Learn to Manage Staff in the Workplace
This is a course to train supervisors, personnel managers, or businessmen who wish to strengthen their people skills.
Course Structure
There are three main components in this course:
- CORE STUDIES - four units of compulsory subjects for all students. ie. Office Practices, Management, Business Operations and Marketing Foundations.
- ELECTIVE STUDIES - stream units for the development of knowledge in a chosen specialisation or industry sector. ie. Supervision, Motivation and Personnel Management.
- PROJECT - a "management in the workplace project" of 200 hrs involving approved work experience in a small business. The project specifically aims to provide the student with the opportunity to apply and integrate skills and knowledge developed through various areas of formal study.
CORE UNITS
1. Office Practices
Develops basic office skills covering use of equipment, communication systems (telephone, fax, etc) and office procedures such as filing, security, workplace organisations, etc.
2.. Business Operations
Develops knowledge of basic business operations and procedures (eg. types of businesses, financial management, business analysis, staffing, productivity, etc) and the skills to develop a 12 month business plan.
3.Management
Develops knowledge of management structures, terminology, supervision, recruitment and workplace health and safety.
4. Marketing Foundations
Develops a broad understanding of marketing and specific skills in writing advertisements, undertaking market research, developing an appropriate marketing plan and selling.
STREAM UNITS
1. Supervision
There are ten lessons in this module as follows:
- Introduction ‑ Organisational structures & responsibilities.
- Understanding the work place ‑ Government and private personnel departments, unions.
- Communications and human relations.
- Motivating employees.
- Organising the work place.
- Problem solving techniques.
- Discipline, complaints and grievances.
- Interviewing, recruitment, training.
- Work place safety.
- Dealing with management/worker participation/ report writing/ staff meetings.
2. Motivation
This course contains eight lessons, as follows:
- Introduction Describe the nature and scope of motivation, and identify the differences between people that distinguish the application of motivational skills to achieve a successful outcome
- Awareness Explain the significance of knowledge and understanding to motivation.
- Tangible Rewards Explain the effect of Tangible Rewards (eg: Money, Services, Goods) as a major motivator.
- Intangible Rewards Explain the effect of intangible Rewards (eg: Security, Ethics, Gratitude, Belief Systems/Religion, Peer Pressure) as a major motivator.
- Negative Motivators Explain how actions can be motivated by negative motivators (eg. Pain, Suffering, Discipline, Threats), and distinguish this type of motivation from that achieved through positive motivators.
- Initiating Motivation Explain how to initiate motivation with an individual or group for a situation not previously confronted.
- Maintaining Motivation Explain how motivation can be maintained or increased in both successful and unsuccessful environments.
- Applications Identify a wide range of situations where motivational skills can be applied, and determine an appropriate way to initiate and maintain motivation in each of those situations.
3. Personnel Management
This course contains nine lessons, as follows:
- Human behaviour Understand how perception, learning and prior experience influence human behaviour
- Workplace communications Identify and practice communication skills that will improve your ability to effectively receive and transmit messages in the workplace
- Workplace condition Understand some factors that contribute to overall workplace conditions and can affect workplace culture
- Controlling Operations Explain basic supervising practices for controlling business or department operations
- Recruitment and Induction Identify essential processes in the recruitment and induction of employees
- Staff training Understand the key elements of planning and conducting effective staff training
- Work teams Describe how team processes can be used to improve performance and productivity
- Positive Discipline Identify methods to establish and maintain discipline through positive means, such as reinforcement
- Grievances & Complaints Describe strategies for reducing dissatisfaction and handling dissatisfaction when it arises
- Monitoring and reporting Understand the importance of monitoring workplace processes and performance, and how to report your observations
INDUSTRY PROJECT
This is normally done after completing all of the other modules. It is intewnded as a "learning experience" that brings a perspecive and element of reality to the Modules you have studied. The school is very flexible in terms of how you achieve this requirement, and can negotiate to approve virtually any situation which can be seen as "learning through involvement in real life situations that have a relevance to your studies"
Some of the options, for example might be:
Option 1. Work Experience
This involves working in a job that has relevance to what you have been studying. For some students this may be a job they already have. (In some instances, credit may be even granted for work prior to studies). In other instances, this may be either paid or voluntary work which is found and undertaken after completing the other modules. Proof must be provided, and normally this is done by submitting one or more references or statements from an employer. It may also be satisfied by a discussion between the employer and the school in person or on the phone. The must be an indication that you have skills and an awareness of your industry, which is sufficient for you to work in a position of responsibility.
Option 2. Project
This project may be based on applications in the work place and specifically aims to provide the student with the opportunity to apply and integrate skills and knowledge developed through various areas of formal study.
Students will design this project in consultation with a tutor to involve industry based activities in the area of specialized study which they select to follow in the course. The project outcomes may take the form of a written report, folio, visuals or a mixture of forms. Participants with relevant, current or past work experience will be given exemption from this project if they can provide suitable references from employers that show they have already fulfilled the requirements of this project.
Students will be assessed on how well they achieve the goals and outcomes they originally set as part of their negotiations with their tutor. During a project, students will present three short progress reports. These progress reports will be taken into account when evaluating the final submission. The tutor must be satisfied that the work submitted is original.
Other Options
Workplace learning hours may also be satisfied through attending or being involved with meetings conducted by industry bodies such as professional associations; or attending seminars which are attended by industry professionals. Any opportunity for observation and networking may be seen as a valid option.
Modules
Note that each module in the Qualification - Advanced Certificate In Applied Management (Supervision) is a short course in its own right, and may be studied separately.
Being in control is more than just exerting your power!
You cannot control a workplace or individuals in it by simply forcing people to “toe the line”. Attitudes affect performance, and you cannot force someone to think a certain way. You need to understand and apply a little psychology. You must recognise the dynamics that play in the workplace.
Monitoring what is going on can be a powerful tool. If you are aware of the things that occur in your team, the team dynamics, what is done well, what procedures are used and so on, it is easier for you to notice if things are going wrong or things need to change. To monitor you need to remember the goals, performance aims and objectives of the team and depending on the business it may mean a close monitoring of daily profits and business turnover, or even more closely, hour by hour turnovers and profits measured against other factors and staff performance. If you do not monitor, you will not know what is going on. You may have some very unhappy or lazy or disinterested or over worked staff who are unhappy with you and the organisation. These staff will need some coaching to see what is getting in the way of a top performance.
Case Study – Marcia is a good delegator and generally a good manager. She works hard to develop her team, then when they are working well together, she pulls back and starts working on a new project for a new branch of the business she wishes to develop. She delegates more and more. This puts more and more pressure on to the staff. In particular, she finds June and Jeff are very good workers, so tends to delegate more to them. She tells them she is giving them little projects to develop them as workers and offers that there may be future opportunities for promotion if they do the projects well. At first, they try really hard, but after two years of this, with no promotion opportunities occurring, the staff feel overworked and disrespected. June eventually hands her notice in. Jeff stops doing any overtime and works strictly to the dot every day. He starts to refuse to do any projects saying he is too overworked to take on anymore. Marcia thinks he is not serious as Jeff has always taken on extra work, so continues to give him more and more. Eventually Jeff goes on long term sick leave with depression and stress. Marcia then has to reallocate his work to others and realises how much work he had and how behind he was. She realises at that point that she has delegated too much and reduced her hard working team because of overwork and lack of understanding on her part.
Lead by Example
Leading by example can be an equally important tool. We have said before, it is important to ensure that a manager displays professionalism and demonstrates good work practices to their staff to ensure that their staff realise that they are committed to their work in the same way that they expect their team to be.
Gossip
Be conscious of the “grapevine” - employees talk to each other and pass information along. Be aware of the “Chinese whisper” affect - as information passes through a chain of people it can become increasingly corrupted. In large organisations with lots of people, there is a far greater risk of information becoming corrupted as it passes from person to person. For example, a manager saying “Jane is not very good at making coffee” could become “Jane isn’t very good at her job” to “Jane is about to be sacked as she is rubbish.” This is an extreme example, but does show how information can be changed from person to person. Here is where team meetings can be useful to ensure all staff are told the same information at the same time, thus hopefully reducing any misunderstandings.
Loyalty
Loyalty is also a two way street. Staff will only be loyal to a boss who is loyal to their staff and in a bigger picture, to the business/ organisation. So it is important to ensure that you stand up for your staff and also your methodology and aims. If another manager comes and starts criticising their team, a good manager will stand up for their team, but perhaps promise to find out more. A bad manager will agree and say they are rubbish.
Ethics and Confidentiality
It is also important to be ethical and respect confidentiality. Staff may tell you things that are personal and private. Odette may tell you that she does not like working with Judith as she finds her abrasive and does not know what to do. You could discuss options with her and look at ways to improve the situation. Shelley may tell you that she is having problems at home and is getting quite upset, but asks you to bear with her. Both Shelley and Odette are telling you this in confidence. They do not expect you then to go and start telling other team members. It can easily happen. A manager may be close to a member of staff and tell them something in “confidence”, then that staff member tells another in “confidence” and soon the whole team knows and Odette and Shelley are really upset with you. And Judith is upset with Odette and you as she thinks you are criticising her behind her back. So aim to maintain confidentiality as much as possible. Do not engage in idle gossip with colleagues as it will get around to other staff members. Ethics is really not tolerating anything that appears as misleading concepts, misleading information, misrepresentation, exaggerated details and facts or false accusations about something or someone.
Give credit where it is due
Giving people credit for their work is important. Recognition is a motivator, whether it is for hard work done or original ideas and/or efforts that improve productivity and morale of the team. If you delegate to someone and ask them to do work for you, do not take credit for all their hard work. Make others aware that they have been involved as well and done much of the work. Keep all comments to staff positive, even something negative that may have happened, look at it from the positive perspective. As a manager, having an ever positive attitude, enthusiasm, and confidence in a positive future vision will be infectious for staff.
