- Appropriate personal qualities, technical know-how, training, mentoring and support all help people newly promoted into a Supervisor’s role- but ‘hands-on’ experience is still a critical component of developing a good Supervisor.
- Although a Supervisor’s role brings many benefits, it’s also accompanied by pressures from the additional responsibilities- and people can really only develop their own personal stress-coping mechanisms while they are performing under those pressures. However, it doesn’t have to be a ‘sink-or-swim’ scenario.
- For employers, your succession planning should include creating opportunities for Supervisor candidates to perform in the role for short periods. Preferably, this should be arranged with ‘a coach’ on hand (someone who has proven to be a good Supervisor) but if this is not possible, at least filling in for Supervisors on leave or working as a Supervisor on a specific fixed-time task.
- Employees who are looking for promotion to a Supervisor’s role can also seek experience away from the workplace by managing projects on a voluntary basis for organisations in the community.
- Demonstrating to your boss that you have been able to pull everything (and everyone) together to build a sheltered barbecue area at your local footy club or fundraise for charities may seem unrelated to work- but it speaks volumes about your initiative, people skills and organisational abilities.