When Bad Supervisors Happen To Good People

Supervisors are the most important factor in a work unit’s performance, says HR trainer Steve Oppermann. They are driving force that brings excellence—or the dragging force that guarantees mediocrity.

Are your supervisors driving your organization or putting a drag on it?

Even a small supervisory deficiency can result in billions in losses, says Oppermann, an experienced manager, consultant, and trainer. Blogging on the website FedSmith.com, he discussed a report from the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) about the “Price of Poor Supervision.”

The NAPA report suggests that three key problems develop when supervision is poor:

1. Job performance suffers. As the managers in charge on the front lines, where the work actually gets done, supervisors are critical to mission accomplishment. The NAPA report concludes that supervisors may be the most important factor in their individual work units’ productivity.

Forget “may,” Oppermann says—supervisors are the most important factor. When supervision is poor, performance lags and productivity drops off dramatically.

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2. Poor supervision drives good employees away. Remember the saying, “Employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers and supervisors”? asks Oppermann. If you’ve got poor supervisors, you’ve got a built-in “antiretention” tool in your workplace. All your morale-boosting efforts combined can’t blunt the effect of poor supervision.

Watch closely how your supervisors use power, suggests Oppermann. That’s a good sign of how well they are doing. (If you discount or downplay supervisor assessments, he notes, you’re leaving the door wide open for the “Boss from Hell.”)

Even if bad supervisors don’t actually drive people to leave, there are still problems. Studies have linked employee mental health to the relationship with the boss. One study suggests that rapport with the boss largely predicts incidence of depression and other psychiatric problems. There goes productivity again.

3. Problems that require or attract third-party intervention increase. Supervisory behavior impacts the number of grievances and complaints filed by employees, internal and external. As HR managers know too well, the cost of resolving these issues can be significant.

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If a lack of budget stands between you and the goal of properly training your supervisors on HR matters, we’ve got good news for you. You can read about it in tomorrow’s CED.