Wednesday, March 13, 2013

QUALITY SUPERVISOR TRAITS

It has always been my contention that the toughest job in the BSC industry is that of the site or area supervisor. They seldom hear of the good things they are doing and ALWAYS hear about things that are wrong.

Their job is so tough because they have to wear many different hats during the course of a day or nights work. Let me identify some of the hats good suprervisors have to wear.

FIREMAN--The supervisor has the responsibility of taking care of the complaints or requests from customers. Depending on the day, when they come to work they will have a list of places they have to be, probably all at the same time, to meet with the cleaning staff to review the situation that needs attention or to meet with a customer direct to view the situation.

One that I remember most was customers that would call at 5 PM and inform you that they had a board of directors meeting at 9 the next day and would we please shampoo the carpet tonight. That's a fire that needs attention NOW. The client knew of the board meeting for 3 months but let's us know the night before. Having said that, it is also a time that good supervisors can really shine and show their ability to get things done.

Or how about the customer that has had a bad day and decides its the janitors fault and threatens to cancel if we don't "clean the place up" tonight. Oh! and the supervisor is 3 people short tonight. Now, we really find out the fireman capabilities of the supervisor.

POLICEMAN--Here is where the supervisor has to take disciplinary action against employees who have decided not to comply with the policies of the company or the customer. That means the supervisor needs to know company policy and make a decision or decisions, and not just "send them to the office tomorrow".

I recall a few years ago having to break up a fight between two of our employees in the CEO's office of our client. That was bad enough but one saw it necessary to throw their coffee cup at the other one and it sprayed all over some imported wallpaper. That is when I had to become a

DIPLOMAT-- Early the next morning I was in the CEO's office mustering all the apology ability I had and of course offering to pay for all damages. He of course took me up on the offer but I did save the account. By the way, going back to being a policeman, the two fighting employees were asked never to come back and that gave them the opportunity to fight at home on their own time.

Anyway, the good supervisor has to have the ability to calm the nerves of an irate customer that they might encounter as well as being diplomatic in working with employees to correct problems in the facility. There are times that the employees are doing a good job but the customer just had a "bad day" and diplomacy is the order of the day in order to retain otherwise great employees. I am a great believer in working to retain employees and not playing "gotcha" in order to terminate them. With the high cost of recruiting and training new employees, it  is far better to develop the employees you have if at all possible.

ACCOUNTANT--The good supervisor also has to be a numbers person. They have to be able to understand labor and supply budgets for the buildings. In addition, it is their responsibility to closely monitor the hours and dollars spent in order to recommend any adjustments, up or down, that need to be made. This is a critical part of a good supervisors responsibility.

In addition, there are those times when the employee feels their paycheck is incorrect and the supervisor becomes entangled with explaining how we are going to solve the issue. In the last few years, with direct deposit etc., hopefully your supervisors are not delivering the checks which just wastes an entire shift in answering questions that many times they don't have the answers to anyway. But the fact remains, being an accountant is a major responsibility of a great supervisor.

COACH--Here the supervisor continues to train and teach the employees in their area on how to do the work faster and more effecient. This, as you can well imagine, is also a critical part of the great supervisor responsibility. It requires knowledge and patience.

As new products and procedures are introduced into the workplace, the great supervisor has the responsibilty of learning them so they can properly implement and follow up in their area. This is big.

So...there in a very abbreviated article you have what I consider the 5 major hats a great supervisor will have to wear in order to be really effective in their position. One of the best times I have when working with my clients is when we do this workshop with current and prospective supervisors. I use all the props such as a fireman's hat, a policeman's badge, a passport for a diplomat, a coach's whistle to get their attention, and all the pens and pencils we can find to be the accountants. Each year at the ISSA and BSCAI conventions, I get asked, at least once, by past attendees if I brought my fireman's hat. I looked foolish with it on but the attendees remember and, after all, isn't that what learning is all about? So the five hats are

FIREMAN
POLICEMAN
DIPLOMAT
ACCOUNTANT
COACH

Now let me ask you.

OWNERS--Are your providing the learning opportunites for you supervisors so they can excel for you and your customers? They need all of these skills if they are to be effective. If they aren't as good as you would like, is it because you aren't affording them the learning opportunities?

SUPERVISORS--How skilled are you in these 5 hats? Do you need to learn more? Are you taking responsibililty to learn more without waiting on your employer to provide all the learning workshops. Remember, spend 30 minutes a day learning more about what you do and in 5 years you will be an expert in the industry.

The timing has never been better to learn and develop the skills needed to be successfuly. Between  BSCAI and ISSA you have a wealth of learning tools available. Take advantage of them and excel at what you do. My very best to you.

Till next time.

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