I am
providing training to supervisors who work in an environment where
they are expected to perform miracles with outdated equipment and products that
routinely do not meet specs. On top of that, their leaders are more focused on making a
name for themselves and getting promoted to another assignment. To make matters worse, HR does not
properly manage FMLA compliance, so 20% of the workforce is absent each day. The guidance I have given these supervisors is to focus on what they can control, and to try their best to forge connections with their staff in order to retain the best employees. What other suggestions can you offer?
Signed,
Dear Muddled Manager:
As a trainer, you want your trainees to have all the resources they need to put their newly-minted skills to use, and it sounds as if the supervisors you work with are short on the necessities. It’s times like these when the serenity prayer doubles as a management philosophy: "Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
In this case, making the most of the resources the supervisors do have should be the top priority. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
Martha Jurczak, Associate, ODDA
Laura Freebairn-Smith, Principal, ODDA
Signed,
Muddled Manager
Dear Muddled Manager:
As a trainer, you want your trainees to have all the resources they need to put their newly-minted skills to use, and it sounds as if the supervisors you work with are short on the necessities. It’s times like these when the serenity prayer doubles as a management philosophy: "Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
In this case, making the most of the resources the supervisors do have should be the top priority. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
- Establish tracking systems. The supervisors can start by building robust yet simple systems for tracking the work of their staff, even if it means using Excel spreadsheets. By implementing a system that aids staff members in carefully documenting each step of every project, the supervisors can more easily introduce new people to projects that are underway. This will be essential to maintaining high productivity in an environment where the staff are coming and going with some frequency.
- Set productivity targets: The supervisors can also work with their staff to set targets for productivity and track those in a way that encourages everyone to reach the goals. The supervisors might have to be creative in their rewards systems, but shared goals offer a great deal of intrinsic rewards.
- Implement cross-training: Another management tool that might help with the lost productivity and lost knowledge of high turnover is cross-training. Can your supervisors create buddy systems so that staff are cross-trained and the cross-trained teams work to ensure that the team’s knowledge is always present?
- Conduct exit interviews: A short exit interview with each staff member as he or she rotates out — even if the absence will be for only a few weeks — will allow the supervisors to keep close tabs on work that might otherwise fall through the cracks and learn more about what is driving staff behavior.
- Build a case for upgraded resources: The supervisors would also be wise to spend some time now building a case for the upgraded resources they urgently need. A vague sense of what will improve their work is not enough; encourage your trainees to make a plan for employing new equipment and implementing new technologies that includes educated estimates of the increased productivity that would result from these improvements. Quantifying the potential outcomes is essential. It sounds like the current leadership is results-oriented and competitive, so outlining the unrealized potential of the workforce may be the best way to relate your trainees’ priorities to those of their superiors. Though they may not have it now, there may well come a time when the mid-level supervisors will have the ear of their organization’s leaders and when that time comes they will be well-served by being prepared with a data-driven, practical plan for improvement.
Martha Jurczak, Associate, ODDA
Laura Freebairn-Smith, Principal, ODDA
Some suggestions for further reading include:
"Managing Your Boss," J. Gabarro and John P. Kotter, Harvard Business Review, January 2005.
"Assess and Plan for the Resources You Need," It's Okay to Manage Your Boss: The Step-by-Step Program for Making the Best of Your Most Important Relationship at Work, Bruce Tulgan.
"Managing Employee Turnover," William J. Wasmuth and Stanley W. Davis, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, February 1983, vol. 23, no. 4, pages 15-22.
