In an earlier post I talked about promoting staff to supervisory positions in order to help offload work from the owner.
It has happened more than once that, when I asked employees how they became a supervisor, the answer was “well, they just told me I’m the supervisor now”. When verifying whether there had been any training, or clarification on the new Tasks, Accountabilities, Expectations, Authority, the answer was usually “no”, or “very little”.
This is an enormously missed opportunity.
Hugh Alley, in his book “Becoming the Supervisor”, describes the role of the Supervisor as follows:
- “Achieving the Mission of the company”.
The Supervisor is the one leading and overseeing the execution of whatever the company produces and which creates its revenue. - “Look after their people”.
The Supervisor works directly with the folks on the shop floor, hence has the biggest impact on productivity and morale. Great performance by the supervisor will boost both, poor performance will kill the company quickly.
What to do when promoting someone into a Supervisory role?
- Clarify and document the role in the Org Chart
- Visualize the role in the Process Map
- Create a clear and simple Job Description, including Tasks, Accountabilities, Expectations, Authority and applicable KPI’s.
- Announce the promotion and clarify the role to the entire team!
- Provide training on Leadership
- Conduct regular 1-0-1’s with the new supervisor to mentor them towards soaring performance