Functions of a Supervisor

Supervisor, being the manager in a direct contact with the operatives, has got multifarious function to perform. The objective behind performance of these functions is to bring stability and soundness in the organization which can be secured through increase in profits which is an end result of higher productivity. Therefore, a supervisor should be concerned with performing the following functions -

1. Planning and Organizing - Supervisor’s basic role is to plan the daily work schedule of the workers by guiding them the nature of their work and also dividing the work amongst the workers according to their interests, aptitudes, skills and interests.
2. Provision of working conditions - A supervisor plays an important role in the physical setting of the factory and in arranging the physical resources at right place. This involves providing proper sitting place, ventilation, lighting, water facilities etc. to workers. His main responsibility is here to provide healthy and hygienic condition to the workers.
3. Leadership and Guidance - A supervisor is the leader of workers under him. He leads the workers and influences them to work their best. He also guides the workers by fixing production targets and by providing them instruction and guidelines to achieve those targets.
4. Motivation - A supervisor plays an important role by providing different incentives to workers to perform better. There are different monetary and non-monetary incentives which can inspire the workers to work better.
5. Controlling - Controlling is an important function performed by supervisor. This will involve
   1. Recording the actual performance against the time schedule.
   2. Checking of progress of work.
   3. Finding out deviations if any and making solutions
   4. If not independently solved, reporting it to top management.
6. Linking Pin - A supervisor proves to be a linking pin between management and workers. He communicates the policies of management to workers also passes instructions to them on behalf of management. On the other hand, he has a close contact with the workers and therefore can interact the problems, complaints, suggestions, etc to the management. In this way, he communicates workers problems and brings it to the notice of management.
7. Grievance Handling - The supervisor can handle the grievances of the workers effectively for this he has to do the following things :-
   1. He can be in direct touch with workers.
   2. By winning the confidence of the workers by solving their problems.
   3. By taking worker problems on humanitarian grounds.
   4. If he cannot tackle it independently, he can take the help and advice of management to solve it.
8. Reporting - A supervisor has got an important role to report about the cost, quality and any such output which can be responsible for increasing productivity. Factors like cost, output, performance, quality, etc can be reported continually to the management.
9. Introducing new work methods - The supervisor here has to be conscious about the environment of market and competition present. Therefore he can innovate the techniques of production. He can shift the workers into fresh schedules whenever possible. He can also try this best to keep on changing and improving to the physical environment around the workers. This will result in
   1. Higher productivity,
   2. High Morale of Workers,
   3. Satisfying working condition,
   4. Improving human relations,
   5. Higher Profits, and
   6. High Stability
10. Enforcing Discipline - A supervisor can undertake many steps to maintain discipline in the concern by regulating checks and measures, strictness in orders and instructions, keeping an account of general discipline of factory, implementing penalties and punishments for the indiscipline workers. All these above steps help in improving the overall discipline of the factory.

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