improve employee relations in my work unit and given the staff a feeling of satisfaction in their work?
2.Morale reflects workers’ emotional stance toward their work. It may be measured by the degree of satisfaction of four basic wants: a sense of security, achievement, justice, and participation.
3.Managers can be considered successful if they answers YES to the following question:
SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY
Supervision is not something that a person learns once and then has the art forever. The explosion of technology and knowledge in the past few years demands that managers/leaders keep learning and relearning. Learn something new every day, even though it may not be in your line of work; it will provide background and room for growth. A well-stored mind makes people capable of doing their thinking.
People will not have the unlimited knowledge for handling all management functions without assistance. They must know, as a primary qualification for management, where to find the answers. Some will be in the firm’s statements of policy, its staff handbook, its rule book, and its periodical memoranda to managers/supervisors
SO THAT IS MANAGEMENT
Management does not consist of having a domineering mind, leading to arbitrary government, but in judgment and reason and knowledge of people. It is among the most interesting occupations in the world, because it challenges the manager to administer the most difficult creatures on earth - men and women. It must be done with fair play, appreciation of people’s problems, and knowledge of business principles and practices - planning, organizing, controlling, and supervising - to mesh these into the company’s interests.
This is not a life of ease, but there is still a connection between effort and reward. Managers are judged by their skill in effective action under varying conditions, avoiding what is unfit as diligently as observing what is suitable. The standard for both management and staff is to do the very best with enthusiasm. That gives zest in living, and makes many things bearable that otherwise would be unendurable.
21st CENTURY NEED
Will there be a need for supervisors in the 21st century? If employees have more knowledge and if there are employee teams, what will supervisors do? Supervisors will still manage by planning, organizing, scheduling, leading, staffing, training, and evaluating. There will be a need for supervisors to investigate, coach, counsel, coordinate, and facilitate. The supervisor has an important role in the development of employees, building teams and motivating employees to see that they are a part of carrying out the company’s mission. The supervisor should have leadership ability and technical knowledge along with training in problem solving, presentation skills, and group dynamics. As automation and technology advance and change, many employees will need more understanding and support.
Ten Commandments of Getting Along With People
1.Keep skid chains on your tongue; always say less than you think. Cultivate a low, persuasive voice; how you say it often counts more than what you say.
2.Make promises sparingly and keep them faithfully, no matter what the cost.
3.Never let an opportunity pass to say a kind and encouraging word to or about somebody.
4.Be interested in others: their goals, work, homes, and families. Let everyone you meet feel they are important.
5.Be cheerful. Don’t burden or depress those around you by dwelling on your troubles and small disappointments.
6.Keep an open mind; discuss, but don’t argue. It is a mark of a superior mind to disagree without being disagreeable.
7.Let your virtues speak for themselves. Refuse to talk about the faults of others, discourage gossip. It is a waste of valuable time and can be destructive and hurtful.
8.Take the feelings of others into consideration. Wit and humor at the expense of another is never worth the pain that may be caused.
9.Do not pay attention to ill-natured remarks about you. Remember the person who carried the message may not be the most accurate reporter. Simply live so that no one will believe the story.
10.Don’t be too anxious about the credit due you, do your best and be patient. Forget about yourself and let others remember. Success is much sweeter that way.
TRAINING - THE KEY TO COMPETITIVENESS
As metalworking technology becomes more sophisticated, the people who use it must become more skilled. In shops across the country, a well-trained workforce has become a priority item. Things started to change in late 1990 with the beginning of the recession when it was realized that U.S. companies were losing out to world competition because of a lack of productivity, skills, and education.
Educators have long criticized manufacturers for a lack of investment in training the workforce to adapt to changes in technology. Few companies have provided direction and support to vocational schools and institutions.
We have also observed that changing machine technology in the workplace requires a parallel change in human technology. The worker who does his or her repetitive job in isolation is gone. The new worker is a team worker who is valued by the employer and works jointly with co-workers to solve production problems, determine schedules, improve quality, and access, enter, and manipulate information on databases. Increasingly, workers are actually being given a major role in determining their own compensation. But many companies have yet to adapt to these changes. To support the widespread application of the new human technology in the work place, training for the human skills needed must be studied and adopted by our educational systems at all levels.
At a time when jobs demand more education and higher skill levels, the United States seems to have been slow in retooling the workforce. Productivity is a major problem according to manufacturers and they mentioned the major cause of this was people. If the problem is people, companies seem to be investing in faster, more technological equipment and not in personnel training. This choice may actually retard productivity if workers lack adequate skills, training, or supervision to use the advanced equipment to its fullest potential. When investing half a million dollars in a machine tool, it seems unwise to turn untrained people loose on it.
DOES TRAINING PAY?
A company that considers making a $5 million investment should not expect untrained people to be able to run the new machine effectively. Proper training can mean the difference between success and failure of any new technology. The training that vendors offer is cost-effective; the price of the machine is only the beginning of the story. Add the cost of downtime and loss of profit through operator problems. Then look at the cost of sending an operator to a course or on-site training.
Even though on-site training means tying up a production machine for days or a week, training at the user’s site is often the best choice. Sometimes a combination of classroom work at the vendor’s center and on-site training works well. In many cases, the staff can be trained to program the equipment, rather than paying the supplier’s team to do it.
Suppose a robotic spot-welding system is being installed, an applications engineer could go to your plant and program all the robots. On the other hand, three operators could go to the vendor’s training center to learn basic programming and stay for a few more days to learn the programming specific to the system. They could then go back to the plant and program all those robots.
A Preference For Knowledge
Progressive companies always stress training, even in times when they do have
