1. Determining Communication Skills Perhaps the single most important skill a supervisor can lies within the art of communication. “The basic purpose of communication is to transfer understanding” (Kreitner, 1980). Clear communication skills are beneficial in all aspects of life including business and can be used effectively to inform, command, instruct, assess, influence, persuade and motivate other people. Supervisors who do not practice effective communication techniques and fail to offer clear instructions and expectations, often find that employees perform their jobs poorly due to lack of understanding what is expected of them (Rue & Byars, 2004). The first step in effective communication is actively listening to what others are …show more content…

Orientation familiarizes the employee with the organization’s levels of authority and the company’s expectations of the employee such as attitude, reliability, initiative, emotional maturity and personal appearance. During the orientation tour it is beneficial to introduce the new employee to supervisors they will be reporting to and coworkers (Rue, 2004). This also helps existing employees recognize the new person so he can offer assistance.
The training process provides the organization with another opportunity to establish a positive relationship with the employee, and ensures a higher skilled and productive company workforce. Training involves the acquisition of skills, concepts, rules, or attitudes by the employees in order to increase their performance (Rue, 2004). Training also provides vital information concerning the new employee’s learning styles and work styles. The knowledge of an individual’s learning styles and work styles helps in determining the best type of training methods to incorporate into the employee’s continuing educational program.
On-the-job training (OJT) is an old, but effective training method which provides the new employee with instruction while he is doing productive work for the organization. Although OJT has proved successful in training new employees there are drawbacks too.