Behavior specialists suggest habits are responsible for up to 40% of daily actions. Understanding the role of habits, how they form, and what’s required to overcome them is information any supervisor can benefit from. In this episode, host Joe White provides several suggestions for helping employees move beyond undesired habits that adversely impact workforce performance.
Announcer:
The SOS Podcast is a production of AEU LEAD, an organization redefining how mid and frontline managers are developed.
Joe White:
Hello and thank you for joining us. I'm Joe White, and this is the Supervisor Skills: Secrets of Success Podcast. Today's recording is the first of four episodes we'll be releasing in 2025. For our returning listeners, I'm glad you're back. For those that are new, I'm both honored and humbled that you've joined us.
As we embark on our fifth season, there are a few subtle shifts we're planning to make in response to feedback received over the past year. While the SOS Podcast is intended for the ongoing development of frontline supervisors, our listeners are seldom made up of this target audience. More often than not, those that listen to the show are the ones responsible for developing or helping develop supervisors. With this understanding, we'll adjust how we present topics, and do so with the intent of reaching supervisors primarily through our listenership. As evidence of what this will look like, season five will involve four episodes prepared for those wanting to set up or make needed revisions to supervisor training efforts. Throughout this season, we'll cover considerations and steps required for putting into place a learning and development strategy designed for current and recognized future needs. We'll begin the journey today with a discussion intended to help you identify and better understand where needs now exist. To that end, let's jump right into it.
In a recent supervisor skills workshop, I covered five steps associated with ongoing performance management. For context, the topic is discussed in relation to the evergreen needs supervisors have for helping employees continuously improve performance outcomes. As part of the conversation, I asked the participants to distinguish the differences between feedback and coaching. While performance feedback was a term most were familiar with and expressed great comfort in providing, the same could not be said for coaching. As was the case in the reference session, participants acknowledged the need for an importance of coaching to support feedback, but recognized they collectively lacked the skills or experience required to provide it. A learning and development strategy is a comprehensive plan intended to prepare individuals or groups for success. By design, it accounts for both near-term and future needs, and considers past experiences as critical points of reference. In many instances, comprehensive strategies for the ongoing development of supervisors doesn't exist, and where it does, they're often grossly out of date.
Leader-manager development is a trending topic and one of growing importance, and for good reason. Research has continuously shown variability in employee performance outcomes is primarily attributed to the performance of supervision. This in part helps explain why supervisor development tops the list of priorities for HR leaders for the third consecutive year. Improving supervisor performance requires change. Change requires deliberate action based on recognized needs, and recognized needs are the underpinning to a strategy required for desired shifts to be realized. The primary objective of today's episode is to outline steps required for creating a learning and development strategy, or modifying an existing one. For anyone taking on the task, it's important to note, it doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to work. Ideally, it should involve a participative process, allowing subject matter experts and key stakeholders an opportunity for both input and involvement. Perhaps most importantly, it should bridge gaps where skills are needed but currently don't exist.
For anyone wanting to learn more, here are several thoughts I'd like to pass along for consideration:
Organizations have a host of legally mandated dos and don'ts they're required to adhere to. While some supervisors receive safety-based training, many are prepared for the full spectrum of circumstances they could be involved with. Supervisors should be familiar with policies intended to prevent and avoid discrimination or harassment in the performance of their job. They should also have a working knowledge of company leave and benefits associated with life events, such as family medical leave. In the regulatory space, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Another important consideration involves recurring issues that just won't go away. Look for patterns or trends in performance that have taken shape over time. As an example, if you are constantly having to remind someone of open task in need of completion, they could likely benefit from organization and time management training. If personnel issues routinely surface within a department or operational area, there's a good chance upskilling supervisors there could help. To improve points of frustration, you must deal with them head on.
Within the past few years, there's been an uptick in the number of resources available to help supervisors identify strengths and opportunities for improvement. Unlike blanket surveys, which provide group tendencies, assessments offer feedback based on individual needs. Assessment tools typically measure core competencies, such as accountability, decisiveness, adaptability and interpersonal communication skills. Where they exist, take full advantage of them as leading indicators for learning and development needs.
A catch-all term, feedback is any information you have or receive that could be used for targeted development. It can come from employees, managers, peers, customers or other stakeholders. It can involve both formal and informal channels of communication. For obvious reasons, it's important to verify any information received before acting upon it. That said, performance feedback is one of the most beneficial tools available to those wanting to develop or revise learning and development strategies.
Of the recommendations provided so far, each consider only past and present indicators for anticipated needs. To fully prepare supervisors for success, you must also take into account where they're going. The emerging workplace is technically advanced, automated in nature and ever-evolving. Analytical skills and digital literacy will be essential for those leading the next generation. In addition, skills and leadership in change management are at the forefront of critical needs people leaders now have.
More than at any point in the past, organizations are taking steps to prepare frontline resources for the challenges they routinely face. Many have struggled with knowing where to start and what to do. One-size-fits-all approaches are training on conceptual content most see no relevance in or applications involving doesn't work. Learning and development strategies should reflect actual needs. Labor law, pain points, and feedback from key stakeholders are all important considerations that should be taken into account. In addition, individual assessments used to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement, along with recognized future needs, are all foundations of a strategy capable of delivering the results required.
Thank you for joining us. It's my sincere hope you found benefit in our discussion today. We'll be back in June, and we'll continue our discussion on the topic of developing supervisors. In our next release, we'll dive into the mechanics of the learning strategy itself, what it is, why it's important, and how you go about creating one. I look forward to you reconnecting with us then. Should you have any questions or need additional information regarding today's topic or any we've covered, just let us know. Our contact information is provided in the show notes accompanying this episode. For those that may not have reviewed or rated your experience with this show, we would greatly appreciate you doing so. That's it for now, stay safe and thanks for listening.