workplace planning function. Topics covered within this module will deal with why companies plan and why it is so important. Forecasting, setting objectives and putting plans into action are important aspects to consider and each industry would typically have its own area of focus regarding procedure and policy. Health and safe working practice, as well as environmental factors, would also feature prominently.

Naturally one of the most important skills for a new supervisor is the actual business of workplace organization which is really the nuts and bolts of how to direct people to get work done. Delegation is probably the most critical skill a supervisor requires to manage workplace teams effectively. The key to good delegation is sound communication with and among teams and in building effective relationships.

Controlling and monitoring progress is another important supervisory function which should be a key part of training. This would cover the process of measuring the progress of work, evaluating this against planning objectives and taking appropriate corrective steps when required.

Empowering new and future supervisors with skills as outlined, will provide them with the tools to effectively carry out and succeed with their line management responsibilities.




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