Profile of a good supervisor
People need appreciation for their work. They appreciate recognition/acknowledgment of their work performance, including children, students, employees, parents, senior citizens, legislators, and all the peoples of this world. Why so? Because recognition is a basic human need. More important in fact than money to many people, especially if the recognition is spontaneously given.
Someone once said that recognition is so easy to do and so inexpensive to distribute that there is simply no excuse for not doing it. The trouble is that many executives both in the government and in the private sector have the mistaken notion that people are to be managed in the same way that things in the office are being managed, organized, and filed. This should not be so. People are dynamic. They have feelings and have to be handled with special care and concern. They should be properly motivated through recognition, reward and praise, rather than dictate, intimidate, and threaten people. Using force to prod people to raise their performance level never works. Unfortunately however, many of us prefer to dictate rather than motivate people.
I have friends both in the government and private sector who complain now about the work atmosphere in their office.
Says one: “Our supervisor keeps reminding us to cut travels to save on costs. He is very strict on this. But you know what? Our supervisor corners all the juiciest travels abroad. The supervisor is preaching what he is not practising. What hypocrisy! Worse, he has practically discontinued (except in his case) one of the most effective reward programs of the company. And to think that he is new in our organization.”
“Our supervisor keeps reminding us to be concerned about the interest of other employees. But ironically he himself does not know how to say ‘good work or congratulations or thank you.’ His relationship with us is so detached and aloof. And he expects us to give our best performance for his company! This came from a lady worker in one electronics company.”
The so-called ‘team spirit’ is not something that can be dictated upon on people. When people perceive that they have lost their independence in making decisions; when they feel that their privacy is intruded upon; when they think that their leaders/bosses have no real concern for them; when they fear that they are being exploited; when they expect no impartiality and fair treatment; and finally when the leaders/bosses are perceived to be power-drunk - then the incentive, the morale, and the creativity of the people will drastically go down the drain.
People are the greatest asset of a company. This is reality. Not a myth. Some time ago, I asked a friend as to what her honest opinion is of her company. (I observed that the workers in the company where she works were highly motivated) Here is her candid and spontaneous reply: Our boss is an approachable fellow. We can go to him anytime. He eats with us often. He is so natural in giving to those deserving a ‘pat in the back’. He greets us spontaneously when we meet him. He is profuse in praises for good job performance. We do not have structured meetings. He is real good in one-to one discussions. He has introduced a training program for us. He sends us birthday cakes on our birthdays. We appreciate the little thoughtful things he does for us. We all feel important in the company and we get this hearty feeling that we are contributing big to the company. By the way, our boss did not finish his college studies but he reads a lot. He may not be outstanding in terms of academic qualifications. But he is tops when it comes to relationship and dealing with other people. What I am saying is that to many people like me there are things more important than money.
There are many companies (not only exporting firms) nowadays that are having personnel problems. Many times the cause of all these problems is the absence or the lack of a wellplanned recognition program of the company. Aggravated by power-drunk personnel supervisors who dictate rather than motivate people. Personnel supervisors who think power is forever have caused the downfall of many exporting companies. May their tribe decrease.
Have a joyful day! (For comments/ reactions please send to Ms. Villafuerte’s email: villafuerte_nelly@ yahoo.com).