Business Change: The Role Of Frontline Managers In Facilitating Change In Employee Behavior
Supervisors play a critical role in the final result of the Ready, Willing and Able method of worker performance management while an organization experiences business change. They are the people who perform the activities that are critical to the outcome of business change at the employee level. They approach getting employees to the Ready, Willing and Able state through a dual process. They handle a set of activities and they assume obligation for a body of deliverables. If handled appropriately, these two groups of activities and deliverables should create an outcome of the wanted changes..
The first step in the process is to get the employees Ready. For this to happen, the supervisor’s activities usually involve literal explanation. They go over the responsibilities employees have with the new tasks. They may cover processes and goals. Generally, this will also involve some kind of examination of knowledge about the new task. The creation of a job description including the new work is normal. They will often produce a key performance indicators form. The major item they are responsible for is producing or distributing new policies and procedures regarding the new tasks.
Employees reaching the Willing step is the next stop in this business change. At this point, the supervisor’s activities will be more reactive. They will perform evaluations relevant to changes in tasks. They may be called on to problem-solve unforeseen issues with the processes. Praising the accomplishments of the workers as they master new processes is a supervisor responsibility. What the supervisor is doing is aimed at helping the employees become confident with the new tasks. As far as deliverables go, most supervisors will see to the development of a contract that covers the new work. An appraisal form is a necessity. When new tasks are included it also appropriate to update or replace the salary review form.
The last piece of the puzzle is making sure that workers at the Able stage. The production of content to be used during training is one of the major activities of supervisors at this juncture. They need to review current systems that are in place. Assuring that sufficient practice is available is a primary supervisor task. A fundamental activity for supervisors is assessing workers skill with the new work. A manual for the trainers is a deliverable that supervisors are frequently called on to supply. A trainee notebook is something they could develop. The results for the necessary testing as well as records for training attendance are deliverables supervisors should have available. More importantly, these types of deliverable help with analyzing the success of business change.
The two roles that supervisors play in the Ready, Willing and Able process should be given due consideration. It is a critical piece in business change. They take on the tasks of producing training content and problem solving the processes, but also of testing and creating new forms. Should supervisors handle this process efficiently, though, the process is far more likely to succeed.
For more information, please see our website: Business Change
from B2B News


Posted January 3, 2009
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