Roles and
Responsibilities of a Supervisor:
Roles of Supervisors
ROLES OF
SUPERVISORS
Coach
A good supervisor
places a high priority on coaching employees. Good coaching involves working
with employees to establish suitable goals, action plans and time lines. The
supervisor delegates and also provides ongoing guidance and support to the
employee as they complete their action plans. Rarely can job goals be
established without considering other aspects of an employee's life, e.g., time
available for training, career preferences, personal strengths and weaknesses,
etc. A supervisor is sometimes confronted with walking a fine line between
being a supervisor and the employee's confidant.
Mentor
Usually the
supervisor understands the organization and the employee's profession better
than the employee. Consequently, the supervisor is in a unique position to give
ongoing advice to the employee about job and career. The employee can look to
the supervisor as a model for direction and development. An effective
mentor-mentee relationship requires the supervisor to accept the responsibility
of mentorship. A good supervisor can be a priceless addition to the career of
an employee.
Advocate for
Organization
Often, the
supervisor is the first person to tell employees about new policies and
programs from management. It's not uncommon that employees are confused or
frustrated by these new actions, and need further clarification and support
from supervisors. In the rapidly changing world of today's organizations, it
can be a major challenge to present new programs to employees without their
being frustrated or even cynical. The supervisor must be authentic, yet
tactful.
Advocate for
Employee
The supervisor is
often responsible to represent the employee's requests and to management, along
with also representing the employee's case for deserving a reward. For example,
if an employee deserves a promotion, the supervisor often must justify the case
for promotion to the supervisor's supervisor, as well. If the employee has a
rather unique personal situation that warrants special consideration by the
rest of management, the supervisor must explain this situation and how it can
be handled. It's not unusual for employees to sometimes see the supervisor as
part of "management" while at other times seeing the supervisor as a personal
friend.
Communication is vital to any organization. In this lesson,
you'll learn about communication channels in an organization, what they are,
and the various types. You'll also have an opportunity to take a short quiz
after the lesson.
