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by Matthew J. Roberts, J.D.; Associate General Counsel for Labor and Employment, CalChamber
Frequently, human resources (HR) personnel have multiple roles — from benefits administrator to employee relations manager to other internal operation roles like event planner and facilities manager. With so many tasks within an organization, they often need help from other organizational resources to free them up for duties that require HR’s unique skills. Enter the supervisor!
In an organization, supervisors are the single best tool for performance management because they have the most complete knowledge for how job duties within their supervision should be performed and can best articulate why an employee isn’t meeting standards. The most successful employers provide their supervisors with consistent support and guidance to create streamlined and effective performance management.
Here’s some tips for how employers can best partner with and support their supervisors to ensure organizational performance standards are met and appropriate remedial actions are taken when necessary.
From large to mid-size to small businesses, supervisors perform vital day-to-day functions — operating as the organization’s eyes and ears in their respective departments. Because HR can’t always be everywhere at the worksite, the organization relies on supervisors to track daily operations. Further, supervisors are usually the subject matter experts in the work performed under their supervision and the most knowledgeable for managing and enforcing work expectations.
In addition, supervisors often manage their own departments, so they have significant power to alter an employee’s working conditions. For this reason, they often can either prevent — or create — employment compliance liability for employers with how they interact with their staff. In this sense, supervisors set the workplace tone and provide much of the workplace culture. Therefore, employers must give their supervisors the tools and resources to support their management responsibilities.
While traditionally the role of supervisors is to enforce company policies and practices, the most successful organizations teach supervisors to work like coaches. In any discipline, coaches are primarily responsible for the growth and development of their teams, aiming for the team’s success.
Effective coaching starts with clearly communicating expectations for their team. This includes being upfront and transparent about what performance goals or metrics are required for success and what the consequences are when those goals or metrics are not met. To help supervisors set clear expectations, the organization should work with each supervisor to develop a plan for what success looks like in their respective departments. Meet with the supervisors in each department to determine what job duties and responsibilities are essential and how those responsibilities fit into the organization’s policies and overall mission.
Effective coaching also recognizes the team’s strengths and the areas for improvement within the overall mission of the organization. Part of the planning process requires developing solutions for how supervisors can spur growth with their teams and address those areas for improvement. With a plan in place, supervisors can now act more effectively when managing performance.
Effective coaching and executing plans of action require supervisors to communicate effectively. To help supervisors succeed when interacting with staff, encourage them to:
In addition to managing performance, the game plan should include using supervisors as an enforcer of company policies and procedures. When doing so, provide the following best practices to supervisors:
As described above, supervisors as subject matter experts are indispensable when making disciplinary decisions. They know how the work should be performed, understand how the employee is not succeeding and can often recommend the best course of action for correction.
The first rule of thumb for supervisors either making or recommending disciplinary decisions is that the decision is rooted in a legitimate business reason. Help the supervisor identify the policy or expectation that is not being met and use that as the foundation for the disciplinary action. As always, instruct supervisors to exercise caution if the issue is attendance related because protected leaves could complicate the matter.
Next, supervisors should understand how to tailor actions or recommendations to the exact circumstances. On occasion, the supervisor may be required to investigate the issue and have a respectful conversation with the employee and other relevant people to make sure the issue is clear.
Once the supervisor is clear on the issue, it must be addressed with the employee privately as any conversations involving potential discipline or other employment actions are subject to privacy rules. Supervisors should then follow through with the same effective communication tips described above.
Lastly, documentation makes all the difference. It helps support decision-making and allows HR to collaborate more effectively with supervisors when determining disciplinary decisions. Documentation must be more than just a basic recitation of a policy violation and the type of discipline imposed. Provide supervisors with documentation training on the following best practices:
With these tips in hand, HR, supervisors and employees can work together to ensure all employees meet expectations and are collectively working towards succeeding in the employer’s overall mission.