How-to... Supervisor

Supervisor

This role is responsible for employees and the quality of their performance in the company. It is dedicated to incorporating human resources into the organization. Supervisor actively uses Doers tools.

Someone representing the role of Supervisor:

  • Makes sure Process Managers have trained Doers available.
  • Recruits or participates in the recruitment of new candidates.
  • Maintain their records and profile.
  • Match appropriate Doers with appropriate TaskPacks.
  • Trains Doers to execute TaskPacks.
  • Participates in creating an incentive program that really motivates Doers.
  • Participates in Doer evaluation and provides a qualified assessment of Doer performance.
  • Participates in handing over incentives to Doers.
  • Corrects Doer with feedback and additional training.

Areas of the Supervisor

Unlike the Process Manager, the Supervisor should be outstanding in the execution of TaskPacks from specific areas. It is usually a specialized area, but the area can also be of a general nature related to jobs that do not require any particular expertise.

This means that it can be a good idea for one of the better Executors to represent the role of Supervisor in their area in addition to performing their regular TaskPacks.

The Supervisor should be able to train new Doers or be supportive of training in a specific area when they are organized externally.

The Supervisor should be able to tell us why the Doer is not doing something well enough and the reasons why a Doer's performance failed.

This means that the Supervisor must have the necessary knowledge about processes and TaskPacks profiles and, on the other hand, about the profile of the Doer and his abilities.

The Supervisor is assigned to Doer. No special groups of Doers should be formally formed around the Supervisor.

Process Managers as Supervisors

In smaller companies, the same person can represent the role of Process Manager and Supervisor. Usually, Process Managers know best the functioning of the processes and TaskPacks they coordinate. Therefore, it seems logical that they should also be Supervisors, but there is a potentially big problem with that.

Locking into organizational units can occur where the Process Manager isolates himself in "his" process and isolates "his" Doers and "reserves" them only for himself. Thus alienating them from the entire process flow of the company.

It is up to the Top Manager to prevent such an occurrence.

Difference between Process Manager and Supervisor

The difference between Process Manager and Supervisor can be shown through an analogy with a medieval army.

Process Managers are officers who lead units in combat on the battlefield. These are combat actions in which different types of soldiers are engaged: sworders, horse soldiers, archers, etc., as required by the combat situation on the ground.

Supervisors are officers who, in military camps, recruit, assess, train and prepare soldiers for combat in various fields according to the need of battle: swordsmanship, horsemanship, archery, etc.

Supervisors and HR experts

It is common for companies to hire or outsource HR experts.

What is the relationship between the HR expert and the role of the Supervisor?

An HR expert can be a Supervisor only if he is outstanding in the execution of TaskPacks. But it is more advisable that the HR expert supports the Supervisor in the organization of the recruitment process, the selection of candidates, their training, and assessment of the impact of incentives, etc.

There can be more Supervisors in the company, and they are good experts in certain specific areas of business. Take, for example, an engineer from a special technical job or, for example, a designer for a specific field of design. Both Supervisors should be familiar with the processes and TaskPacks to mentor and monitor Doers. It is impossible to expect that from HR experts.