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Role of the Supervisor: Employee Engagement!

Guest post by: Roger Ingbretsen

Article Overview: Your role as a supervisor is to set very clear expectations, give employees the right training and materials, focus on the engaged employees needs, and recognize your best performers contributions…those are the strategies that drive engagement. Those are the strategies that will make you a great supervisor. Take care of your engaged talent and they will take care of you.

Role of the Supervisor: Employee Engagement!

No matter what your title…if you supervise people… your number one job is to keep the people you supervise “engaged.” The best organizations know that engaged employees are the force that drives organizational success and performance. The best supervisors know that they play a strategic role in employee engagement. The best supervisors know they are the eyes and ears of upper management and through their daily actions are the motivating force for those they lead.

The best supervisor creates a comprehensive and ongoing communication strategy. The best supervisor ensures that solid training and development opportunities are in place for each employee they supervise and finds the fair and right performance metrics which will drive accountability. As a supervisor you need to continually and rapidly realign your employees to the strategy of your organization. Through open and honest communications you need to reassure and cultivate your employee’s talent to help them stay motivated and engaged. Talent engagement must be your top priority.

For an employee to be engaged what do they need? First of all they must know what is expected of them. It is very difficult if not impossible for someone to be engaged in their job if they don’t know what is expected of them. The employee needs clarity about his or her role. The employee cannot be confused about what contribution you the supervisor and the organization expect every day. This amounts to a lot more than simply understanding a job description. It is the continual understanding of specifically what actions the employee needs to take on a daily basis to have the greatest impact on driving organization success.

Consider the following questions. Can the people you supervise tell you on a regular basis specifically how and what they are doing is helping the organization succeed? Do you have daily informal conversations with those you supervise so they are “in the know and in sink with your expectations?” Do you ask and make sure the employee has the right materials, equipment, training and information to move toward your desired outcomes? Do you use your employee’s skills, talents and knowledge in the right job at the right time and in the right way? Employees who get to do what they do best will be the most engaged.

Do you take your engaged employees for granted spending your time with the problem employee or…Do you recognize your engaged employees for the excellence they bring to the organization? Recognition communicates both your values as a supervisor and that of the organization. It also reinforces the behaviors and values of the engaged employee. You will learn a lot from continual communications with your engaged top talent and you will earn their respect.

"Engaged" employees are the backbone of the organization. They want to know the desired expectations for their role so they can meet and exceed them. They want to be “kept in the loop.” Given the right environment they perform at consistently high levels. They want to use their skills, talents and strengths at work every day. They work with drive, commitment and passion. Engaged employees set goals, are risk takers, meet and exceed expectations, are the most productive and move their organization forward.

In Summary: Your role as a supervisor is to set very clear expectations, give employees the right training and materials, focus on the engaged employees needs, and recognize your best performers contributions…those are the strategies that drive engagement. Those are the strategies that will make you a great supervisor. Take care of your engaged talent and they will take care of you.

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