by Shaw, Bransford & Roth, P.C.
July 27, 2010
Our top news story this week is on a recently issued report of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) based on a survey of employees' perceptions of the management skills of their first level supervisors. According to the MSPB survey results, there has been some overall improvement in employee perception of their supervisors' job performance, but not enough. Many employees still perceive their first level supervisors as demonstrating levels of supervisory skills that are below par. Fact or fiction? Are the supervisory skills of the majority of first level federal supervisors really below par? Are these reported perceptions worth crediting? Or have only the disgruntled been heard?
The MSPB report went on to find that federal agency practices in four critical areas- 1) selection, 2) training and development, 3) guidance and support, and 4) accountability-may be contributing to the perception or reality of less than optimal supervisory job performance.
Whether you can accept the legitimacy of the perceptions reported by MSPB, it's been a widely held view that many agencies do not have a well-established training and development program for new supervisors that timely and effectively offer the necessary managerial training. So without the proper training, maybe there is some accuracy to the perception of these employees. It's difficult to pick-up -just through on-the-job experience-- the people management and other supervisory skills required to ensure employee engagement and workplace fairness so essential to a successful federal office. While the MSPB report outlines measures for federal agencies to take to strengthen the management skills of supervisors from initial hiring, through training and development and accountability, you really don't need to wait for your agency to adopt better training and development programs in order to work on your own supervisory skills.
If your agency's budget won't allow for immediate training, be proactive about improving and building on your management skills. Consider finding a mentor or career coach in your agency, someone whose judgment and style your admire and ask him or her to mentor or coach you in the areas of management skills you believe are worth improving or building on. Consider developing a mentoring plan with a mentor where you identify your own goals and timelines. Establish regular mentoring meetings. You can augment the interactive benefits of a mentor or coach by reading management and leadership advice books.
Be open to the idea of improving and developing your supervisory and management skills without formalized training. In the federal workplace, perception often becomes your reality. So try to stay ahead of this perception curve -that first line supervisors are below par performers in the area of management and supervision-and cultivate some of the important skills through non-traditional means.
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