 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
Asupervisor, orlead, (also known asforeman,boss,overseer,facilitator,monitor,area coordinator,line-manager or sometimesgaffer) is the job title of a lower-levelmanagement position and role that is primarily based on authority overworkers or a workplace.[1] A supervisor can also be one of the most senior on the employees at a place of work, such as aprofessor who oversees a Ph.D. dissertation.Supervision, on the other hand, can be performed by people without this formal title, for example byparents. The term supervisor itself can be used to refer to any personnel who have this task as part of their job description.
An employee is a supervisor if they have the power and authority to do the following actions (according to the Ontario Ministry of Labour):
If an employee cannot do the above, legally, they are most likely not a supervisor, but in some other category, such as a work group leader or lead hand. A supervisor is first and foremost an overseer whose main responsibility is to ensure that a group of subordinates get out the assigned amount of production, when they are supposed to do it and within acceptable levels of quality, costs and safety.
A supervisor is responsible for the productivity and actions of a small group of employees. A supervisor has several manager-like roles, responsibilities and powers. Two key differences between a supervisor and a manager are: a supervisor typically does not have "hire and fire" authority and a supervisor does not havebudget authority. Supervisors are not considered part of the organization's proper management and instead are seen as senior members of a workforce. Unlike middle managers, supervisors presence is essential for the execution of work.
Lacking "hire and fire" authority means that a supervisor may notrecruit employees working in the supervisor's group nor does the supervisor have the authority toterminate an employee. A supervisor may participate in the hiring process as part of interviewing and assessing candidates, but the actual hiring authority rests in the hands of aHuman Resource Manager. The supervisor may recommend to management that a particular employee be terminated and the supervisor may be the one who documents the behaviors leading to the recommendation, but the actual firing authority rests on the authority of a manager.
Lacking budget authority means a supervisor is provided a budget developed by upper management within which constraints the supervisor is expected to provide a productive environment for the employees of the supervisor's work group. A supervisor will usually have the authority to make purchases within specified limits. A supervisor is also given the power to approve work hours and other payroll issues. Normally, budget affecting requests such as travel will require not only the supervisor's approval, but the approval of one or more layers of management.
As a member of management, a supervisor's main job is more concerned with orchestrating and controlling work rather than performing it directly.
Supervisors are uniquely positioned through direct daily employee contact to respond to employee needs, problems and satisfaction. Supervisors are the direct link between management and the workforce and can be most effective in developing job training, safety attitudes, safe working methods and identifying unsafe acts.
"Doing" can take up to 70% of the time - (this varies according to the type of supervisory job - the doing involves the actual work of the department as well as the planning, controlling, scheduling, organizing, leading, etc.).[2]
Supervisors often do not require any formal education on how they are to perform their duties, but are most often given on-the-job training or attend company sponsored courses. Many employers have supervisor handbooks that need to be followed. Supervisors must be aware of their legal responsibilities to ensure that their employees work safely and that the workplace that they are responsible for meets government standards.
Inacademia, a supervisor is a senior scientist or scholar who, along with their own responsibilities, aids and guides apostdoctoral researcher, postgraduate research student or undergraduate student in their research project; offering both moral support and scientific insight and guidance. The term is used in several countries for thedoctoral advisor of agraduate student.
In colloquialBritish English, "gaffer" means a foreman, and is used as a synonym for "boss". In theUK, the term also commonly refers to sports coaches (football,rugby, etc.).
The term is also sometimes used colloquially to refer to an old man, an elderly rustic. The word is probably a shortening of "godfather", with"ga" from association with "grandfather". The female equivalent, "gammer", came to refer colloquially to an old lady or to a gossip.[3] The use ofgaffer in this way can be seen, for example, inJ.R.R. Tolkien's character Gaffer Gamgee.
In 16th centuryEnglish a "gaffer" was a man who was the head of any organized group of labourers. In 16th and 17th century ruralEngland, it was used as atitle slightly inferior to "Master", similar to "Goodman", and was not confined to elderly men. The chorus of a famous Australian shearer's song,The Backblocks' Shearer (also known asWidgegoeera Joe), written by W. Tully at Nimidgee, NSW (c.1900), refers to a gaffer:
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(June 2020) |
As industrial and commercial enterprises grew in size - especially after introduction of techniques of theIndustrial Revolution - the perceived need for supervisors and foremen grew in tandem. One example is the development of the hierarchical model and practices of the plantation economies in the antebellum American South, where theoverseer provided the interface between the planter and theindentured servants, and laterslaves.[4]
By 1894 speakers ofU.S. English had begun to refer to a subordinate or assistant foreman - sometimes contemptuously - as astraw boss,[5]by analogy with the concept of a "straw man".[6]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Who is a Supervisor under the Occupational Health and Safety Act? (2015) Ontario Ministry of Labour. Retrieved Feb 23, 2015.The foreman role was somewhat analogous to that of the "overseer" on slave plantations in the ante-bellum South [...].
Schultz & Schultz, Duane (2010).Psychology and work today. New York: Prentice Hall. pp. 169–170.ISBN 978-0-205-68358-1.
Authority control databases: National |
|---|
