Becoming a supervisor is a marker of career progression and a step in the right direction for people who want to help others reach their full potential. The best supervisors have excellent project management skills in addition to soft skills, such as adaptability and teamwork.
Supervisors play a pivotal leadership role in their organisations. They need to be someone an employee goes to for help, while also coaching them to achieve the best results possible.
The important skills a supervisor needs are:
It’s a supervisor's responsibility to delegate tasks to team members, direct workflow, manage company targets, and provide feedback for both the company and individual team members.
A supervisor also handles training, holidays, and shifts — in addition to other difficult jobs such as suspensions and terminations. Generally, a supervisor works directly with employees to keep an organisation operating at its best.
The day-to-day role of a supervisor is to boost morale, maintain productivity, and ensure the working environment meets everyone's needs. For example, if an employee is struggling, they may use some form of root-cause analysis to determine if the solution is more training or a workload adjustment.
The two roles are very similar in that they centre on leadership in some form, and often, the same skills and qualities apply to both.
Managers have a broader focus and also work alongside leadership teams, for this reason, they may not see the teams they manage every day.
On the other hand, supervisors typically work alongside the people they oversee and focus on more tactical day-to-day demands.
The telling difference between the two, however, is that managers tend to work with multiple teams, while supervisors mainly work with one team.
Regardless, managers and supervisors are invested in the health and happiness of their teams, as when either is negatively impacted, productivity and performance drop — or worse still, people resign and leave the business.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to supervising. When overseeing employees, it’s best to consider what leadership style fits with the company culture so that it is effective.
This is called situational leadership, where a leader alters how they lead to fit the workplace norms of the organisation. Above all, whatever the leadership's end goal is, it should always be to maintain a positive culture.
Unfortunately, supervisor training isn’t commonplace, and people often learn how to become good supervisors through experience alone.
Admittedly, this comes to some people more naturally than others. However, the following steps may prove useful to new supervisors.
Make an effort to really understand your employees. Ask them what their goals are and give them more responsibility if you think they are ready to accept it. Then, show your appreciation when they succeed.
The two primary sources of recognition include peers and managers, and both are highly effective at motivating employees. Fortunately, with Perkbox, everyone can show appreciation, regardless of rank or seniority. Plus, as each recognition is sent from the Perkbox app, employees can send recognition whenever and wherever they want.
Using the real-time recognition feed, employees can write personalised recognition messages and tag them to company values. What's more, managers can even attach points to each recognition they send, which employees can save or spend right away on thousands of rewards.
You shouldn't speak to employees like they're children, or shy away from delegating work that they can obviously handle. Moreover, reprimanding employees for small mistakes when not taking responsibility for your own is a terrible employee experience. So, own your mistakes and show everyone how to accept criticism and lead by example.
Another point of consideration is to treat your employees with respect regardless of whether it's their first day or their last. It doesn't matter if they are a new starter or an experienced employee handing over their responsibilities. Be kind and understanding regardless of the time they have left with you.
On a lighter note, when you treat employees as people, you get to know them better, which means you're in a stronger position to incentivise them, for example, with custom rewards.
People put their trust in confidence, and specifically confidence in leadership. However, confidence may not come naturally when a person is new to leadership. In these instances, it's important to remember that everyone has to start from somewhere.
Emotional intelligence helps to be a great leader, and while people vary in the amount they naturally have, it can be taught. Generally, leaders who respond rationally rather than emotionally go the furthest and experience the most success.
Great leaders also tend to make excellent mentors and can guide their teams to make the best decisions possible.
Around 90% of employees appreciate a supervisor who is a good listener. Listening doesn't mean passively hearing what a person says though — a successful supervisor practises active listening.
When a person actively listens, they first take in what is said, reflect on it, and then offer a helpful response. They could be on a video call supporting a remote colleague or in a meeting room in person — their approach doesn't change. They make notes and try to retain most of the information to revisit the conversation topic when necessary.
Active listeners are also proactive in what they talk about. For example, they may bring up learning and development opportunities after discussing career goals.
Managers who are good listeners can sometimes even prevent employees from reaching a point of burnout. For example, when people have financial issues, it is well known that the last person they confide in is their manager. However, if a manager has a good reputation for listening, employees may be more forthcoming about their problems.
Feedback is an incredibly valuable tool. Without it, a supervisor has no data to gauge if they are doing a job.
Most organisations use a suite of survey tools to gather feedback, from pulse surveys to polls. Generally, any program or solution a supervisor uses should include feedback or reporting functionality.
With Perkbox, for example, enhanced administration features enable supervisors and HR to gather data on employees who receive the most recognition, for example.
A supervisor should always prioritise their employees' wellbeing. However, we do realise it's sometimes hard to keep track of how an employee is feeling, for example, if they are under pressure at home or are living with an ailment that could be affecting their energy levels.
That said encouraging and empowering employees to care for their health is a step in the right direction and, in some instances, can even reduce sick days. There are many ways to promote employee wellbeing, such as creating a lunch walking club or suggesting that healthy snacks be provided in the office or break room.
Granted, this is more difficult with remote employees — however, setting small health-related challenges they can take part in not only boosts their wellbeing but can also increase engagement and productivity levels. Moreover, consider introducing digital team catch-ups or investing in team perks to ensure everyone feels included.
Many organisations are increasingly turning to digital resources to deliver a wellbeing program. All-in-one employee experience solutions, such as Perkbox, offer a range of wellbeing features. On the Perkbox app, for example, employees get access to an ever-expanding library of workouts, including HITT workouts, yoga flows, strength, and more.
Using an all-in-one employee experience solution, such as Perkbox, improves productivity and boosts morale.
With Perkbox, supervisors can recognise and reward their teams while offering thousands of discounts and deals. There is something for everyone, from savings on groceries and days out to DIY and hotels.
When employees are valued, they are better able to perform their jobs and are more willing to go the extra mile.
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