Supervision Woes

How are supervisors chosen? Do they have a background of supervisory skills, a proven track record in running a department? In most cases, people chosen to be supervisors are those who perform well in their departments. The skills they have usually have no bearing on their ability to supervise people.

Eight secretaries report only to their individual bosses but have to cover for each other and share responsibilities to keep the office running smoothly. One manager is in charge of the office, but he usually doesn't get involved in details of the secretaries' work.

Because of the company principals' dissatisfaction with the way the office was running - particularly what they termed the "laxity" of the secretarial component - the manager appointed one of the secretaries to a supervisory role. It was her job to oversee the secretaries and put some rules in place to create more efficient and disciplined performance among them.

Susan, the woman who came to me, was distraught when she told me the story. She had just come from a meeting with her new supervisor and the entire secretarial staff. What happened that created such an outpouring of emotion? The supervisor told her, in front of all the other secretaries, that she's taking too much time off. Susan was irate.

"The only time I take time off unexpectedly is when my daughter is sick," Susan said to me. Susan is a single mother. She struggles to be there for her child and to serve the company as well.

"How come they don't notice all the extra hours I put in as unpaid overtime in order to complete my work?" she asked me rhetorically. No one ever scolded her for working late.

Also at the meeting of the secretaries, the supervisor noted that some people were taking an extra long lunch hour, which was not acceptable. Another secretary piped up in the meeting: "You seem to forget the days - and there are many of them - when we don't get a chance to go to lunch. Instead, we rush downstairs for a quick sandwich and return because there is so much work to do. The days we take the extra 15 minutes or so don't even compensate for the lunch time lost."

The morale of this group was deeply affected by the lack of sensitivity of the new supervisor. Unfortunately, too many supervisors are placed in that position because they performed their work well. But that performance usually has nothing to do with their ability to supervise.

This is a difficult message for company leaders to learn. The supervision of others takes skills that supersede those required to do other jobs. Poor supervision can create havoc.

Another ramification of poor supervision are bosses who don't teach their staff how to become so proficient that if the boss is absent, the department can continue to run.

Companies are weakened by supervisors' inability or reluctance to train members of their staff so that a strong infrastructure is in place that allows the department to function in the absence of an individual. People do this for two reasons: First, it takes time to train people; second, you are no longer indispensable when someone can fill in for you.

Good supervisors do not come out of a vacuum. They have to be trained in managerial skills. It's the wise company leader who realizes this and sets about to make sure whoever is in charge has the supervisory know-how to keep the engine running effectively and efficiently at all times.