What is the biggest part of a leader’s job that might not even be on their job description? Let’s look at key job responsibilities that you as a leader, need that are as important as the results that you are expected to generate.
Most supervisors clearly understand what they have to generate in terms of production, volume, units, and output. Your deliverables are usually well-known, and your management team likely asks you about them, as well as deals with them when they do not exist. A huge chunk of a leader’s job is actually inspiring, motivating, engaging their team, retaining the talent, and growing its capabilities.
Where does that show up on your job description? How do you get measured on those things? Should a leader that generates business results, but does a terrible job of managing people, be rewarded simply for driving those numbers?
A leader should inspire people just as importantly as the results that they generate. Here are a few ways that you could use to measure your effectiveness on the human side of your job responsibilities.
A huge chunk of a leader's job is actually inspiring, motivating, engaging their team, retaining the talent, and growing its capabilities. Share on XGoal Number One
The first goal you could measure yourself against is, how have you done at growing the capability of your team? If we looked back three months, six months, or a full year, ask yourself, these questions:
- How have you helped your team build its cross-training and its flexibility?
- Have you deepened your bench strengths so that you have greater flexibility to meet your production requirements, but also made your team better and higher performing?
Goal Number Two
Goal number two is discovering if you have inspired future leaders. Ask yourself:
- Do the people who report to you submit their names when a new opening comes up for a team leader or supervisory position?
- Are you encouraging people to think about that as a career path?
One of the leader’s goals needs to be to create future leaders and to inspire those people. If you have not done that, you are missing out on an opportunity to perform in that area.
One of the leader's goals needs to be to create future leaders and to inspire those people. If you have not done that, you are missing out on an opportunity to perform in that area. Share on XGoal Number Three
The third goal is to retain team members.
Remember, if you create a climate people enjoy working in, you build positive and emotional connections. Then you can decrease the turnover rate/departure rate (how many people put in their notice, quit, and move on to other jobs), which should be lower in your department than it is in others.
If you are simply average, or worse, below-average, you probably need to pick up your leadership game in that area in order to build those positive connections. That way, employees who have a choice and want to stay will remain working for you in your department.
Create a Double-Win
Once you have worked on those three goals and emphasized the human side of your job as a supervisor, there should be a positive impact on the results that you generate and that is, of course, a double win! You have grown your team and you have created better results.
After you have achieved this, you may decide that you want to round out your leadership skills by having our Front Line leadership program delivered either on-site, in person, or using our great virtual training studio. No matter how you decide to work on your skills, we want to be your partners in leadership excellence.
