Monday, January 20, 2014

HOW MANY HATS

I received an e-mail reminding me that Monday, January 20, was the annual National Hat Day. Did you know that? I didn't. But it did get me thinking about a workshop that I have done many times for training Supervisors in which I discuss the many hats that a supervisor has to wear to do their job effectively. I thought I would share with you some of the hats they wear and see if you agree. It always makes for a fun workshop and we always get a lot of audience participation. So, here we go,

1. FIREMAN'S HAT---This is the hat supervisors tell me they wear most often. Not sure I agree with them  because of the importance of some of the other hats as well but it certainly is a critical hat.

Every day the supervisor comes to work and will, more often than not, have some building under their supervision that needs some special attention or frankly, has a complaint that has to be addressed THAT NIGHT OR ELSE. Ever had a situation like that? None of us like to admit it but we have all had them. I know I have.

2. POLICEMAN'S HAT---Invariably somebody is going to challenge the company's policies or is going to not do the job they should do for the customer or sometimes you may have employees who fight among themselves. It happens doesn't it? I can remember having to go to a building one evening to break up a lover's quarrel. Unfortunately they decided to have their altercation in the President's office and threw coffee at each other and splattered it on the very expensive wall covering. I had to go see the President the next morning. I DIDN'T WANT TO. In case you are wondering, I saved the account.

3. THE COACH'S HAT---This is where the supervisor has to constantly be training and retraining the staff to be sure they are doing the procedures in the company approved way with company approved products and equipment. The good coach is always conducting brief 15 minute refresher courses with the cleaning techs and with today's great technology, it is very easy to do but---it has to be done, doesn't it.?

4.  THE ACCOUNTANT'S VISOR HAT---Supervisors are always responsible to make sure their staff is cleaning acording to the budget provided and also making sure everyone is getting their time in as designated by the company's timekeeping procedure. No question with the modern electronic timekeeping systems it is much easier than it used to be but it still has to be done. Reading daily budget reports to assure no overages of labor or supplies is also a must for a good supervisor to excel in their job.

5.  THE DIPLOMAT'S HAT---This is the hat where the supervisor may have to visit with the customer and be a diplomat in the way they handle difficult situations. That is the hat I was wearing in my policeman's explanation above when I had to go see the customer the next day after my employee's fought on the job.

Sometimes you have to be a diplomat with the customer after your employee has said the wrong thing to them like "they don't pay me enough to do your special request" or "that's not in the specs" or "my equipment is broke and they won't fix it" or "they don't give me enough time to do this job". Ever had any of those happen to you? I bet you have. I know I did. The owner many times will follow these ill advised phrases up but many times the customer will be working late and approach the supervisor and the supervisor has to know how to respond.

Well, there you have some of the hats a supervisor has to wear. Since we are in the week of National Hat Day, why not make sure all supervisors in your company have the training on how to handle the situations that arise with each of the hats. It is important training and it can be a lot of fun as well. It just might save you an account. By the way, my pod cast this week talks about training employees so they know what to say to a customer in various situations. You can access this FREE pod cast by going to www.tripodcast.com. It is episode 340.

Also, remember, on Wednesday, January 29, at 2 PM eastern, we will be combining with the Janitorial Store to present a 1 hour webinar entitled CLOSING THE SALE. You can register by going to thejanitorialstore.com. Spending that one hour with us may just help you close an account or two.

Till next time.

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