Global Journal of Commerce & Management Perspective
Open Access

Abstract

Supervision – Essential to Productivity

Bernard Oladosu Omisore

Supervisors are responsible for not only meeting corporate goals,but also bridging the gap between upper management and front-line employees. The supervisors that take this task seriously are the ones that have a dramatic and positive effect on the overall business as well as their staff’s performance and behaviour. As these things are affected, so is the productivity of employees and the company. Supervision is a delicate and often misunderstood function that can have huge consequences on the productivity of employees. In some situations, supervision can help improve results, while in other cases it can detract from the effectiveness of the staff. With appropriate supervisory intervention in the workplace, we can consistently improve the team’s productivity. But, for supervision to be effective, there must be a good supervisor/supervisee relationship. A good supervisor/supervisee relationship is not only beneficial to the individuals but critical to the success of the organization. Abusive supervision (aka, having a bully boss) is one of the greatest challenges of supervision in the workplace. This practice does not just affect the person at whom it’s directed – it can affect an entire office. Its presence can extend to others “second hand,” as they hear about it or witness it occurring in co-workers and friends. And if it spreads to other people, it may likely affect employees’ overall perception of the company they work for – and, in true domino effect, this can affect the productivity of the company itself. In other words, it is not something to be taken lightly from a social or a business point of view. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between effective supervision and employees´ productivity, and also ascertain factors that affect employees’ productivity. In order to achieve this, the paper is divided into seven sections – introduction, techniques of supervision, factors affecting employees’ productivity, effects of supervision on productivity, keys to effective supervision, conclusion and recommendations.