SUPERVISION

RESPONSIBILITIES OF A SUPERVISOR
Unfortunately, in most cases, the responsibilities of a supervisor are
always stated in general terms, be it in most of the text books available
and even some organizations supervisor’s job descriptions which all too
often do not communicate clearly.

In order to provide a more practical and understandable picture or

concept of supervisory responsibilities, let us, instead of merely listing
them, describe what the good supervisor does from the writers own
experience.

He plans, studies past experience, anticipate workloads, changes, and

schedules workers to meet work demands.

He balances the workload among workers in their work assignments.

He studies the job he supervises, analyses them, prepares and keeps up to
date job descriptions and job specifications.
He knows what the job is like, what the job is, and what kind of a person
would do it well.
He plays an active role in getting good workers, interviewing, checking
references, etc.
He gives special attention to the new workers, to acquaint them quickly
with their job, their fellow workers, policies, standards, procedures, and
working conditions.
He makes accurate breakdowns of all jobs-the step-by-step procedure for
doing the job efficiently, and uses regularly such breakdowns to train new
workers or re-train old workers.
He studies the manager and the establishment-knows and observes
objectives, policies, standards and procedures.

He represents management to the workers faithfully and loyally, and

the worker to management. He has the extremely difficult job of the
‘buffer’.

He keeps his boss fully informed at all times, as to activities, progress,

and problems within his department.

He establishes and applies regularly performance standards for all the

jobs he supervises.

He keeps his workers fully informed at all times as how well they are
doing, what they do well, and where improvement is needed.
He understands the wage policy and rates, and assures that
workers understand them and see fairness and equity in them.

He listens attentively and sincerely to worker complaints and

suggestions, and takes prompt action whenever indicated.

He assures in advance availability and accessibility of all materials,

equipment, etc, needed, including preventive maintenance.

He is a good counselor for his workers regarding both job and

personal problems.

He encourages good health habits, personal hygiene, proper

grooming and dress among his workers.
He plans and conducts at least weekly short meetings with his workers
for sharing of information, ideas, and for the promotion of enthusiasm
and team works.

He maintains discipline, good conduct, strict adherence to standards and

promptly but with good will corrects deviations or infractions privately

He studies constantly his department and makes carefully thought-out

recommendations for improvements.

He is super-sensitive to waste-of time, materials, methods, equipment,

and seeks constantly to prevent waste.

He is highly sensitive to customer satisfaction, and creates this idea

among his workers.
He understands the responsibilities of other departments and
cheerfully cooperates with them.
He respects at all times the right of all workers to dignity and self-
respect.
He safeguards confidences of workers entrusted to him.
He pursues a programme of self-improvement and self-development.
He is emotionally stable and makes a reasonably happy adjustment
to life.
He likes his work, his employment and derives mental satisfactions
from it.
 SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE SUPERVISOR

Many and extensive research studies have been made in an effort to

determine the characteristics of the highly productive Supervisor. Some of
these characteristics are given below:
The highly productive Supervisor spends most of his time on actual
supervision, while the low producer spends a lot of his time at manual
work.

The highly productive Supervisor tends to be ‘people centered’ in his interests

and attitudes, while the low producer tends to be ‘productivity centered.’

The highly productive Supervisor spends most time on planning than does the
low producer.
The highly productive Supervisor takes a positive and
inspirational approach to his workers, while the low producer
does not.
The highly productive supervisor evaluates his workers more
highly as persons than does the low producer.
The highly productive supervisor supervises with ease, poise and
self-confidence, while the low producer tends to be
temperamental.
The highly productive supervisor seeks and solicits the
ideas and suggestions of his work, while the low
producer tends to ignore them.

Highly productive supervisor combine all styles of

management depending on the situation and task

Highly productive supervisor keeps himself well

informed through, talking to people, reading papers,
magazines, journals books, attending special events
THE END