Supervisor Training Program

Unit 1 – Organisational Structures (Chain of Command & Supervisors Responsibilities)

• Two main types of organisations
• Staff and line positions
• Hierarchical structure
• Non-hierarchical processes within a hierarchy
• Other bases for organisational structure
• Organisational charts
• Two examples of organisational charts
• Where to use organisational charts
• Creating an organisational chart
• The supervisor
• Where does a supervisor fit in the organisational structure?
• What does a supervisor do?

Unit 2 – Understanding the Workplace

• The law and employees
• Basic contract law
• Contracted actions within a workplace
• Discrimination
• Liability for staff actions
• Workplace elements
• Personnel departments
• Administration departments
• Employment law
• Unions

Unit 3- Communications and Human Relations

• Influence in the workplace
• Formal authority
• Reward or punishment
• Knowledge, leadership and power
• Personal relationships between supervisors and subordinates
• Managing attitude
• Status and prestige
• Other influences on attitude
• Good business writing
• Effective business communication
• Communicating effectively
• Memorandums or memos
• Writing memos
• Writing better memos
• Letters and letter structures
• Letter formats

Unit 4- Motivating Employees

• Workplace incentives
• Internal incentives
• Primary drives and secondary drives
• Environmental incentives
• Practical ways to motivate staff
• Case study
• Example supervision questions
• Case study – imposter experience
• Supporting a person with imposter experience

Unit 5 – Organising the Workplace

• Strategies for organising work place tasks
• Work scheduling
• Considerations when planning work schedules
• Establish priorities
• Other ways to improve results
• Project planning and management tools
• Example: worksheets
• Example: project estimates
• Standard planning charts
• The Gantt Chart
• The PERT chart.
• Office landscaping
• A case study of office redesign

Unit 6 – Problem Solving Techniques

• Being a successful supervisor
• Solving problems
• Guidelines for making decisions
• Problem solving styles
• Conditional problem solvers
• Non-committal problem solvers
• Systematic problem solvers
• By the book problem solvers
• Slow problem solvers
• Democratic problem solvers
• Pragmatic problem solvers
• Involving others in decision making
• Problem solving approach
• Example of a formal problem solving technique
• Defining the objective
• Evaluating factual information
• What caused the problem?
• Develop solutions
• Select and implement the best solution
• Evaluate

Unit 7- Discipline, Complaints and Grievances

• Levels of discipline
• Reprimanding
• Fixing blame
• Formal warning
• Legal action
• Increasing self-discipline
• Introducing change
• Instructions and orders
• Procedure for giving detailed orders
• Procedure for dealing with orders carried out incorrectly

Unit 8 – Interviewing, Recruitment and Training

• Job interviews
• Successful interviews
• Job seeking: the resume
• Tailor your resume to each job application
• Put yourself in the employer’s position
• Emphasise qualities that are relevant to the job
• Think about selling points beyond the workplace
• Make decisions for the situation at hand
• Training employees
• Staff documentation (terms of employment and staff manual)
• General information (scope of work, conditions)
• Prospects for advancement
• Employment contract example

Unit 9 – Workplace Safety

• Workplace costs of injury and illness
• Duty of care
• Employer duties
• Employee duties
• ‘Other person’ duties
• Accidents
• Lifting & manual handling
• Reduce manual handling
• Lighten the load
• Reduce bending, twisting and reaching movements
• Follow a safe procedure
• Use correct body techniques
• Avoid muscle fatigue
• Consider mechanical aids
• Protective equipment
• Personal protection
• Machinery, equipment and workplace safety
• Signs and information

Unit 10 – Dealing with Management

• When a supervisor needs to communicate with management
• Appropriate communication strategies.
• Four areas of management – supervisor communication
• The purpose of meetings
• Leading a meeting (purpose and leadership tasks)
• Meeting problems
• Meeting documents (agenda and minutes)