Supervisors Handbook Part One & Part Two
Two separate businesses run from the hotel site. These are The Stoke by Nayland Club Ltd (owned by the family) which operates the hotel and owns the spa, swimming pool, gym (Peake facilities), driving range, Lodges and golf courses in addition to the hotel. Stoke by Nayland Golf and Leisure operates the membership of the golf club and Peake Fitness (a separate business controlled by its members) and has use of the golf and Peake facilities under a non-exclusive licence from the Club. Peake Fruit is based at Home farm in Ardleigh. Part 1 You’ve been promoted; congratulations! Hopefully, you are excited about starting your new job, vowing to be the best supervisor you could possibly be! You are on the road to future success at your company and you’ve got great hopes for tomorrow. The transition from an individual contributor to a supervisor or manager role is one of the most critical and difficult career moves. Representing the largest pool of management talent in most companies, supervisors prove critical to an organisation’s success. Companies that develop superior leaders can execute more effectively than their competition. Research about employee engagement provides evidence that frontline supervisors play a crucial role in the productivity and morale of their employees. The link to customer service is equally significant. When untrained supervisors are in charge of frontline employees with customer contact, the impact on customer relationships can be devastating. Based on negative interactions with supervisors, frontline employees may exhibit negative attitudes, resolve problems incorrectly, or take other actions that damage goodwill, brand and profits! Effective, high performing supervisors should be able to manage their area responsibility, often with little reference to the manager. This gives a supervisor a high degree of independence and leaves the manager free to manage, an effectively performing supervisor should mean that no-one should notice if the manager is not there.
During your first few weeks be aware of and start to act on the following: Define Yourself – Or Others Will! Learn how to balance the competing interests of people and departments/workgroups. Have a command of facts and information to make effective decisions and take appropriate action. Begin with caution at first to ensure you have all the data you need - this is critical in making the right impression.
The Customer Is the Business To ensure performance management excellence, supervisors must possess business acumen an understanding of how a business creates value and makes money. Nothing is as critical as creating long-term customer value and ensuring that the impact on customers is not overlooked. Reflect on your insights on how to incorporate the customer’s point of view into performance results.
Question: As a leader, what are my strengths?
Question: As a leader, how do you and your team incorporate the customer point of view into performance results?
Question: As a leader, what are my areas for development?
Leader vs. Independent Contributor There are 4 basic performance management principles that will come into play routinely throughout the career of a supervisor or manager. PLOC stands for Planning, Leading, Organising and Controlling the work of others. Coming to grips with these principles and learning how to effectively execute practices grounded on these principles dramatically increases effectiveness and success. An employees’ job description and the review policy provides a framework for managing the performance of others. Question: How do you Plan, Lead, Organise and Control in your role? a) Plan Provide an example to show that you understand all the information on a function sheet and have planned the associated tasks to ensure the function requirements are fulfilled.
b) Lead Provide an example of each of the following to show that you have communicated efficiently with i) your team and wider staff, particularly in respect of other functions/events running at the same time.
ii) Customers to show that you have identified and met their expectations.
c) Organise Give an example of how you ensure that i) your team provides an efficient and friendly service.
ii) You instill a team ethos by identifying and monitoring where other areas may need help providing additional staff where needed
iii) You ensure that other tasks required by the Duty Manager are completed on time and to the required standard
iv) You have been proactive in thinking and preparing in advance for the next function setup.
d) Control Give an example of how you ensure that i) staff continue to work effectively and efficiently if you, or your manager, is not in the function room.
ii) Restocking takes place for forthcoming functions and events.
iii) Cleaning rotas are completed and signed off at the end of each shift.
iv) You ensure that staff use ‘down time’ effectively e.g. helping in other areas, completing additional tasks.
v) You ensure that staff adhere to policies and procedures. Give one example for each of the following: Using mobile phones whilst on duty.
Smoking whilst on duty.
Eating in areas other than the staff restaurant.
Car Parking.
Wearing the correct uniform.
Ensuring that team members work with the highest respect for each other and wider team members.
Drawing all the elements of PLOC together, explain how you: Take charge of a function when deputising for the Manager, ensuring it runs on time and to the expected standard.
Are proactive in creating a team ethos and culture, ensuring that staff from all Departments work together to support each other to provide the best possible experience for guests and staff.
Working With Your Boss When managing the performance of others you enter un-charted waters. Developing a good relationship with your boss and using your boss effectively can eliminate many obstacles in your growth as a supervisor or manager. Your boss is the person with the greatest control over your future as a supervisor or manager. How you manage the relationship will have a critical impact on your success. Question: Using examples, how do you manage your relationship with your boss?
The Law: Compliance Basics Perhaps nothing can cause a supervisor or manager as much difficulty as ignorance of applicable employment law. A clear understanding of the rights of employees is not just important - it is essential knowledge. Legal concerns can and will vary by organisation, location and country. Make sure you are familiar with the policies of the organisation and the headline content. Question: List the main organisational policies relating to employees and their performance. Where can you find these policies?
Performance Review Skills An important new responsibility when you manage the performance of others is to provide input into the organisation’s formal or informal performance review process. Developing specific skills that provide fair and just performance review is an important undertaking for new supervisors or managers. Question: Outline the organisational annual performance review process.
Handling Difficult Situations Not all situations that come before the new supervisor or manager will be easy to deal with. A main responsibility and obligation in a supervisory or managerial capacity is to address, and many times, confront difficult and uncomfortable issues. You will need to develop some skills for handling a variety of difficult situations that supervisors or managers will face. Question: Using examples, explain how you currently deal with difficult situations.
Handling Performance Problems Not all direct reports perform satisfactorily. Performance problem situations are a supervisor or manager’s defining moments. The way these defining moments are dealt with can either trap you in a cycle of limitations, decreasing the quality of your work life, or enable you to manage performance effectively. You will need to develop a model for confronting and addressing performance problem situations in line with organisational policies and procedures. Question: Using examples, explain how you currently deal with performance problems.
Difficult Direct Reports Often. Supervisors and managers must deal with direct reports—or others who deliberately make life difficult. Failure to develop the skills necessary for handling these unwelcome situations undermines credibility and effectiveness. No matter what the issue you must make effective and quick interventions when necessary. You will need to develop effective skills for those interventions. Question: Using examples, explain how you currently deal with staff who make life difficult.
Your Influence Potential Leadership is the process of influence. Social power is a person’s influence potential—it is the resource that enables a person to induce compliance, or gain commitment from others. Understanding how to build effective power bases and the appropriate use of those power bases is a critical skill for effective supervision and management. The appropriate use of social power by managers and supervisors establishes their character and integrity. Question: Using examples, explain how you develop appropriate social power in your role.
Coaching Style Flexibility. Among the many responsibilities required to effectively manage others, coaching is at the top of the list. A leader must recognise the performance needs of the direct reports and give them the confidence that they can accomplish their task responsibilities through their own efforts. You will need to develop a framework for coaching performance - with an emphasis on flexibility and diagnosis. Question: How do you currently diagnose coaching needs and decide how to respond?
Initiative and Delegation. The two resources supervisors and managers have for managing the performance of others is—time and influence. Like any resource that you invest - you want the highest return possible. This means spending your time—this finite resource - wisely. Not leveraging your time means losing your influence. You will need to develop skills for creating initiative, preventing upward delegation and effectively delegating appropriate tasks. Question: How do you currently ensure you obtain the highest possible return on your time?
Barriers to Success Now, consider the two common scenarios below and consider these proactive ideas to prepare the road to being an effective supervisor. Barrier #1: You’ve now got the opportunity to supervise the way you always thought it should be done and you jump right into being that person. A few weeks down the road, you are confused and frankly, a bit angry, when your staff don’t respond positively. In fact, you are hearing in the rumor mill that they actually liked the old supervisor better than you. You ask yourself, “what’s up with that?” It’s time to put on the brakes and repave the road. One of the first lessons in managing people is that each person, department or group is unique and requires a different supervisory approach. What works for you, might not work for your staff; furthermore, what works for you might not work for your manager either. Make this your first step as a new supervisor: do an assessment of the current environment. Here are two suggestions: 1. Meet with your immediate manager. Ask your manager what he or she expects from you as a supervisor. Gain clarity on the communication with your manager: how often and about what? Does he or she prefer face-to-face meetings, e-mail , virtual meetings or phone calls?
Gain clarity around decision making and authority: what decisions are within your realm to make, where should you be making recommendations only and what role would your manager like for your staff in decision making? Find out your manager’s assessment of your area: what does he/she see as the area’s strengths, areas for improvement and needs? Gain clarity around the goals for the area and deadlines. Ask about any resources that might be available to you, particularly in the early months in the new position. Ask for your manager’s support and advice. Schedule a follow up meeting right then and there to get feedback on your performance as you put these things to practice. 2. Meet with each member of your staff. Commit to listen first, and then speak. Find out what leadership style works for each employee and how he or she operates best. Use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership to diagnose what supervision is needed to help the individual grow. Use Herzberg’s Theory of Motivation to discover what elements are important to each individual in creating a motivational environment. Please answer the following questions on the next page.
Question What types of skills do I use in my current position?
Do I need any additional training or new skills?
How often did your former supervisor give you feedback?
Did that work for you or would you like more/less?
How involved have you been in determining the best methods for doing your job?
Have you improved the processes in the past?
Do you have any ideas as to how the current processes could be improved?
When you reach a goal or have a success on the job, what is the best reward for you?
How do you like to be recognised (public or private)?
Answer
Be persistent in uncovering any expectations an employee may have of you as the new supervisor. A word of caution: Be careful not to make promises in the heat of the moment that are impossible for you to do. It’s better to say, “I’ll check into this or thanks for your input; I’ll take it into consideration and get back to you with answer,” than promise, and not deliver. If you say you’ll follow up, do it. This is the time when the staff will be testing you to see how trustworthy you are. Don’t be surprised to hear that these meetings are being discussed among the staff. Be sure you treat each person consistently and fairly. They’ll be watching for favoritism or negative bias, especially if you’ve been promoted from within the work area. Speaking of internal promotions, barrier #2 deals with the problems created when transitioning from peer to supervisor. This topic often generates the most discussion and heartache for new supervisors. Barrier #2: You thought that your friendships with your peers would remain the same after you got promoted. Now, you realise that they are treating you differently, and honestly, you are treating them differently as well. This weekend you have your regular get together and you aren’t sure whether it is a good idea to go or not. You think to yourself, “I never thought getting promoted would mean losing my friends.” One of the most difficult workplace transitions is from peer to supervisor, and probably, the most common. After all, you were very successful at your job and know the employees, the work area, processes/ systems, company values and expectations. Promoting from within has its clear a dvantages, but this road can end up with deep potholes, like the one above. Again, the key to overcoming these problems is first, to come out of “denial” and recognise that being promoted to supervisor means your former work relationships are going to change. Second, be assertive and willing to initiate communication to address the issues before they damage your relationships with others and your ability to supervise. Start by having an upfront and direct conversation with each of your former peers/ friends.
Surface how your new role will affect the working relationships and come to some mutual agreements on what you will talk about (and what you won’t) and what will be expected in the new relationship. It is very important to acknowledge that you are forming a new relationship here – there will be some losses (closeness from gossiping about peers or talking negatively about management perhaps) and some gains (maybe some of the ideas that have been floating around might actually get implemented now). What is most important is that you open the dialogue and bring the issue out into the open. You now have the opportunity to define what is expected of each of you in the different situations that might occur before they happen and cause problems or damage good friendships. It doesn’t end there though. When differences or new situations occur, be ready to address them and set new guidelines that work for everyone. As the supervisor, recognize that you may need to be the one to initiate the conversation. Another word of caution: When you get p ressure to leave it alone or reassurance that nothing needs to change, state firmly that it does and the reasons why. Recognise that while at first, the staff might welcome your nurturing and understanding and buddy-buddy status, in the long run, if you appear to be more of a “friend” than “supervisor,” they may doubt your ability to be effective – including making difficult decisions that are best for the work area and handling the poor performance of staff members. These are just two of the possible potholes for new supervisors. The best thing you can do is to uncover all the possible problems (don’t forget ones like the direct report who knows more about the work area than you do or the staff member who wanted the promotion and didn’t get it) and work out a strategy before you are face-to-face with the situation. Being proactive rather than reactive prevents you from making the mistakes caused by shooting from the hip. Use your manager and others as a good resource; learn from their mistakes and successes. Speaking of learning from others, what 10 pieces of advice would you give a new supervisor?
Being proactive rather than reactive prevents you from making the mistakes caused by shooting from the hip. Use your manager and others as a good resource; learn from their mistakes and successes. Speaking of learning from others, what 10 pieces of advice would you give a new supervisor?
Number
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Advice
1.1 Explain the role of their own occupation within an organisation and industry Draw a chart of your organisation (or department), including your colleagues’ job roles and to whom they are responsible. Who would you discuss your training and development options with? List three opportunities for training and development provided by your employer. Draw a chart of your organisation (or department), including your colleagues’ job roles and to whom they are responsible. Describe an organisation’s principles of conduct and codes of practice Name any other bodies (professional / regulatory etc.) relevant to your area of business If you have a grievance, who would you report it to? How much notice do you need to give to your employer when applying for annual leave? What are the arrangements for notification of sickness in your organisation? How much sick pay are you entitled to in your organisation? Name five powers that the Health and Safety Executive have. Name three characteristics that may need to be accounted for within health and safety policy Who is the health and safety representative in your workplace? List your organisation’s dress code. Explain why it is important to be punctual at work. List three examples of changes to your personal circumstances that would need to be reported to your employer, and to whom you would report these changes List your organisation’s dress code. Describe the employer and employee statutory rights and responsibilities that affect their own role Explain why it is important to be punctual at work. List three examples of changes to your personal circumstances that would need to be reported to your employer, and to whom you would report these changes Give three examples of legally binding contract terms What are the four types of discrimination covered under racial discrimination? Give an example of indirect discrimination in terms of race. Give three examples of aspects of employment that are covered by sex discrimination law. Give three examples of when sex discrimination might not apply. Under what circumstances can positive action be applied? Name five aspects of employment relating to age that fall under the protection of the Equality Act 2010 Give three examples of disability discrimination. How many days paid holiday a year are employees entitled to? How much notice do you need to give to your employer when applying for annual leave? How much annual leave are you entitled to? What is the statutory level of sick pay? In what circumstances would an employee not qualify for SSP? What are the arrangements for notification of sickness in your organisation? How much sick pay are you entitled to in your organisation? Name five powers that the Health and Safety Executive have. Name three characteristics that may need to be accounted for within health and safety policy. Name two responsibilities that employees have under health and safety legislation. Give one example of a health and safety regulation and explain how it applies to your workplace. Who is the health and safety representative in your workplace?
Learning outcomes 1. Be able to manage personal performance
2. Be able to manage their own time and workload
2. Be able to manage their own time and workload 3. Be able to identify their own development needs
4. Be able to fulfil a personal development plan
Assessment criteria 1.1 Understand the shared responsibility and investment in an individuals’ personal development 1.2 Agree, with line manager, specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound (SMART) objectives that align with business needs 1.3 Agree criteria for measuring progress and achievement with line manager 1.4 Complete tasks to agreed timescales and quality standards 1.5 Report problems beyond own level of competence and authority to the appropriate person 1.6 Take action needed to resolve any problems with personal performance 2.1 Plan and manage workloads and priorities using time management tools and techniques 2.2 Take action to minimise distractions that are likely to limit the effective management of time and the achievement of objectives 2.3 Explain the benefits of achieving an acceptable “work-life balance� 3.1 Identify organisational policies relating to personal development 3.2 Explain the need to maintain a positive attitude to feedback on performance 3.3 Explain the potential business benefits of personal development 3.4 Identify own preferred learning style(s) 3.5 Identify own development needs from analyses of the role, personal and team objectives 3.6 Use feedback from others to identify own development needs 3.7 Agree specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound (SMART) development objectives that align with organisational and personal needs 4.1 Agree a personal development plan that specifies actions, methods, resources, timescales and review mechanisms 4.2 Make use of formal development opportunities that are consistent with business needs 4.3 Use informal learning opportunities that contribute to the achievement of personal development objectives 4.4 Review progress against agreed objectives and amend plans accordingly 4.5 Share lessons learned with others using agreed communication methods
Part 2 Managing Personal Performance Personal development Myrko Thum defines personal development as: the conscious pursuit of personal growth by expanding self-awareness and knowledge and improving personal skills. Wikipedia’s definition says: Personal development is ‘the deliberate growth or development of an individual to bring out their potential and capabilities’. Clearly, from these two definitions it can be seen that the benefits to an individual are significant because it equips a person to improve throughout their personal life as well as their career. In Part 1 you started to reflect on you as an individual as well as the motivational and leadership style that you adopt to inspire your team to get the job done to the highest possible standard at the lowest cost. From your reflections, start to identify some objectives for you to achieve, which are aligned with the business need and values. Then agree these with your line manager. SMART objectives In order to be effective, objectives should be SMART – specific, measurable, achieveable, realistic and timebound – SMART. An example of a smart objective is:
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