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Supervisors happy to be trained

It’s an HR director’s dream: employees so enthusiastic about training classes that managers are clamoring to take the course too.

     That’s what’s happening at Mott Corp., a Farmington manufacturer of porous metal filtration products. Nineteen of the company’s line supervisors and foremen are attending a 36-hour supervisory skills program. The training is being provided to Mott and nine other area manufacturers through a grant CBIA received from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

     "The feedback [from supervisors] has been phenomenal!" says Susanne Spargo, Mott’s director of employee relations. "They’ve spoken so highly of the classes that the next-level managers have been asking, ‘When are we getting this?’

     "Managers’ interest in the training has prompted the company, with help from CBIA staff, to set up one-hour overview sessions to brief managers on what the supervisors are learning. "Some of the managers who have already had the one-hour overview have come to me or the company president asking if they can take the 36-hour training," says Spargo. "So we’re now looking into providing that for the other management levels."

Skills relevant to work, lives

What’s so compelling about the program?

     "Rather than bore them to death, besides lectures we’re using movies, games, exercises and role playing," says Carmen Brickner, of Clear Consulting, the lead trainer. "And we’re asking participants to come to the next session prepared to talk about how what they’ve learned has applied to their personal lives."

     The classes are also tailored to individual companies’ needs. All participants get training in four areas: the function of management, communication, listening and interpersonal styles, says Brickner. Then each company chooses five additional areas of training — for example, legal issues, productivity, teamwork, defusing conflict, reducing absenteeism and motivating employees. The trainers "tie each area to the company’s own culture so the information is relevant," Brickner says.

New roles, new skills

Mott and the other companies participating in the program had identified supervisory skills as one of several skill shortages they needed help in addressing.

     "The workforce has changed over the years, and supervisors are being asked to take on new roles," explains Gary Martell, personnel manager at the Merrow Machine Co., a Newington manufacturer of industrial sewing machines.

     As a result, even long-time supervisors need new skills.

     In many respects, "supervisors’ jobs are the hardest in a company," points out Caren Dickman, the DOL grant project manager. "They have to oversee frontline workers and be able to interface with upper management. They’re expected to have very good technical skills, as well as very good people skills. Many supervisors are promoted to that position because they already have the technical skills," she says, "but they need training in the people skills."

     "They have to make the transition from being the best at it to making the whole team better at," agrees Brickner.

     Today’s supervisors, she says, are "caught in the middle between the strategizers — the people who make the plans and set the goals — and the people on the floor who have to make it happen. And they’re being held accountable for this. Translating a strategic plan into a ‘Go do this’ kind of task is not easy. Without training, their hands are tied and they carry a tremendous amount of stress on their shoulders."

     Like Mott Corp., Merrow Machine, which has nine people taking the training, believes the program "is very effective," says Martell. "This is one of the best things CBIA has done. They’re putting all the right training in place," he says. "It’s been a tremendous help to small companies that can’t afford this quality of training on their own. As a manufacturer, we need to stay on top of training techniques so we can stay competitive.

     "Upper management," he adds, "is going to be pleased with the quality of supervision we will have as a result."

     For information about training grants, call CBIA’s Judy Resnick at 860–244–1900.