Chapter 1

Modern Supervision: Concepts and Skills

Work hard, have high standards, and stick to your values, because somebodys always watching. Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman and CEO, Verizon

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Learning Objectives
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Define what a supervisor is. Summarize research findings that have led to basic ideas of what managers should do Describe the basic types of supervisory skills. Describe how the growing diversity of the workforce affects the supervisor's role. Identify the general functions of a supervisor. Explain how supervisors are responsible to higher management, employees, and co-workers. Describe the typical background of someone who is promoted to supervisor. Identify characteristics of a successful supervisor.
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7.
8.

Supervision
Supervisor
a manager at the first level of management, which means the employees reporting to the supervisor are not managers

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FIGURE 1.1 A Sampling of Supervisory Positions to Be Filled

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Supervisors Should Focus on Efficiency

Frederic Taylor, the father of scientific management, believed that in order to improve efficiency, it is important to consider the best way in which a job could be completed. By applying scientific knowledge to the study of production, it was feasible to maximize efficiency.
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Supervisors Should Focus on Functions to Be Performed

All managers have primary management functions to perform in organizations Planning Organizing Leading Controlling

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Supervisors Should Focus on People

Because they deal directly with employees and have knowledge about an organizations customers, supervisors emphasize a people orientation. This focus recognizes that the quality of an organization is often affected by the quality of interactions among its members.

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Types of Supervisory Skills

Technical skills
the specialized knowledge and expertise used to carry out particular techniques or procedures.

Human relation skills

the ability to work effectively with other people.

Conceptual skills
the ability to see the relation of the parts to the whole and to one another.

Decision-making skills
the ability to analyze information and reach good decisions.
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Relative Importance of Types of Skills for Different Levels of Managers

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Modern View of Management Skills

1. Task-related activities: Efforts to carry out critical management-related duties 2. People-related activities: Efforts to manage people 3. Change-related activities: Efforts to modify components of the organization

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Supervising a Diverse Workforce

While the share of white men in the workforce declines, the share of black, Hispanic, and Asian workers is expected to rise. Women now make up more than 46 percent of the adult labor pool The segment aged 65 years and over is expected to represent more than 16 percent of the U.S. population by 2020.
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Opportunities and Challenges

Even greater diversity expected in the U.S. workforce of the futurecoupled with laws and policies intended to ensure fair treatment of various groupsrequires supervisors to work successfully with a much wider variety of people.
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Subtle Discrimination
Supervisors and other managers can use several tactics to improve attitudes: Have employees work with someone who is different Use the kind of behavior they expect employees to exhibit Question negative stereotypes

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Functions of Supervisors

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Planning
The purpose of planning by supervisors is to determine how the department can contribute to achieving the organizations goals. This includes planning how much money to spend, what level of output to achieve, and how many employees will be needed

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Organizing
At the supervisory level, organizing involves activities such as scheduling projects and assigning duties to employees Modern supervisors are increasingly responsible for setting up and leading teams of workers to handle special projects or day-today operations.
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Staffing
Staffing
Identifying, hiring, and developing the necessary number and quality of employees

A supervisors performance depends on the quality of results that the supervisor achieves through his or her employees

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Leading
Leading
Influencing people to act (or not act) in a certain way

The supervisor is responsible for letting employees know what is expected of them and inspiring and motivating employees to do good work.

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Controlling
Controlling
Monitoring performance and making needed corrections

The supervisor is expected to provide employees with the resources and motivation to identify and correct problems themselves.

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Relationships Among the Functions

Planning comes first, followed by organizing, then staffing, then leading, and, finally, controlling. This order occurs because each function depends on the preceding function or functions. Typically, supervisors spend most of their time leading and controlling.
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Responsibilities of Supervisors
Recognize the talents of each subordinate. Share your vision of where the organization wants to go. Treat employees with dignity and respect. Conduct necessary meetings efficiently and ensure they accomplish their intended tasks. Keep your staff informed and up to date. Be accessible to those under your supervision. Conduct periodic evaluations of your groups progress. Provide an opportunity for employees to evaluate you. Praise your staff for their accomplishments. Keep in touch with your industry. Be able to perform the duties of those you supervise.

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Types of Responsibilities
Giving managers timely and accurate information for planning Keeping managers informed about the departments performance Giving their employees clear instructions and making sure they understand their jobs Cooperating with co-workers in other departments
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Responsibilities and Accountability

Accountability
the practice of imposing penalties for failing to carry out responsibilities adequately usually includes giving rewards for meeting responsibilities.

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Becoming a Supervisor
Typical candidates to be made supervisors:
An employee with a superior grasp of the technical skills needed to perform well in the department. A person with the most seniority. An employee with good work habits and leadership skills. Recent college graduates.
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Preparing for the Job

Learn about management through books and observation. Learn as much as possible about the organization, the department, and the job. Once on the job, continue the learning process. Acknowledge another persons feelings if they were also a candidate for the position.
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Obtaining and Using Power and Authority

Have the new supervisors boss make an official announcement of the promotion. State your expectations, desire to work as a team, and interest in hearing about work-related problems.

Dont rush to make changes in the department.

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Becoming a Supervisor
Set limits on your behavior Dont be a rescuer. Figure out how to measure success Communicate with everyone Be firm. Learn from others

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Characteristics of a Successful Supervisor

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