Best Practice Manual for Supervisors
December 2, 2011
MGT

The Best Practices Manual for Supervisors is for individuals who are new to the role of supervising. This manual will provide detailed specifics in; communication, orientation, teams, appraisal, resolving conflict, and employee relations. Not only are these roles beneficial but, necessary for people that are taking on a demanding position for a company. Supervisors need to practice and master the specifics to become a magnificent leader and team player. This practice manual will give new supervisors innovative ideas and lead them in the right direction so that their practices will become enriched and tactical. In small and large companies or cooperation’s people use communication every day to effectively communicate in their position’s so that the job gets done.
Communication:
Today many people live in a fast pace society where effective communication has come in many different styles. Not to mention that electronic devices, such as, email, internet, and cell phones are all newer ways to communicate with employees and co-workers. These things have made it easier to communicate on a different level then the typical face-to-face interaction many people were used to. As a supervisor it is important to know how to use these devices to make the job more commutative. Using the internet has made scheduling tasks easier and faster and lets everyone know what is going on without leaving people out of so called “loop”. For instance someone misses a day of work, well, the supervisor would not have to go back and try and play catch up with that person, because that person already got the email about the tasks that need to be completed.
Besides using technology to communicate there are also weekly or monthly meetings that would be effective when communicating with the employees. This gives the supervisor a chance to get to know the people he/she is working with and become more personable with his/her employees. Employees want to know how the company is doing and where they stand in their positions. Meetings give people a chance to collaboratively be on the same page and talk about the company as a team. Communication is one of the biggest and most important parts of being a good supervisor. At times it can be challenging but it takes time, technique, and most of all practice. In the end effective communication can be very rewarding to supervisors who excel and conquer communication skills. According to Rue & Byars (2004), “Orienting is the process of introducing new employees to the organization, their work unit, and their jobs. Training involves the acquisition by employees of the skills, information, and attitudes necessary for improving their effectiveness (p.165)”. Effective Orientation and Training Methods: This section is going to introduce a couple ways to effectively orient employees who are new on the job. It is the supervisor’s job to make sure that the employee knows what his or her position is, and introduce the new employees to other co-workers. This will allow the employee to get to know whom he/she is going to work with. During the orientation the employee needs a grand tour of the facility so that he/she knows their way around the building. Believe it or not but, new employees need to know where the restrooms are, the break room, and be familiar with the area they will be working in. During the orientation employees should get an employee handbook that covers policies and procedures. These policies and procedures will cover general topics ranging from safety, break schedules, and codes of conduct. After reading the material the employees will become familiarized with company expectations and his or her rights as a new employee. New employees need some sort of training no matter what area of work they are going into. Training is a part of becoming a new employee, and not only does it make the employees aware or familiar with the job it allows them time to adapt to their new position. One of the most important parts of training is allowing the newbie to practice and work with some supervision and guidance. When a trainee gets to show their skills and abilities it not only ensures what he/she can do, but it can also show the supervisor what the employee is capable of. Each employee is different and some may pick up the tasks quicker than others. So, it is important that the employee’s skills are tested or examined before leaving them on their own in a new position. This task may take a few days or a few weeks but, whatever the case maybe this is an essential part of training. According to Rue & Byars (2004), “Productivity may be defined as units of output per employee hour (p.145)”.
Improving Productivity for Teams: Supervisors need an understanding of how things work in their company- from how things run to their products. Productivity has to do with the products being produced, but most of all how the job is going to get done. Many companies want to keep cost low, produce more, and make the process, as easy as, it can be for the employees. But, without the employees it is impossible to produce anything. Supervisors need to know what their employees need and what will make the job easier and faster. Let’s say that there is a factory that produces seafood and the supervisor needs to redefine the time it takes to do the job. In this case the supervisor would use a time study. This time study can be broken down into six steps: 1. Breaking down task which are timed. 2. Essential elements for completion of the tasks (which tasks are needed most/which one that are not). 3. Actual time required for each element. 4. The total time for all the elements put together 5. Determining extra time for rest. 6. Determining a standard time for the task and extra time allowances (Rue & Byars, 2004,p.150)
By using this productivity method it will ensure that the supervisor or manager has an understanding of what his/her team goes through in producing products or performances. Many companies do work in a team like setting and have to work together to get the job done. It is the supervisor’s job to complete goals and objective that the company requires. To get the people to work together it might be valuable to use a group session to get new ideas and make the employees a part of the team. Supervisors may have to think of creative ideas to reach these goals and objectives. Encouraging the group to work together will alleviate some, if any, discrimination amongst the team members. Another thing is providing group awards when the employees reach certain goals or objectives. This will show them that their work is valuable and that the company appreciates the hard work.
Performance Appraisal: Performance appraisals allow the supervisors to see how the employee is doing. There are several ways that performance appraisals are measured. One of the ways that performance can be measured is a check list. This check list has “yes” or “no” questions on the sheet, and the supervisor goes down the list check curtain things off. This gives the employee an overall rating and helps the supervisor see where that employee is at and what may need improvement. The next method is critical incident method. This method allows the supervisors to keep a written recorded of the employees behaviors, whether they are positive or negative. After the write up happens the supervisor must talk with that employee so that he/she is aware of their actions. In the process this allows the employee to say their peace. Each right up is incident based, which these right ups only happen per incident. There are many ways to see how the employees are doing and measure their work, but some methods are better than other. Because each work environment is different these methods will vary job to job. In one work place they may us one method, while in another job they will us a different one. Generally it is up to the company and supervisors to make these types of decisions and they usually use their experience to find what works best. Resolving conflict in a company can be quit challenging, so how do supervisors do it?
Resolving Conflict: In most jobs or careers conflict arises from time to time. Some people get over worked or have personal issues that cause stress. And the results of this stress usually become conflict. A supervisor needs to recognize when there is conflict so that he/she can handle the situation in the most tactful way. The best way to resolve conflict would be to confront the problem as it is and get as many details about the situation possible. If the conflict is between two employees the manager or supervisor needs to listen to both sides of the story without holding any judgment and keeping an objective outlook to the situation. It is not the supervisor’s job to place blame, guilt, or shame upon the employee but find a common ground to settle the conflict in a healthy way. Organizations diplomacy is a strategy that gets the employees to realize that they are working in a diverse environment. It gets them to work toward the same objectives so that there is less conflict. This strategy also gets the employees involved so that they have some say so in the climate and polices. This elevates some of the stress and conflict in the workforce. This also means that employees need to learn how to manage their own stress. Stress can build and build, but why do that to one’s self? There are many ways that people can relive stress and it is solely up to them how they want to do that. It is not fair to employees who use other employees as a punching bag for pined up stress or feelings. So, as a supervisors being sort of a mediator and helping the employees see what the real problem is will help lesson or solve the conflict. Moving forward let’s see how to improve employee relations.
Improving Employee Relations: According to Rue & Byars (2004), “A grievance is a formal dispute between management and an employee or employees over some condition of employment (p.388)”. A grievance usually happens when an employee makes a complaint. The supervisors must not be afraid of these complaints and must be willing to listen to them. It is common and healthy when employees make complaints. These complaints can be about things ranging from pay, schedule, or even policies. These things can be handled by negotiations or agreements between the employee and the supervisor. The employee used a written document about their grievance and then submits it to the supervisor for review. Once the supervisor looks at it then they can make the decision on how to handle the problem.

References
Adler, P., Heckscher, C., & Prusak, L. (2011, July-August). Building a collaborative enterprise: four keys to creating a culture of trust and teamwork. Harvard Business Review, 89(7-8), pp. 94-102.
Cummings, S., & Angwin, D. (2011, September-October). Stratography: The art of conceptualizing and communicating strategy. Business Horizons, 54(5), pp. 435-436.
Hyde, M.A. (2008, April). 5 Keys to resolving employee conflict. Supervision, 69(4), pp. 3-6.
Rue, L. W., & Byars, L. L. (2004). Supervision: Key link to Productivity (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.