role of supervision in developing talent

role of supervision in developing talent

A supervisor is first and foremost an overseer whose main responsibility is to ensure that a group of subordinates get out the assigned amount of production, when they are supposed to do it and within acceptable levels of quality, costs and safety.

A supervisor is responsible for the productivity and actions of a small group of employees. The supervisor has several manager-like roles, responsibilities, and powers. Two of the key differences between a supervisor and a manager are

(1) the supervisor does not typically have "hire and fire" authority

 (2) the supervisor does not have budget authority.

Lacking "hire and fire" authority means that a supervisor may not recruit the employees working in the supervisor's group nor does the supervisor have the authority to terminate an employee. The supervisor may participate in the hiring process as part of interviewing and assessing candidates, but the actual hiring authority rests in the hands of a Human Resource Manager. The supervisor may recommend to management that a particular employee be terminated and the supervisor may be the one who documents the behaviors leading to the recommendation but the actual firing authority rests in the hands of a manager.

Lacking budget authority means that a supervisor is provided a budget developed by management within which constraints the supervisor is expected to provide a productive environment for the employees of the supervisor's work group. A supervisor will usually have the authority to make purchases within specified limits. A supervisor is also given the power to approve work hours and other payroll issues. Normally, budget affecting requests such as travel will require not only the supervisor's approval but the approval of one or more layers of management.

As a member of management, a supervisor's main job is more concerned with orchestrating and controlling work rather than performing it directly.

Responsibilities

upervisors are uniquely positioned through direct daily employee contact to respond to employee needs, problems, and satisfaction. Supervisors are the direct link between management and the work force and can be most effective in developing job training, safety attitudes, safe working methods and identifying unsafe acts

Tasks

1. Carry out policies passed down a hierarchy from the level above.
2. Plan short-range action-steps to carry out goals set by the level above.
3. Organized the work group.
4. Assign jobs to subordinates.
5. Delegate projects to subordinates.
6. Direct tasks, jobs and projects.
7. Train subordinates.
8. Enforce rules.
9. Lead and motivate subordinates.
10. Develop group cohesiveness.
11. Solve routine daily problems.
12. Control or evaluate performance of subordinates and the department - performance appraisals.
13. Discipline subordinates.

As a supervisor, a basic and most important retention tactic to employ, especially in a tight labor market, is to take good care of the talent you have. This is not just a matter of wages and benefits, (which is a given) but also means that as a supervisor, you need to provide your staff with work that is meaningful, interesting and challenging. You also need to truly demonstrate, in a genuine manner, your appreciation for what they continue to accomplish on a daily basis. Most good supervisors do this to some degree, but it is a point worth discussion because it is a critical strategy in the war for talent. Good solid employees rarely leave good solid supervisors who appreciate their employees’ effort.

Employees’ confidence in the ability of their supervisor is one of the most important predictors of retention. Employees want to feel proud of being part of a successful organization and therefore worth an investment of their time. Supervisors must accept the fact that to a large degree, employee turnover is their responsibility. To the greatest extent possible supervisors should:

Provide a workplace where people feel respected and valued.
Provide a workplace where employee ideas and efforts are noticed and considered important.
Provide a workplace where talent is recognized, promoted and celebrated.
Provide less bureaucracy, less red tape for their talented employees so they can make decisions quickly when needed.
Adopt a supervisory style that is inclusive and recognizes the value that each individual brings to the shared success of the organization.

The manager’s role is to identify and release the unique talents and skills within each employee and help channel these talents and skills to the benefit of both the company and individuals. Only by recruiting, identifying the employee’s talents and retaining that talent can the manager achieve the organization’s goals and satisfy clients’ needs. Supervisors need to understand that talent is the sum of a person’s abilities – his or her intrinsic gifts, knowledge, skills, experience, attitude, judgment, character and drive. It also includes his or her ability to learn, change and grow.

The key to successfully retaining a talented staff lies in initially hiring the most talented individuals for management positions and then training them in the skills required to effectively lead their subordinates. A great manager listens to their employees and pre-emptively acts to prevent problems, seeks information and ideas from their employees and acts to continually improve conditions on all levels. There is a direct link between turnover and level of supervisor/employee face-to-face engagement.

Supervisors are not necessarily proficient at retention-oriented leadership unless someone helps them along that path and makes it part of their performance metric. Training should include scenarios of how things might be different with more or less turnover – especially the retention of their top talent – so they can appreciate the benefits of workforce stability and the role they play in maintaining that stability. The organization should provide coaching to help supervisors improve the way they work to hire and retain their people.

Supervisors must understand the numbers:  the “cost of turnover” in their organization and what these costs mean to the company and to themselves personally. The organization should set up a reward system for managers based upon turnover in their area of responsibility. Reward achievement of agreed-upon retention goals using cash, trophies, certificates and plaques, or simply public recognition. These awards should be bestowed by senior managers as part of their role in inspiring, guiding and coaching supervisors to higher levels of “retention, performance and accountability.”

Roles and responsibilities in a best practice performance management process

To have a truly effective performance management process that supports employee performance, development and success, you need to get everyone involved.

Having engaged and informed senior executives, managers and employees will ultimately result in higher participation rates and better quality performance management.

So you need to clearly communicate to everyone, what they are responsible for as part of your new performance management process. Here's breakdown of the responsibilities of each stakeholder group: executives and leadership, managers, employees and HR.

Executive and senior leadership responsibilities

As an executive or senior leader, you need to be an enthusiastic champion of the new process. Make sure you are supportive of the process, communicate its value and engage others to participate.

Share your support through a variety of employee communications vehicles. And be prepared to answer questions from various groups about “what's in it for me” to help build organizational commitment to the process.

Finally, pay it more than lip service. Use the information derived from the process to guide strategic decision-making about the organization.

The managers’ responsibilities in the performance management process

As a manager, you have a responsibility to recognize and reinforce strong performance in your employees, and identify and encourage improvement where needed. But to begin with, you need to view performance management as a two-way discussion that goes on throughout the year. Your employees should never be surprised by the ratings and feedback they receive in their formal performance reviews.

As a manager, you are expected to:

Use the performance management process as a valuable tool for supporting employee development and improvement.If your employees sense a lack of interest on your part, they'll lose interest too.When talking with your team about the process, be sure to emphasize its benefits, and encourage employees to take ownership of their own performance and development.Determine an appropriate schedule for regular performance conversations with those you manage directly.Conduct short, regular meetings to discuss and record milestones, accomplishments, successes and challenges as they occur, when details are fresh in both your minds. This will allow you to better monitor progress on goals, and provide coaching as required. Plus, these short meetings reduce the effort it takes to prepare for and conduct your annual performance reviews because you've tracked progress and performance and provided the needed feedback when it was most valuable.

Use the annual performance review meeting to review the achievements, setbacks, development and training that have already been discussed throughout the year — and then use this information to establish goals and a development plan for the coming year.

1.     Deliver regular positive and constructive feedback.

2.     Give employees feedback during one-on-one meetings and informally as regularly as possible.

3.     Commend your employee in front of their peers.

4.     Make performance notes about each employee in the period between conversations, so that come conversation time, you have concrete examples to share.

5.     Remember that the goal of feedback is to describe desired behaviors and expectations, not to dwell on undesirable behaviors.

6.     Check-in on goal progress

7.     Regularly check in with employees on their progress on goals; offer coaching or assistance, or revise goals as necessary.

8.     Communicate and revisit performance expectations.

9.     Communicate your organizations’ performance standards and expectations to your employees. This will help your employees differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors and results and reduce any misunderstandings.

10.  Gather feedback on employee performance from multiple sources. Use a 360-degree feedback or survey tool to complete and validate your own observations and perceptions.

11.  Improve your management and leadership skills.

12.  Take the time to learn how to be a better manager and coach. Invest in your own development!

13.  Acquaint yourself with the different management needs of the different generations.

14.  Employees from the Millennial generation may have different needs and different expectations of managers. Research tells us they require constant feedback and recognition, and expect quick career advancement. Workers from other generations have different needs. Learn what motivates each employee, and adjust your management approach accordingly.

15.  Coach your employees in a way that strengthens two-way communication and reinforces desired behaviors.

16.  Coach when you want to focus attention on a specific aspect of the employee’s performance.

17.  Advise the employee ahead of time of issues you want to discuss.

18.  Focus on describing your expectations and the desired behaviors rather than describing the gaps.

19.  Take the time to understand why their performance is what it is, and get them to take ownership for performance improvements.

20.  Support your employees' professional and career development while making them accountable for it.

21.  Regularly ask employees about their career aspirations and help them identify areas they may wish to improve or develop, as well as resources available.

22.  Ensure each employee has a well-defined job description and understands the skills and competencies they must develop in order to progress up the career ladder.

23.  Give your employees the time and flexibility they need to complete learning and development activities.

24.  Ensure development is having an impact on performance.

25.  Submit your completed employee reviews by the designated deadline.

26.  Failing to complete your formal performance review documentation on time sends your employees the message that recognition of their success and support for their development is not your top priority. It may also delay any pay for performance/ merit increases or bonuses your organization allocates to employees based on their performance ratings.

27.  Understand and correctly use your organization's rating scale.

28.  Be objective and have quantitative/qualitative facts ready to substantiate the ratings you give.

29.  Provide details on how the employee demonstrated the core and job specific competencies you are rating them on.

30.  Provide details on how they accomplished their goals, the milestones they met and work products they delivered.

31.  Assign each employee a development plan to help them improve their performance and support the organization's success.

Employees' responsibilities

1.     Your role as an employee in this performance management process is to:

2.     Work towards achieving your individual goals, which help the organization reach its objectives.

3.     You and your manager should have set these goals collaboratively as part of your performance management activities.

4.     Keep track of your progress on your goals and regularly communicate their status to your manager, especially if you're facing challenges that could prevent you from achieving your goals.

5.     Take responsibility for your own professional and career development.

6.     Be clear about how you would like to grow professionally.

7.     Know what knowledge, skills and experience you want and need to develop.

8.     Actively seek opportunities for professional and career development, both in the organization or through external learning resources.

9.     Be open to feedback

10.  Accept constructive feedback and take the initiative to improve.

11.  Complete any development plans assigned to you and apply the learning to improve your performance.

12.  Seek support as required

13.  Work to establish and maintain a healthy relationship with your manager.

14.  Ask your manager for feedback and guidance, especially when you encounter challenges.

15.  Solicit feedback and guidance on your performance from others you work with.

16.  Keep a record of your performance achievements, successes and challenges.

17.  Keep a performance journal and share things like your successes, and the feedback and recognition you receive from others with your manager.

18.  Give others feedback.

19.  Just as you need feedback and recognition to improve your performance, your co-workers need it too. Give feedback verbally, as well as using online communication and social collaboration tools available to you. And don't be afraid to copy managers on your written feedback so they can gain more insight into their employees' performance.

20.  Complete your self-appraisal by the specified deadline.

21.  Reacquaint yourself with your job description, critical competencies for the role and performance expectations as defined by the organization.

22.  Understand and correctly use the organization's rating scale.

23.  Be honest about your performance but don’t underestimate your abilities.

24.  Be objective and have quantitative/qualitative facts ready to substantiate the ratings you give yourself.

25.  Provide details on how you demonstrated the core and job specific competencies you are being rated on.

26.  Provide details on how you accomplished your goals, the milestones you met and work products you delivered.

27.  Consider your current knowledge, skills and abilities as well as your career aspirations and identify learning activities that could benefit you and your organization.

28.  Draft your goals for the coming period, making sure they in some way contribute to the organization's goals, and are appropriate for your role.

HR's responsibilities

1.     Your role as an HR business partner in this performance management process is to:

2.     Design a best practice performance management process.

3.     Set reasonable deadlines for completing each step in the process.

4.     Provide training to all executives, managers and employees on the process, the steps involved, their responsibilities, and the benefits to be gained by all, addressing each group's (executives, managers, employees) particular needs.

5.     Clearly explain your performance rating scale, the difference between the different levels of performance, and how you expect ratings to be used (e.g. what rating is used for good performance and given to most employees, what additional actions need to be taken when performance is judged to be above and below expectations, etc.)

6.     Provide managers with regular training on how to give feedback as well as on how to coach and develop their employees.

7.     Launch and manage your performance management process.

8.     Analyze and review the results of your process, identifying things like:

9.     Participation rates

10.  Problems with rating calibration

11.  Areas of organizational, divisional and departmental strength

12.  Areas of organizational, divisional and departmental weakness

13.  Areas where performance ratings have improved since the last process

14.  Areas where performance ratings have worsened since the last process

15.  Organizational, divisional, departmental and individual development needs

16.  Areas where your process and forms can be improved

17.  Communicate the strategic results of your performance management process and any actions being taken as a result, to the entire organizatio