GPI 118 – Ask your supervisors where they need training – they will tell you if you ask.

Find out which supervisors need training; most managers are not effective managers of people.  Many supervisors are successful employees who did a very good job and were promoted to a job to supervise others, not a trait they necessarily demonstrated while working as a great employee.  They showed they were an exemplary employee able to quickly get a job description done on time and right the first time.  They may not have ever supervised anyone in their entire life and now you promoted them to give them more money.  This is a problem you have created for you and the new supervisor.

Promoting someone with no noticeable traits concerning the ability to lead and train others is worthless and wrong for the promoted as well as the company.  When offered more money but now faced with supervisory responsibilities for others, the guy obviously hesitated but of course took the money.  Now this untrained supervisor most likely needs to be trained, if not just for their career progress but for the immediate good of the company.

Questions to ask any group of supervisors about their experience and need of training:

• As a supervisor, had you had any experience before this job supervising employees?  Were you nervous or worried before you accepted this position, knowing you would be responsible for others reporting to you?
• Do you think the supervisors that you know well need some type of formalized company training?
• Are you aware of any supervisor that you privately feel puts the company at risk from a legal standpoint?  If you do, why do you feel this way?
• Have you witnessed anything out of a supervisor that should have been a terminating offense for that individual?  If kept confidential, would you state what it was?  If not, would you at least describe the offense that you witnessed?  If you describe the event you saw, the company can attempt to do some training about it.
• What type of training do you think the company supervisors should receive?
• What areas of the company’s policies and procedures do you think our supervisors need improvement training?
• About which part of the supervisors’ dealings day to day with numerous subordinates do you think they need some training or good procedural advice?
• If offered training, what areas of supervision problems would you want covered the most?  What type of training do you feel you need the most?  Why?
• As a supervisor, do you have problems in general with terminating employees?  If you have not had any in the past, would you like formalized company training for this action required of a supervisor?
• Do you think most managers need supervisory training or training for supervising subordinates?
• Do you wish you could be a more effective supervisor?  What areas do you want to personally improve?
• As a supervisor observing other supervisors, what is the one thing that you see lacking in other supervisors in the company that could be helped with formalized training?