Leadership Nugget #1: Treating Supervisors As Employees

“Businesses frequently don’t value front-line management role – 38% of respondents believe their company “doesn’t value the impact” of lower level management”.

America’s Workforce: A Revealing Study of Corporate America’s Most Neglected Employee.
Root Inc. & Kelton Research, April 1 2014

The hardest job in any organization is the first line supervisor. This position is an essential part of the leadership team. It is essential to link two very different groups – employees and management. For a full explanation read https://9by9solutions.com/2015/04/leadership-in-pictures-3-the-hardest-job-in-any-organization/. Without that linkage there will never be alignment between leadership direction and employee effort.

Yet over and over again, organizations make a common mistake: they treat their supervisors as employees. One example: when changes are announced, supervisors receive information at the same time employees do. They are made to feel stupid and left out when they cannot answer employees’ questions about what is happening.Soon supervisors identify with the employee group and do not see themselves as a part of leadership.

Leadership Lesson: If you want supervisors to be a part of and support management efforts, treat them as part of the leadership team. Otherwise organizations drive first line leaders to identify more closely with employees than management.

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