1. Q: What is the mission of the company? What are the goals employees should be working for?
2. A: I do not really have time for that kind of stuff. I have to keep the organization running.
3. Q: If there is no mission, how do employees understand what the focus of their job should be?
4. A: They understand that they need to do their jobs.
5. Q: What about goals or objectives?
6. A: Again, I do not have the time for that, and I have never needed such stuff in the past.
7. Q:
   That may be true, but you are much larger now and do need to
   communicate these things in some fashion. How do employees know what to
   focus on: quality, quantity, customer service, keeping costs down?
8. A:
   All of those things are important, but I get your point. I never
   actually indicated anything about this to them. I simply took it for
   granted that they understood it.
9. Q: What type of management style do you want supervisors to have, and how do you promote that?
10. A:
    I assumed that they would supervise like me. I always listened to them
    when they were workers. I believe in treating everyone with dignity and
    respect and expect others to do the same. I do not have any method to
    transmit that except to follow my style.

HR Systems

1. Q: What criteria are used to select, transfer, and promote individuals?
2. A:
   I hired a firm to do all the hiring for me when I was expanding. I told
   them I wanted qualified workers. As for the promotion to supervisor, I
   picked the best workers.
3. Q: Best how? What criteria were you using?
4. A:
   Well, I picked those who were the hardest workers, the ones who always
   turned out the best work the fastest, and were always willing to work
   late to get the job done.
5. Q: Are there formal appraisal systems? If yes, what is the information used for promotion, bonuses, and so forth?
6. A:
   I do not have time for that. I believe that people generally know when
   they are doing a good job. If they are not, I will not keep them.

Job Design

1. Q: How are supervisors’ jobs organized? Where do they get their information and where does it go?
2. A: Supervisors receive the orders
   for each day at the beginning of the day and then give it out to the
   relevant workers. They then keep track of it to see that it is done on
   time and out to the customer.

Reward Systems

1. Q: What incentives are in place to encourage employees to work toward the success of the organization?
2. A: Well, I think I pay them well.
3. Q: Does everyone receive the same amount of pay?
4. A:
   At the present time, yes, because they are all relatively new
   supervisors. I do plan to give them raises based on how well they are
   performing.
5. Q: But you indicated that you do not
   really have a method of informing them what you are measuring them on.
   How are they to know what is important?
6. A: Well, I will tell them. I guess I need to be considering that issue down the road.

Performance

1. Q: How do the supervisors know what their role is in the company?
2. A: I told them that they needed to supervise the employees and what that entailed.
3. Q: How do they find out how well they are doing in their job? Is there a formal feedback process?
4. A: I talk to them about how they are doing from time to time, but I get your point and will think about that.
5. Q: Are there opportunities for help if they are having problems?
6. A:
   Take this problem with the yelling and getting employees angry at them.
   I have talked to them about it and have offered to get them training.
7. Q: How do they feel about that?
8. A: Actually, they thought it was great. As I said, none of these supervisors have had anything in the way of supervisory training.

Methods and Practices

1. Q: What are the policies, procedures, and rules in the organization? In your view, how do they facilitate or inhibit performance?
2. A:
   I really do not think there is anything hindering their performance. I
   am always willing to help, but I also have work to do. That is why I
   promoted employees to supervisors, so I would not have to deal with that
   part of the business.

   After gathering information on the organization, the consultant
   gathered operational analysis data from the manager (owner). The
   consultant used the method provided in Figure 4-3. What follows is a
   portion of the completed form.

JOB TITLE: SUPERVISOR	SPECIFIC DUTY: BE SURE WORK IS COMPLETED AND SENT TO THE CUSTOMER ON TIME
Tasks	Subtasks	KSAs
Organize jobs in manner that ensures completion on time	Examine jobs and assess time required	Knowledge of types of jobs we get Knowledge of times required for jobs to be completed
	Sort and give jobs to appropriate employees	Organization and prioritizing skills Knowledge of employees’ capabilities
Monitor progress of work	Talk to employees about their progress on jobs	Knowledge of proper feedback Effective feedback skills Helping attitude
	Examine specific job products during production to ensure quality	Knowledge of quality standards Quality assessment skills
Listen effectively	Provide feedback to employees about performance	Knowledge of effective listening skills Knowledge of conflict styles Conflict resolution skills Knowledge of proper feedback Effective feedback skills Positive attitude for treating employees with respect
And so forth . . .

Next,
the consultant met with the supervisors, first as a single group of
nine to do an operational analysis and then individually to discuss
individual performance. He chose to use a slightly different approach to
the operational analysis because he expected that they might have some
problems working from the form used with the owner. The following
excerpt comes from that interview.

To begin the meeting, the consultant said:

I
am here to find out just what your job as supervisor entails. This step
is the first in determining what training we can provide to make you
more effective in your job. First, we need to know what it is you do on
the job. So I am going to let you provide me with a list of the things
you do on the job—the tasks. Let me give you an example of what I mean.
For the job of a salesperson, I might be told a required task was to
“sell printers.” This description is too general to be useful, or you
might say you must “introduce yourself to a new client,” which is too
specific. What we need is somewhere in between these two extremes, such
as “make oral presentation to a small group of people.” Are there any
questions? OK, let’s begin.

1. Q: Think of a typical Monday. What’s the first thing you do when you arrive at work?
2. A: Check the answering machine.
3. Q: That is a little too specific. Why do you check the answering machine?
4. A: I need to return any important calls from suppliers or customers.
5. Q: What do these calls deal with?
6. A: Complaints usually, although some are checking on the status of their job.
7. Q: Anybody else do anything different from that?
8. A: No.
9. Q: What do you do next?
10. A: Examine the jobs that have come in and prioritize them based on their complexity and due date.
11. Q: The task, then, is organizing and prioritizing the new jobs you received. What next?
12. A: Meet with each subordinate, see how they are doing, and distribute the new work.
13. Q: Tell me what “see how they are doing” means.
14. A: I make sure that they are on schedule with their work. I check their progress on the jobs they are working on.
15. Q: OK, so check on progress of subordinates is the task. What next?
16. A: After all the work is distributed, I check to see what orders are due to be completed and sent out today.
17. Q: OK, but I guess that assumes everyone is on schedule. What do you do if someone is behind in their job?
18. A:
    Depends how far behind the job is. If it is serious, I may simply take
    the job away and give it to someone I think can do the job faster.
19. A: I do not do that. I find out what the problem is and help the person get back on track.
20. Q: So you spend some time training that person?
21. A:
    Well, sort of. It is not formal training, but I will see why the person
    is having problems and give some of my “tricks of the trade” to speed
    things up.
22. Q: Anybody deal with this issue differently?
23. A:
    I do not usually have the time to do any training. I will give it to
    someone who can do it, or in some cases, just do the job myself.
    Sometimes that is faster. After all, we have all this useless paperwork
    that we have to do.
24. Q: I want to come back to the
    paperwork, but first, are you saying that no standard exists for dealing
    with employees who are having problems with particular jobs?
25. A: Sure there is. The boss expects us to train them, but with the pressure for production, we often do not have time to do that.
26. A:
    Well, I agree with that. Even though I do stop and spend time helping, I
    often feel the pressure to rush and probably do not do a good job of
    it. I do try and tell them what they need to do to improve in the
    particular area.

Although the format used in the
session starts first thing in the morning and continues through a
typical day, clues often emerge as to other tasks that are done. The
mentioning of “tell them what they need to do to improve” causes the
consultant to focus on that task and what other tasks are related to it,
because the owner did indicate that providing feedback was an important
task.

1. Q: OK, let’s look at the
   issue of telling them how to improve. We could think of that as giving
   feedback to employees. What other tasks require you to discuss things
   with subordinates?
2. A: We are supposed to deal with their concerns.
3. A:
   Yeah, that’s right, and also we are supposed to meet one-on-one with
   them and discuss their performance. Trouble is, these new employees are
   know-it-alls and not willing to listen.
4. A: You’re right about that. On more than one occasion, many of us resort to yelling at these guys to get them to respond.
5. A: Boy, is that ever true.
6. Q: What about the paperwork?
7. A:
   Well, it is stupid. A clerk could do it, but we are expected to do it.
   If we do not, then billing and other problems come up, so we have to do
   it or else. …

   A: Yeah, it takes away from us being out here where we are needed.

   And so forth. …

   Other questions that might be asked:

   What is the next thing you would do in the afternoon?

   The next?

   What is the last thing you do in the day?

   That
   pretty much describes a typical day (Monday in this case). Is there
   anything you would do at the beginning of the week (Monday) that is not
   done at other times?

How about at the end of the week? Is there anything you do then that is not done during the rest of the week?

Is there anything that you do only once or twice a week that we missed?

Now think about the beginning of the month. What do you do at the beginning of the month that is not done at other times?

How about the end of the month?

Is there anything that is done only a few times a month that we might have missed?

The beginning of the year?

The end of the year?

Are there any tasks that we may have missed because they occur only once in a while?

You
will note that often it is necessary to redefine the task statements
for the incumbent. This art comes with practice. The following list
contains some of the tasks and relevant KSAs obtained from the TNA.

Tasks	KSAs
Deal with customer complaints	Knowledge of effective listening processes Knowledge of conflict resolution strategies Listening skills Conflict resolution skills
Organize and prioritize jobs	Knowledge of types of jobs received Knowledge of time required for various jobs Organization and planning skills
Check on progress of subordinates’ work and provide feedback on performance	Knowledge of proper feedback processes Communication skills
Deal with concerns of employees	Positive attitude toward treating employees with respect Knowledge of effective listening processes Knowledge of communication strategies Positive attitude toward helping employees

Next,
for the person analysis, individual meetings with supervisors and one
with the owner (supervisor of the supervisors) were conducted. The
questions came right from the job analysis and asked about the
supervisors’ knowledge of the areas identified, the skills needed, and
their attitudes toward issues identified as important in their job. The
introduction to the interview was as follows:

From the
interviews, I have listed a number of knowledge, skills, and attitudes
that are necessary to be an effective supervisor here at Fabrics, Inc. I
would like to ask you how proficient you believe you are in each of
them. By the way, do not feel bad if you have no understanding of many
of these concepts; many do not. Remember, the information gathered will
be used to determine how to help you be a better supervisor, so candid
responses are encouraged. In terms of having knowledge of the following,
indicate to me if you have no understanding, a very low level of
understanding, some understanding, a fair amount of understanding, or
complete understanding.

The results of the TNA identified a number of KSAs (training needs) that were deficient, as well as some nontraining needs.

Addressing Nontraining Needs

The following nontraining issues need to be addressed to help ensure that supervisory training will be transferred to the job:

• Have
  owner (either with others or on his own) determine the goals and
  objectives of the company and which aspects of performance should be
  focused on.
• Set up a formal appraisal system where, in one
  session, the owner sits down with each supervisor to discuss performance
  and set objectives. In another session, performance development is
  discussed.
• Use objectives set for the year and clarify how rewards (bonus, pay raises, and so forth) will be tied to the objectives.
• Set
  up similar sessions for supervisors and subordinates in terms of
  developmental performance review (at a minimum). Also, consider
  incentives based on performance appraisals.
• Hire someone to relieve the supervisors of some of their paperwork so they can spend more time on the floor.

  And so forth. . . .

Training Needs

Several
training needs were evident from the needs analysis beyond what was
indicated by the owner. Specific to those issues, however, supervisors
were particularly candid in indicating that they had never been exposed
to any type of feedback or communication skills. They had no knowledge
or skills in these areas. Attitudes in this area were mixed. Some
believed that the best way to provide feedback is to “call it like it
is.” “Some of these guys are simply not willing to listen, and you need
to be tough” was a typical comment from these supervisors. Others
believed that treating subordinates the way you would like to be treated
goes a long way in gaining their support and willingness to listen.

A partial list of training needs includes lack of knowledge and skill in:

• Effective listening
• Communication
• Conflict resolution
• Effective feedback
• Employee performance measurement
• Employee motivation . . . and so forth