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Staffing

• Staffing Requirements

• Employee Development

• Delegation

1. Interviewer's Guide, job-interview.net, 2005
   Access now and save time - create an interview quickly and easily with over 500 skills and abilities questions plus over 300 behavioral questions.  Identify key qualities,  the best questions to ask, and use the free interview evaluation form to rate your candidates.

Staffing Requirements

In planning a supervisor identifies how resources such as equipment and staff will be used to accomplish goals.  Staffing requirements are identified to insure that the organization has the right number of people at the right time.  The right time means that a supervisor must anticipate employee movement and the time it takes to get an employee trained and up to speed.  As a supervisor, you also need the right people.  Getting your staff to do the right things includes providing instruction on roles and tasks. 

Keys

• Interviews should be difficult and challenging to insure that you are able to screen the candidates.  If the interview questions are too easy, you won't eliminate any of the potential candidates.  One more thought.  If the interview is easy, you'll have ten candidates thinking that they'll get the job.  One will have his expectations met and the other nine can only assume that they didn't get the job because of some type of bias.  If the interview is difficult, you'll have ten candidates thinking that it just wasn't meant to be and they'll improve on their next interview.  One candidate will have the surprise of their life and the other nine will have their expectation met. 

• One of the most important actions a supervisor can take is to instruct a new employee on what his or her role is and how it fits with the roles of your other employees.

Management Resources

1. Illegal interview questions  
   job-interview.net includes links to Federal law

2. Free interview questions  
   Free sample interview questions and interviewing tips from job-interview.net.

Supervision Solution 

How do I?  What do I say?  Management and supervision solutions to the most frequent and most difficult supervisory issues and problems on staffing.     

1. How many questions should I ask in an interview?

2. How do I ask the right job interview questions?

3. How do I know if the interview candidate is lying? 

4. How do I document the interviews?

5. How do I tell an applicant that they didn't get the job?

6. How many staff should report directly to me?

7. I'm reorganizing my staff and will have one group that previously reported to a direct report now report directly to me.  How do I write the official announcement to minimize the uproar?

Employee Development

The right people means the knowledges, skills and abilities necessary to get the job done.  If they don't have the necessary knowledges, skills and abilities, then the supervisor needs to develop the employee.  Identify the desired knowledges, skills and abilities.  Evaluate each employee.  The difference between what is desired and what you find in the evaluation is a gap.  Use formal and on-the-job training to address these gaps.  Sequence the training so that based on your goals and schedule, your employees will be ready. 

Management Resources

1. How to allocate your valuable time and attention among your staff  
   Fast Company magazine and Marshall Goldsmith.

Supervision Solution 

How do I?  What do I say?  Management and supervision solutions to the most frequent and most difficult supervisory issues and problems on staffing.    

1. How do I start off a new employee?

2. How do I break down the silos?  I work in a very hierarchical organization where administrative, professional, technical and blue collar employees have become very territorial.

Delegation

Delegation accomplishes work through others.  A supervisor delegates to free-up time for supervisory duties, develop the skills of employees, increase productivity and leverage the supervisor's efforts.  Prepare your employees for delegated assignments by identifying the task and the desired results, select the person, explain the importance of the task and insure that your employee understands the assignment, support the employee, monitor the employee and evaluate the employee's work.

Management Resources

1. Delegation and an open door policy 
   From Fast Company magazine and Marshall Goldsmith.

Supervision Solution 

How do I?  What do I say?  Management and supervision solutions to the most frequent and most difficult supervisory issues and problems on delegation.   

1. How do I delegate?