🍀 Effective Onboarding of New Supervisors Isn't a Matter of Luck 🍀

 

 

 

 

Just like four-leaf clovers, high performing leaders are hard to find and develop.  Creating an effective onboarding program for supervisors will help.

Most organizations have a onboarding program for new hires. Most don't have a good one for new supervisors and managers. 

In simple terms, onboarding is intended to help new employees learn:

1. HR basics (E.g. Safety, organizational policies, compensation, benefits, time keeping, where the restrooms are :) etc.)
2. Expectations of the work. 
3. Resources to be successful.
4. Rules of the organization.
5. Context of the organization (Culture, structure, values, management style etc.).

If onboarding is important for employees, think how important it is for new supervisors because of the ripple effect they’ll have in the organization. In addition to the standard onboarding topics 1-5 above, supervisors need  to know additional things for items 2-5 including policy administration, compliance, communication, performance management/development, and conflict resolution to name a few.

Many organizations only have vague expectations for their supervisors and managers such as "maintains good employee relations," "effectively supervises employees," "promotes teamwork" or "fosters a positive work environment."

Check out our blog post that highlights the importance of having crystal clear role expectations for supervisors: The One Thing New Supervisors Need Most

Bringing new supervisors and managers up-to-speed is tough. 

Whether you’re looking for a new, streamlined process to train your new hires, or want to supplement the existing program you’ve built, it’s tricky to quickly get a new manager up to speed.

…That’s not to say it isn’t critical.

One report found 60% of new managers under-perform (or fail) in their first two years likely because 58% of managers say they didn’t receive any management training or coaching.

Don’t fancy your new hires falling into that group?

Follow this guide to new supervisor and manager development and learn how to set first-time supervisors and managers up for success, along with the supporting material you can use to make sure they’re an asset in your company.

Why Bother Developing New Supervisors and Managers?

You want to make sure all of your supervisors are successful, right? After all, supervisors have a huge impact on their entire team.

A bad supervisor or manager could cause a whole host of problems to start in your company, including unproductive staff. Managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement which could be the reasoning behind why just a third of the employees in the US are engaged.

There’s more to it, though.

Low productivity levels, a lack of engagement and dissatisfaction at work could cause health issues–something American companies spend $360 billion treating each year as a result of bad managers.

Ever heard the phrase, “people join a company, but they leave a boss”?

It’s true. A study found half of all employees admit to leaving their companies because of a bad boss, which could result in high (and unnecessary) staff turnover; not to mention the loss of high-quality talent that could be more expensive to replace.

11 Key Skills a New Supervisor Should Learn

Now you know the importance of new manager training, it’s time to build a program that’ll teach them how to be a fantastic role model in your workplace.

But what skills need to be built through their training program?

Here are five essential skills your new manager training curriculum need to work on to set them (and your business!) up for success:

1. Making the Switch from Individual Contributor to First-Time Manager

It’s easy to work independently as the member of a team. You’re in control of the work you complete, not others, and it’s not your job to hound or motivate other people to meet their own deadlines. In fact, you were probably rewarded or even promoted because you were so productive as an individual contributor.

That’s not the job of a leader–which is why it’s so difficult to go from individual contributor to first-time manager.

You’ll need to teach your new managers how to deal with this change. They’ll need to learn how to get results through others, and paradoxically why they don’t want to quickly answer questions and solve problems. In other words they need to become more coach-like.

There are four transitions that new supervisors or managers need to make:

• A transition in relationships
• A transition of role
• A transition in skills
• A transition in perspective

These are perhaps the most difficult transitions for people to make, yet with the proper framework, awareness, training and coaching, it can be done. 

2. How To Give Effective Feedback

Employees thrive on feedback. It’s the best way to provide actionable advice that’ll help them improve in their job, especially when 92% of employees believe redirective feedback improves performance. In fact, not giving feedback will actually disengage team members as they feel that they they don’t matter, or they are not advancing in their skill set and career.

But there’s a difference between just criticizing someone and giving effective feedback. Instead of shying away from giving constructive criticism, or unknowingly de-motivating staff with the negative wording of their suggestions, educate your first-time managers on the basics of delivering actionable, effective and meaningful feedback. They need to learn when and where to give the feedback, and an effective 3-part strategy for making the feedback a positive experience for all involved.

Their entire team, and your organization, will benefit!

3. How To Delegate Effectively

“Why should I delegate when it’s so much easier to do it myself?” is a common question that many first-time managers might ask. Granted, they do have a point. We all want to simplify our to-do list, right?

And in fact, it often is faster and easier for the manager to just do it. After all, in most cases they have more experience or talent than their direct reports.

But new managers need to realize that delegating isn’t just to save themselves time; delegating develops their team members. It increases the future capacity of the entire team.

And effective delegation is different than just dumping assignments on people. New managers need to learn how to prepare the task, assign it to the right person, do appropriate check-ins, and conduct a final evaluation.

As a result of delegation, the relationship between both can develop since trust is being built. That’s something you’ll need to focus on, considering just 20% of the workforce trust their management team.

4. One-on-One Meetings

Somewhere along the road, meetings have gained a reputation for being a huge waste of time. 

While you don’t want to be the type of company having meetings about meetings, first-time managers need to understand the power of weekly or bi-weekly one-on-one meetings with each team member.

One-on-one’s have the dual benefit of engaging the team member, and increasing work results. As the the 1:1 is considered the direct reports meeting, communication scores increase and feelings that the manager cares about them as an individual skyrockets.

The meeting is also great for alignment. Has the team member been working on the wrong thing? Have they been delivered the wrong information? Are they waiting for a co-worker to complete something, but a mismatch in communication means the project is stalled for no reason?

All these questions, plus many other common team problems, can be highlighted–and more importantly, resolved–with productive one-on-one meetings.

5. Being a Coach-Like Supervisor or Manager

Old school management was about setting expectations and measurable objectives and making sure employees were meeting or exceeding them. Falling short was often handled with stern warnings and “progressive discipline”.

Today, managers need to move from performance management to performance development. Managers need to be continuously coaching their team members to higher and higher levels of performance. This means new managers need to master a new skill set: coaching. How can they use goals, accountability and questioning to elicit the performance they need while engaging their team members in a positive relationship?

Coaching can come in a variety of forms. But whether they’re helping staff with their own professional development or career growth (something 87% of millennials say is very important) or addressing a more acute issue, it’s critical all new (And established) leaders work on this skill.

Open to Further New Supervisor Training and Coaching? Develop These Other 6 Skills

We all know there’s more that goes into a managerial role than just five skills.

Although each five are extremely important (and could make or break the success of your first-time supervisor or manager), you could also consider building these six management skills into your onboarding process:

6. Excellent communication: Deadlines, budgets and to-dos keep a team in sync, but you can’t achieve perfect harmony if your new supervisors can’t communicate effectively. Productivity improves by up to 25% in organizations with connected and informed employees, which is why your new managers need to learn how to listen, explain things clearly, and make sure their team understand what they’re saying. 

7. Team building: “Teamwork makes the dreamwork”, right? It’s true: Companies and organizations that communicate effectively are 4.5x more likely to retain the best employees. Your manager’s department won’t meet deadlines (or do the work) if they don’t work together. They need to learn what motivates their team, and understand how to foster a community of teamwork.

8. Reflective and problem-solving skills: Has something gone wrong? Whether it’s a mismatch in expectations or an individual’s fault, managers should be able to spot the problem by reflecting on it, and find a way to prevent it from happening again. 

9. Resilience: All leaders should be role models for their team, but that can’t be achieved if your new supervisors aren’t resilient. In the words of Amy Modglin, “the true grit of a leader is not how they perform during the good times but rather how they display emotional strength, courage and professionalism during the most trying times”.

10. Adaptability: It’s not uncommon for things to go against plan. (It’s why plan B is so popular!) But, if that happens, your new managers should know how to adapt. This is something 91% of HR directors predicted would major recruitment goal in the future.

11. Conflict prevention and resolution: Have two team members fallen out, or suffering with a bunch of employees that aren’t listening to their manager? Your new managers should learn how to prevent and resolve resolve conflicts in the workplace–something that causes 385 million working hours to be lost every year.

What Should Your New Manager Training Program Include?

Now you know the skills a new manager should learn, but should the new manager curriculum look like–what delivery options should it have–to be effective?

The Importance of Ongoing Coaching

Did you know that 87% of companies admit to not doing an excellent job developing leaders at all levels? The training and support you’re delivering to first-time managers shouldn’t stop when they’ve completed their training.

You need to offer coaching to your leaders–even if they’ve passed their first few months of management with flying colors.

Here’s how to coach your first-time managers, and make sure they’re leading your team effectively in the months (or years) that pass their initial training. 

Set Regular Check-ins
The “sink or swim” method shouldn’t be your motto throughout the first few months of your new managers’ role. Why? Because your new managers might be struggling with something, and not realize there’s an easier way to do it until their mentor shows them. 

However, setting regular check-ins can prevent this from causing problems in your workplace. By setting weekly or bi-weekly (but no longer than monthly) catch-ups, you can spot and solve them before their entire team suffers.

Get Feedback from Their Team
It’s hard to self-evaluate. Even if your first-time managers know what they need to work on, they might not be as good at confidently saying the things they’re proud of.

However, supporting their sessions with feedback from the team they’re managing can help them quickly improve–and give them confidence they’re doing a good job!

That’s why you should regularly ask the mentor you’ve chosen to survey the new manager’s team for feedback. What are they doing well? What can they improve on? The answers to these questions could give them a confidence boost, while also create a list of next steps to make them even better.

How to Measure Your New Supervisors' Success

Your new manager and their mentor have had weekly meetings for the past six months. But, you might still be questioning: Are there any other methods I can use to determine how successful my new managers are? 

The short answer is yes.

Here are two types of survey you can use to get a broader take on the performance of your first-time manager:

Employee Engagement Survey

After your managers have at least 6-12 months of experience, you should establish a quantitative measure of their performance. 

One reliable measure is to include them in your employee engagement surveys. These feedback forms help you to analyze how engaged your entire workforce is, their happiness at work, and discover how effective their managers actually are.

But, don’t keep the results of your employee engagement surveys private.

Once your staff have filled-in this survey, give your first-time manager their own score. That way, they’ll be able to see their performance, and how it stacks up to other managers.

360-Surveys

You could also factor-in 360-surveys as a way to measure the success of your new managers. 

Robust multi-rater 360 surveys gather feedback from the manager’s team members themselves–giving individual managers personalized feedback on their work.

A 360 survey typically includes feedback on:

• Overall team satisfaction
• Manager effectiveness
• Performance against a variety of competencies

Final Thoughts

As you can see, bringing a new supervisor or manager onboard is a complex process. You’ll need to build a comprehensive first time manager training program, evaluate their skills, and commit to a coaching program that’ll encourage them to constantly improve.

But, offer an inclusive onboarding program that covers all three and you’re bound to set all new supervisors up for success.

Seneca, the wise ancient Roman philosopher, remarked, "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity."

To your greater success and fulfillment,

 

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

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