There is no doubt that employers face an array of legal requirements that increase their risk of expensive litigation. Couple that with increasing operating costs resulting in significant pressure on the bottom line and it’s easy to see why employers MUST have crews that are productive and accountable. The catch phrase often chimed by Managers is “we need an engaged workforce in order to compete”.
Then how can you have an engaged workplace when site rules, safety rules and regulations are either optional or only apply to a few employees? The bottom line is that you can’t.
Both of these groups want to see the business be successful. But nothing else creates greater apathy than when employees believe that workplace rules only apply to a select few. Apathy is indifference, the opposite of engagement! And at the same time Managers are frustrated when site tours identify repeated non-compliance or labour relations is suffering because of lack of consistency. What happens if someone gets hurt and the Supervisor was condoning the behaviour? This madness needs to stop!
At CANSCOTT we believe front-line supervision is the make or break position in the entire organization. The Supervisor is the agent of the employer who works directly with his/her team to achieve their goals that roll directly into the achievement of the organizations goals. They need to understand their role as an agent of the employer, their legal rights, roles and responsibilities and how important it is to be present in the workplace and take every opportunity to positively impact the performance of the team. We need to train these critical folks properly and prepare them for the most important position in the workplace.