John C. Kimball
copyright 2013
Supervision
One of the greatest challenges a business owner faces is finding good managers. The supervisors of any staff must reflect the goals of the organization’s owners, and must develop a style that motivates people to positive action. This essay is about the principles and techniques of supervision and will demonstrate the writer’s ability to analyze problems in the supervision of employees, and to apply these principles and techniques in the workplace. It will provide a glimpse of the often dark and backwards supervisory world of the modern copier dealership. It will compare this environment to a football coaching style, and will contrast it with the finest in modern employee supervision and support styles. We shall discuss factors that suggest the need for supervision, current trends influencing ideas about supervision, a short history of supervision in America, characteristics of good or poor supervision, common mistakes supervisors make, the impact of technology on supervision, and the most important lessons I have learned in the field of supervision.
The Purpose of Supervision
The purpose of supervision is to provide workers with the support needed for maximum effectiveness, i.e. productivity. The productivity of American workers and the accompanying culture of middle management speak volumes about the need for supervision. Supervisors allow the corporate vision to infiltrate the collective conscience of the workforce. Varying backgrounds, attitudes, and education levels of employees may undermine the organization’s goals, unless these disparate individuals are brought together as a team. In this way, supervision is about team building. Empowerment and conflict resolution are key components of this formula. The best employees are those who have a sense of belonging and ownership in their positions, projects, and responsibilities. It is the supervisor’s job to make sure the workers are satisfied, productive, and have that sense of belonging and personal ownership vital to the organization’s success.
Trends Currently Influencing Ideas About Supervision
My recent experience spans 13 years with varying degrees of authority and responsibility, and two different industries: six years in sales promotion and sign copy editing for a major fashion retail chain, and seven years in the printing and document management support side of the copier industry. These very different experiences are demarcated by the overarching concepts in customer service that permeate all supervision. I will demonstrate the difference between the relatively recent employee-support style of supervision popular with high tech manufacturers and forward-thinking retail businesses, and the old-school football coach style still favored by hardware distributors and car dealers.
Case Study #1: The Copier Industry
There exists in our culture a somewhat old-fashioned “football coach” style of supervision. This method is still employed in some sales organizations, on the premise that in order to motivate sales representatives, management must intimidate them into giving their alls for the sake of the deal or risk reprisal or financial ruin. This premise is inherently faulty because it leads to worker burnout and resentment, and because there are a finite number of truly gifted sales representatives in the workforce at any one time. A company that becomes known for abusive, top-heavy micro-management will fail to attract the cream of the crop for its sales force, and will alienate salaried or non-sales personnel.
I twice worked for copier dealerships where the football-coach philosophy of supervision was practiced, to differing degrees. In the first example, Minolta Business Systems (an American subsidiary of the Minolta Corporation, a Japanese company) operated a dealership in Foster City, California. The corporate philosophy of the parent company seemed quite innocuous, even noble: The Japanese word, pronounced “Me-noh-roo-ta,” means literally, “the ripest stalk of rice bends its head the lowest,” that is, the more successful you become, the humbler you should be. The principle works well for Japanese business, where deference and displays of humility are the norm. But something was lost in translation. The Americans acting as supervisors in the Bay Area of California seemed intent on self-aggrandizement and glory grabbing. And indeed, even the Japanese managers seemed to accept that this was the American way, hiring and promoting six-foot-plus white males to manage their branches, and encouraging the gridiron concept wherever possible by hiring famous former coaches as keynote speakers at national dealer meetings.
The second example is from a more recent experience, of a copier dealership that shall remain nameless. At this organization, the owner and president is actually a high school football coach who thinks if he had only stuck it out in college, he could have played professional football (despite his small stature). He promotes and hires managers who are extremely aggressive, and has drafted a consultant who provides a hiring process for finding the hardest-selling sales reps. The result of all this aggressiveness is that when a gentler soul is accidentally hired, capable of selling a great deal of equipment but who operates with a human touch, he is quickly beaten to an emotional pulp in a barrage of verbal abuse disguised as motivation. And though the employee may be a great producer, raking in the cash, trips, and awards with the best of them, he will not last. He is drying up emotionally. His need for belonging; for personal value and supervisory understanding is unmet, and in this dearth of human resources support, he will soon become very unhappy.
On the other hand, the technical services side of this same organization seems at first to be a safe harbor for intelligent, sensitive persons who are willing to work diligently for less cash and prizes, provided their supervisors listen to them and value their ideas. On this side of the house, supervisors have to be more creative in order to motivate employees. Often the application of a promotion, raise or bonus with a kind word of recognition before the peers of the worker will motivate this personality to excel. However, underlying this reasonable exterior is a more desperate and sinister concept. Even though approximately half of the company’s revenue is derived from the sale of service and supply contracts, these technical workers are viewed by the upper echelons of the sales hierarchy as a necessary evil, somewhat undesirable and definitely a money drain. They are almost expected to say the wrong thing to customers, and to complain about wages and working conditions.
I managed a team that sits in the no-man’s land between the sales and service sides of the organization. This virtual battlefield goes by the nondescript title of Network Sales Support. The industry trend that has created the necessity for this division is the advent of digital technology in the formerly analog copier world. Once this technology was updated in the 1990s, these copiers began to connect to computer networks as multi-function devices capable of printing, scanning, and faxing. As a result of that trend, software solutions were developed for electronic document management, archiving and retrieval, cluster printing (connecting multiple copiers for production printing), and electronic forms conversion (printing of digital forms on laser print engines rather than on old-style, noisy line printers with expensive pre-printed forms). Customers’ needs for these technologies have lengthened the sales process and made it more complex. The Network Sales Support team fills in the gaps in the pre-sales technical qualifying of customers, and assists the service department with complex software installations and troubleshooting.
I call the previous trend (and the philosophy of the entire copier industry) reactive. Since almost all of the current copiers are manufactured in Japan, the American presence is primarily a sales and service industry. Taking a page from the car dealerships of the 20th century, they have decided that a “get aggressive and clean up the mess later” philosophy is the best both for managing customer contacts and for supervising employees. I have hired and fired employees in this industry, which is replete with non-compete contracts and mistrust.
Case Study #2: The Fashion Retail Industry
When I worked at Nordstrom, I learned a management philosophy known as “the inverted pyramid,” in which customers are the most important persons, and are supported at the top level. Below them are salespeople, who provide customer service directly to the retail customers. As the inverted pyramid narrows, department managers and store managers uphold salespeople. Buyers and merchandise managers support the store managers and department managers, and regional managers meet the needs of buyers and merchandise managers. Top management is at the bottom (tip) of the pyramid, providing support to all levels of the organization through delegation. When we in the sign shop started to feel neglected or exploited, we sometimes referred to this revered management tool as the “money funnel,” with a nod to its validity all the same. In my post-fashion retail days, I have come to respect this model as a worthy ideal, not too closely followed by those who claim it but still a fine example for all to follow.
All the same, Nordstrom is a good representation of an organization attempting to supervise its staff effectively. Management training is mandatory and ongoing. Diversity and sensitivity training are conducted in the most politically correct of venues. A priority is made of hiring without prejudice. Programs are in place to put mentally challenged people to work in respectable, esteem-building positions. A more willfully cheerful sales staff is not to be found anywhere (except, insidiously, at Disney, where drug-addled twenty-somethings with dress-code hair and mawkish grins serve perfect snow cones and bottomless ten-dollar Cokes).
Indeed, Nordstrom succeeds in supervision because they have infused the culture with a mantra that tortures its victims waking or sleeping. That mantra is its golden goose, driving thousands of shoppers back for more “Quality, Value, and Service.” The mantra is: Go the Extra Mile. Department managers praise outstanding customer service, even though it costs much more than closing a simple sale to drive a customer’s altered skirt 60 miles each way for delivery before the big party or for no reason at all. Employees are recognized as “All-Stars” if they can out-serve one another. All of this deference and assistance is touted over and over by supervisors, with the effect of establishing a true (if false) sense of camaraderie and ownership. Nordstrom is doing something right. They have the highest sales per square foot of store space of any major fashion retailer, and they are opening new stores every year.
Problems And Challenges Supervisors Face
Supervisors must be able to promote and support the goals of the organization, while staying human toward the employees. This balance is difficult if the supervisor has an emotional connection to the employees, because the human relationships are of less concern to the organization than is productivity. This struggle can be characterized in a number of ways (a guide leading a team up a mountain, a juggler, etc.). But one of the best ways to look at this balance of humanity and productivity is to imagine the supervisor standing in the middle of a stream. Goals and orders are flowing from upstream, and must be intercepted and passed via communication to all points downstream. With proper tools and skills, the supervisor can keep all of this organized, but without those utilities, the department or team can quickly deteriorate into chaos and be swept away. Imagine the supervisor intercepting a project request. He repackages it to make sure it will float, and then carefully puts it back into the stream, calculating the trajectory as best he can. Once it leaves his hands, the project begins to bobble and spin. The supervisor will be tempted to chase after it and redirect it. But look! There in the stream are the employees. They can pick up the package and drop it back in the stream where it needs to be. Meanwhile, the supervisor is working on Communications. Time management. Review schedules. Details. Updates and meetings. Reports. Project management. Tardiness. Dishonesty. Team building and ownership. The hardest thing for supervisors to do is to keep all of this organized, without losing the human touch. A poem by Rudyard Kipling (1909) says it best:
If—
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about; don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim:
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can trust your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!
One of the best organizers I know is also one of the worst supervisors. Sadly, the “whole” person is all too rare in middle management.
Historical views on supervision in America
150 years ago, slavery was still a legally acceptable practice. Child labor laws have been enacted and enforced to reasonable levels within the past 100 years. Some supervisors have had noble values throughout history, and the same holds true today. American society as a whole has embraced good labor practices, even if not all employers have. Unreasonable, unjust, and overbearing supervisors exist now even as they always have, but there is more support from the legal system for employees than there has been in the past. A big reason for this is the labor/management disputes of the 20th century. Organizations have come to realize that they can’t treat people like machines and get away with it.
I was surprised to discover, after years of working for supportive Nordstrom in liberal California, that there existed an entire industry of professional people, acting as if they were upright business people, who actually were almost exclusively selfish and dishonest. The copier world offered higher pay, at the price of your soul. Quality was less significant than money to supervisors (a sacrilege at customer-focused Nordstrom), the effect of which was a desperate craving for money among all employees, and a bitter rivalry for the “deal” rather than for the customer’s satisfaction.
Characteristics of good or poor (effective or ineffective) supervisory practices
Good supervisory practice values the individual, and manages the position. It documents both positive and negative worker activity, and is consistent and non-discriminatory. Effective supervisors are reasonable and merciful. They assign corresponding authority and responsibility. Good supervisors are good leaders. They lead by example, taking the bull by the horns and inspiring trust and loyalty in individuals. The best supervisors will embody sensitive application of the following principle: there should be a balance between spontaneity and process. That is, spontaneity is good so far as it goes, but within the boundaries of process.
Poor supervisory practice manages the individual, and values the position. By this I mean that the supervisor is more concerned with the minutiae of process than with overall results, and that the strict guidelines set up for each position are more important than conscious thought and decision-making. This may seem like a remote distinction, but in practice it is a clear contrast to good process. This supervisor documents nothing, is inconsistent, unreasonable and merciless, and assigns responsibility without authority.
Good supervisors are aware of the principles of empowerment. Matching authority with responsibility means everyone who is given a job is granted access to the tools needed to complete that job. And creating “ownership” or personal responsibility in employees is a process of trusting people, within pre-determined limitations.
“Never sacrifice the important on the altar of the urgent.” An experienced supervisor would be able to prioritize the important matters, while dealing with the urgent ones. A new or poorly trained supervisor would tend to become overwhelmed by urgent matters and neglect the truly important ones. An experienced supervisor should understand the need to communicate regularly with every person who reports directly to him or her.
The ultimate goal of supervisory practice is to further the health of the organization. That is, to make a validated contribution to efficiency, growth, and profitability. Good supervisory practice recognizes that the best way to establish the organization’s health is to pay attention to the individuals doing the work. A supervisor who is aware of this principle will look for ways to motivate the individual while monitoring the work that is being done. Consistent documentation will reveal that there is no favoritism in the department, and that everything is being done fairly. If the supervisor is inconsistent with documentation, he or she will constantly monitor some individuals and neglect or reward others unjustly, and people will begin to feel singled out and harassed.
A good supervisor will understand the various needs of employees with and without children, and will also make an effort to grant reasonable requests for time off. This attitude will give the organization a human touch, and will motivate employees both to produce at a higher level and to meet their organizational goals. A poor supervisor will attempt to force people to work harder, without consideration for their outside lives. This attitude breeds bitterness and contempt among employees, and has the opposite effect on their performance. Regarding expectations and performance, a reasonable and merciful supervisor will have both minimum expectations (high enough to meet company goals) and award-level expectations (for those who are able to perform above and beyond company goals). Meeting minimum expectations is acceptable, and meeting higher expectations allows for employees to receive additional money, time off, etc. For this system to work, the various levels of expectation must be clearly spelled out to everyone on the team at all times.
Common Mistakes Supervisors Make, And the Effects
One of the common mistakes supervisors make is neglecting to maintain consistent organization over the long haul. They allow people to slip into a rut, or perform below expectations, without making proper adjustments. The effect is less ownership than before, and ultimately a less cohesive, far less effective team. Another common supervisory mistake is allowing personalities to rise above principles in the administration of reward and discipline. This is one I have been guilty of; simply put, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. A person who hints that they would like recognition or particular days off may be less likely to receive what he requests than the person who demands or repeatedly asks for it. I confess that this is NOT what I learned in my Saint Mary’s management training, but there it is. I have allowed my mind to be corrupted by the lack of consistency or principle-driven action at the place where I work. It’s not difficult to manage in this fashion; neither is it appropriate or respectful to the employees. It assumes that they are nuisances to be endured, rather than individuals to be acknowledged and treated as equals.
Good Supervision: The Same In Every Setting Or Situation?
The principles of supervision are the same for any situation, but the application of these principles may vary from one scenario to another without violating the governing principle. It is when the manager compromises the principle that supervision begins to slide. For example, one supervision principle that is nearly universal is that superiors should not engage in romantic behavior with the employees they oversee, and similarly, that favoritism between employees is to be avoided at all costs. This principle governs supervisor/employee relationships in the negative sense, and protects organizations from harassment lawsuits.
The Impact Of Technology On Supervision
Supervisors can communicate with more people instantaneously because of advances in communication media. However, this efficiency tends to define relationships, rather than building them. For example, a conference call is more efficient than calls to several individuals, but group dynamics dominate and there is no true personal interaction between individuals. A “cc:” email is a great way to create a communication with an audit trail, but the wording must be carefully chosen with a view toward motivating people without offending them. This requires awareness of individuals, professional language standards, and common yet innocuous sayings. I have, since becoming a supervisor, made the closing statement “All the Best” in all of my professional emails. I have also, within the last couple of years, begun closing my voicemail greeting with the words “…and I hope you have a great day.”
Conclusion
The Most Important Lessons I've Learned in the Field of Supervision
1. Treat others the way you would want to be treated. When a supervisor comes in late, finishes getting dressed at the office, and leaves early, it sets a poor example to the employees. And when the employees are expected to be on time, fully prepared to work, and work a full day, the double standard is painfully obvious.
2. Remember always that the family is the basic building block of our society. If employees know their families are valued by their supervisors, they will be more secure, less likely to look elsewhere for work, and more likely to work hard for their employer.
3. Manage performance, and value people. This concept cannot be overstated. When a supervisor calls a team meeting to review performance, there should be no shame, no finger-pointing, no singling out individuals for ridicule. The results of everyone’s performance should be measured against realistic and objective goals, and let the emotional chips fall where they may. The emotional reactions of individuals to healthy competition is not the supervisor’s concern. The supervisor merely provides an environment where the competitive spirit can flourish. And that thought leads to perhaps the best tool in the supervisor’s toolbox.
4. Healthy competition with real rewards can be a great motivator. It has been known for centuries that sales contests and “performance blitzes” are successful. One of the best things my current employer does, is to compete for the same customer base with multiple, independent branches within a few miles of one another. This allows supervisors to motivate staff on diverse teams, doing similar work, to raise performance to best practice standards without compromising the corporate culture.
