Supervisors are the company
January 26, 2009 By: Michael T. Heenan Pit & QuarryThere is a lot of talk lately about the Employee Free Choice Act that -- if it becomes law in the next Congress -- will make it easier for unions to organize a company’s workforce. A company may feel there is little potential for its employees to join a union, but with likely changes in the law (including elimination of secret ballot for union elections) many employees may feel pressured to side with one or more aggressive employees who, for their own reasons, are pressing for change.
When I think about this prospect, I think about supervisors and how they are central to so many things that affect a company’s employee relations. I also think of all the legal implications associated with how individual employees are inclined to interact with their employer. In so many respects, supervisors are the employer. At least they are the face of the employer.
Importance of fairness
If employees feel they are treated fairly by their supervisors, they probably will feel the company is fair -- particularly if the supervisors indicate the company is fair and genuinely interested in the wellbeing of the employees. In such cases, there is little likelihood employees will feel they need a union.
On the other hand, if supervisors are not fair, or if they blame the company for every little thing they do not like, the environment is bound to be ripe for union organization. It is also a fertile ground for other types of activity that can be costly to a company. Charges of discrimination are easily prompted by a supervisor who misuses his authority to inappropriately favor one employee over another; to treat a person with less respect because of their ethnicity, gender, age or religion; or to be otherwise unfair or inconsiderate.
Employees who feel mistreated for any reason are more likely to want to belong to a union as a way of gaining strength in numbers. Others, however, may choose to fight against perceived mistreatment on their own. An individual employee may file a complaint with the Mine Safety and Health Administration, claiming she was discharged because she regularly brought up safety issues to the company. Another employee may file charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that he was laid off or demoted because of his age and ethnicity. There are innumerable ways that aggrieved employees may gain a power position against the company.
Aptitude and training
Given the importance of properly representing the employer, it is clear that some people simply should not be supervisors. This isn’t because they are too tough (a supervisor can be tough and yet fair) or too easy (a supervisor can engender strong performance with encouragement and patience), but because they simply do not consistently treat employees with respect and fairness. There are others who can be good supervisors and good representatives of the employer, but they need training. A few people have natural instincts for leadership, but everyone can benefit from training.
There is so much that a supervisor has to know and respond to these days. They need to know their people, their equipment and the technical aspects of the job; they need to know legal requirements -- federal mine safety regulations, for example; but most of all they need to know how to be responsible for those they supervise.
Administering discipline
When supervisors administer discipline (they should discipline when circumstances warrant), they need to think about whether the employee had fair notice of what was required. Ideally, the employee should recognize that discipline is being administered because of a poor choice the employee made. Supervisor training helps with such things.
If a supervisor warns an employee about using fall protection for everyone’s safety, for example, then the employee can see that discipline for failure is: a) for the employee’s own good and b) the result of the employee’s own choice not to do what he or she was told. In cases such as this, failure to administer some form of discipline would be a mistake. The employee will not like the discipline, but he should be able to see that it is fair.
Bottom line
Everything the supervisor does affects the company. Each thing the supervisor does tells employees something about the company. In so many ways, for employees, the supervisor is the company. Thus, the more attention a company can give to ensuring competent, fair and appropriate supervision, the better it will be for employee relations, the company’s legal health and for the business as a whole.
Please send any technical comments or questions to our webmaster.