Business Resources

Supervisor Responsibilities 101: Tips For New Supervisors

Once you have been promoted to supervisor, you may feel overwhelmed with the new level of responsibility. It’s not uncommon to shift into the role of a new supervisor without any practical knowledge on how to be most effective in the role. Just what does it mean to be a supervisor?

Supervisors are responsible for setting team goals and objectives, providing motivation to employees, assistance and support, and delegating tasks. When employees are unsure of what they will be working on or how to do something, they will turn to you for the most accurate information. It’s important to fully understand the ins and outs of the workplace to be a good supervisor.

In addition to delegating tasks and keeping employees up to date with procedures, supervisor responsibilities also extend to hiring new employees and taking care of orientation and training.

As the supervisor, you may be responsible for choosing your team which can influence the overall office environment. As part of the hiring process, you will need to draft job descriptions, evaluate resumes, and carry out the interview process. Once you’ve hired a job candidate, you will need to be able to explain in depth all of your company’s policies. A good orientation should not only help your new employee feel at home in the office, but should make your job easier in the long run with well-trained employees.

Often, the least desirable part of supervising includes managing poor performance or inappropriate behavior. Managing workplace issues is the most dreaded aspect of supervising, yet it is undoubtedly one of the most important supervisory responsibilities to master if you want to ensure that your workplace is welcoming, productive, and profitable.

Communication skills are also an essential part of any supervisor responsibilities. If employees are unhappy with anything in the workplace, they should be able to speak to you about any concerns. This could include disagreements with colleagues, concerns about their career development, or questions about policies and procedures. By learning how to listen effectively, you will be able to respond to your employees in the most effective way possible, which also helps with motivation on the job.

Dianne Shaddock is the Founder of Easy Small Business HR, Employee Hiring and Managing Tips. Through the Employee Hiring and Managing Tips podcast, blog, and weekly ‘quick tips’ e-newsletters, Dianne offers expert advice on how to make better hiring decisions, manage difficult employees, develop employee policies, motivate staff, and so much more. No stuffy, corporate HR policy lingo; but straight forward, easy to understand and implement advice for businesses just like yours. Stay ahead of the curve and go to Easy Small Business HR for more tips on how to hire and manage your staff effectively.

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Guest Post: Five Ways Business Owners Can Prohibit Workplace Violence

According to the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) over two million American workers are victims of workplace violence each year. Defined by OSHA as violence or the threat of violence against workers, workplace violence can happen at any place or time – no one is immune. For this reason, employers are increasingly concerned about prevention methods.

There are measures business owners can take to help prevent violence and protect their employees. The following are five solid ways an employer can be pro-active:

Zero-Tolerance

Employers should establish a very clear zero-tolerance policy against workplace violence. Make the policy known. Establish a program. Incorporate the information into an existing operating procedures manual and/or employee handbook. Include procedures for handling workplace violence situations and stress that all reports of such incidents will be thoroughly investigated.

Eyes and Ears

Installing security cameras in all areas of a workplace is an ideal approach. However, if it’s not possible to include complete coverage, consider installing cameras in high-risk zones. Stairwells, parking lots, loading docks and points of entry are all locations that could potentially be at greater risk for a violent situation. Workers feel a sense of comfort knowing that a watchful eye is kept on their place of employment.

The Bare Essentials

Employers should require their employees to carry only the minimal amount of funds necessary for any job that requires going into a community setting.

Safety in Numbers

Business owners should try to avoid having employees perform job duties alone in areas that are unfamiliar. This holds especially true for second and third shift work or jobs performed in high-crime areas.

Reachable Resources

Provide accessible resources for employees in need of counseling or other assistance. This can apply to employees who need stress management in their daily lives. Or, it may apply to employees who were the victims of a violent threat or action and require the help of a mental health professional.

Alexis Bonari is currently a resident blogger at College Scholarships, where recently she’s been researching scholarships for Asian students as well as athletic grant programs. Whenever this WAHM gets some free time she enjoys doing yoga, cooking with the freshest organic in-season fare, and practicing the art of coupon clipping.

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New Hire Paperwork Checklist: Important Forms Not To Overlook

The following are a list of documents that you should have on file for every new employee. The amount of time that businesses should keep these documents may vary from state to state.

Resume or Job application
Federal and State Tax Forms
Employment Eligibility Form, (I-9)

Resumes/Job Application

Having a resume or a job application on file is not a legal requirement, but a best business practice as it will be important to have a record of your employees’ experience for the job that they were hired for.

Federal and State Tax Forms

Employers are required to submit federal tax forms to the Internal Revenue Service for employees on the staff payroll. State tax form requirements vary from state to state. To learn more about federal tax form requirements go to IRS.gov.

A handy site to review and download federal tax forms is Forms.gov.

The Federation of Tax Administrators, (FTA) is a great resource if you are looking for downloadable state tax forms for your specific state.

Employment Eligibility Form, (I-9)

Employers are required to verify that al employees hired in the U.S. are eligible to work in this country. The I-9 form meets this federal requirement by requiring employers to obtain verification of citizenship by asking new hires to provide specific documents like a U.S. passport. Learn more about these requirements and download the I-9 form at Forms.gov .

Depending on your business, there may be additional forms that you may choose to create that are specific to your company which will enhance your record keeping and employee tracking goals:

Direct Deposit Forms
New Employee Orientation/On-boarding Checklist
Confidentiality or Conflict of Interest Agreement
Performance Review Form

Don’t get overwhelmed by the idea that having a variety of forms will make your business more of a bureaucracy by adding forms that you don’t need. Start with the basics and only add additional forms if it makes sense for your business.

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Three Critical Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs Workplace Policies

If you are like many small business owners and supervisors, you likely have not developed any written policies or standards that highlight your expectations for employee behavior or performance in the workplace. You also may subscribe to the school of thought that you don’t need any “official” standards or policies because you have a small business or because you are managing a small group of employees who are professional, productive, and problem-free. You may even feel that to have policies and procedures in place will negatively affect the sense of community that you have developed in the workplace.

Every business should have specific policies in place that clearly outlines your expectations of your staff in terms of their overall work performance. This includes your position on arriving late for work, attendance, time off, inappropriate behavior, and other workplace standards. This is a best management practice no matter how small the business.

There are numerous problems that can occur when you do not set clearly written and communicated workplace standards for your employees. Many of these problems may be brewing under the surface and not readily apparent to you. Some common workplace issues:

Accusations of unfair or preferential treatment: It’s natural when supervising staff that you make decisions on a case by case basis depending on the circumstance. One very common workplace scenario that is likely to be perceived as unfair treatment is when you allow some employees to arrive to work later than your standard business hours, but require others to arrive on time. Although you may have given a specific employee permission to arrive late because the employee will be working later in the evening to complete a special project, your employees who arrive on time, aren’t aware that there is a specific reason that one employee has been allowed some scheduling flexibility. This can cause feelings of resentment and the perception of preferential treatment.

Taking this scenario one step further, what if you have an employee who is chronically late for work with no reasonable excuse as to why? It’s natural to reprimand the employee for being late for work under the circumstances and require that the employee arrive to work on time. When the reprimanded employee sees that there is someone else in the company who is consistently allowed to arrive to work late, you risk accusations of unfair treatment in the workplace since there are no standards in place that highlight that there may be specific exceptions to be made in terms of arriving late for work.

Poor Morale: If it appears that some of your workers are allowed to “get away” with anything in the workplace without any apparent consequences, your best workers may wonder why they should continue to work as hard. This often leads to reduced productivity and initiative. You risk losing your best employees who often become frustrated when steps aren’t taken to address poor performance or inappropriate behavior in the workplace.

Potential Loss of Revenue: It goes without saying that when you have employees who are not working up to their full potential, or who are not engaged in the work that they do, it affects the level of productivity and work quality, which in turn affects potential revenue. Dissatisfied employees are often “short” with customers, or don’t follow through on requests because they no longer feel connected to the company and its mission.

Workplace policies do not have to be long and complicated documents that no one can understand. Your standards can be easily summarized starting with the title and a brief paragraph which highlights your expectations. The policies or standards should then be communicated to your current employees and all newly hired staff via your website, email or in the form of a written document. Make sure that employees are reminded of these policies by distributing the policies once a year to staff.

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