Having been assigned the role of the head of Quality control department with a couple of departmental directors, inspectors and managers to supervise, boosting the morale would be the initial step to solicit for better performance levels.
How many times do the employees wish to finish their tasks and depart? How many times do they wish for a break, have a day-off, wish for everyday to be a Friday? Worse still, how many times do the employees fake illness to be away from work? The answers are a reflection of the employees’ morale, either high or low.
Constant communication between the top management and the frontline employee boosts the employee’s morale. Expectation is the key word to the issue of low morale. “When morale decreases for whatever reason, productivity usually tumbles right along with it.” (Salerno and Brock, 2008) The signs of low morale are constant employee absenteeism, work related accidents and, increase in dissatisfaction especially among the customers.
As the Vice President, the supervisor ought to focus on the employees’ mood revived through motivation and safeguarding their activity levels to boost the low morale.
Performance means the company’s expectations from the employees. What are the job expectations? It is important for a newly appointed supervisor to understand what is required for the employees. For instance, the training materials have to cater for their physical expectations for example, the performance hours, the working environment or the schedules.
As the leader, the supervisor has to play a major role in practical production: a good leader does so by example. It is equally important for the supervisor to be clear and upfront on the requirements.
The accountability expectations are equally crucial. The employees have to know supervisor’s expectations and understand their responsibility and accountability. Accountability calls for testing procedures especially after training. There should be criteria for provision of feedback to them especially when it is required for behavioural change.
A good communication system ought to offer provisions for giving feedback on performance. Employees should be in a position to move to any managerial level to voice their concerns thus use the feedback as a learning tool. Giving the employees a chance to contribute to managerial thoughts enables them to feel appreciated and valued and implementing good employees’ ideas motivates them.
Training at the departmental levels and the company at large comes in handy during the implementation stage. A good supervisor explains the reasons for not implementing a suggested idea thus the employee still feels important. Achievement is a major source of motivation thus resulting to productivity. Work related stress is one of the key source of work related pressure and consequently poor performance. There is therefore urgent need for control of personal stress and circumstances.
The supervisor has to teach the directors some stress management skills such as taking time-out of an event as a training procedure. Appreciating the efforts is also a good way of encouraging the stress management. According to Burton (2000), a supervisor should inform the employees on what to expect when dealing with the specified business expectations.
To have an achievable goal, it is important to boast a well-defined set of direction. The short and long-term goals assist in service development, improvement of quality, error correction or reduction, training better customer-focused personnel and, ability to having better internal and public relations.
The supervisors need to define the goals and good reasons for setting them. According to Burton (2000), “A goal is a statement indicating the organization’s desired future achievements.” Long-term goals are strategic statements indicating where the organization ought to be at a specified time in future while short-term are tactical, with results having a basis on departmental levels.
Goals are set to serve as an “internal source of motivation and commitment as a guide to actions and means of measuring the business performance” (Burton, 2000).the employees are able to conceptualize and coherently agree on the organization’s future endeavours. The supervisor focuses on enhancing an understanding organizational strategies or culture that assures employees achieve the set goals.
If a goal provides a description of the achievement, then it is specific or focused. It states the organization’s exact aim and is ease in understanding for those involved. Good and clear communication calls for a well-written form of the specified goals to assist in formation of objectives and action plans. A measurable goal is quantifiable to establish baseline data and a target for measuring and benchmarking progress.
Attainable goals indicate chances of achieving or accomplishing targets. Although challenging, a goal should have a connection to the involved employees in the achievement. The supervisor and the directors from the various departments have to come to a mutual understanding with regard to the set goal, time and resources. Flexibility is equally a requirement for modifications until the achievement of the set goals (Salerno and Brock, 2008).
The mission and vision of an organization must be in terms with the appropriate achievements depending on the set goal. Each goal ought to moves towards achievements. Relevant goals support other organizational goals, thus enhancing consistency. The short-term goals are also consistent with the long-term. An achievable goal has a bound on time. It has a starting, intermediate and end. Limiting the goal on time assists in focusing towards achievement.
Conclusion
Reorganization calls for change, which is inevitable in most upgrading scenarios. This however causes a main challenge, that most employees are afraid of sudden and massive changes, thus the need to brainstorming as an advance strategy to accepting the changes in the day-to-day normal activities. Change should “bring new opportunity for personal growth, accomplishment and organizational success“(Salerno and Brock, 2008). The supervisors need to consider realistic expectations during the changes.
One way to encourage this change is by enhancing departmental powers for creativity and interventions especially when dealing with challenges that require certain department’s innovative solutions. The directors need to expand their value to the organization by offering solutions to the existing challenges. The company faces challenges connected to changes but eventually these are temporary risks, which require bonus managerial considerations and willpower.
References
Barton, R.B. (2000). Organizational Goal Setting and Planning. Murray State University, Murray, KY. Web.
Salerno, A. And Brock, L. (2008). The Change Cycle: How People Can Survive and Thrive in Organizational Change. Berrett-koehler Series. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.