TA P
ResourceDevelopmentGroup, Inc.

Creating Effective Organizations Through People

Creating a Supervisory Leadership Development
Program for Buckman Direct DiversionT

By Richard Gerstberger, President
TAP Resource Development Group, Inc.
Denver, COAt the other end of the spectrum, however, the newmanagers (who of course are the organization’s future leaders) are a blank slate, just finding their own
leadership styles. They’re sponges soaking up data,
minds full of problems that need be solved, andthey’re eager for thoughtful guidance to help resolvethem.

he Water Services Association of Australia(WSAA) and the Water Environment & Reuse
Foundation (WE&RF) commissioned a review offuture skills needed for the water sector. The aim
was to build an understanding of the key workforce
trends driving change and what will enable successin the water sector over a long-term horizon to theyear 2040.

A 2017 Gallup study (State of the American Workplace 2017 Gallup, Inc.) found that:

A survey was conducted to collect information and
key insights and themes were explored further during a two-day industry workshop where 8 key skilland capability enablers were identified.
The 2 most urgent and important foundational programs recommended to survive and thrive in thefuture were BOTH derived from what they called,the “Leadership Enabler; encompassing change
management, strategic planning, learning mindset,communication, and culture.”•Millennials will make up 50% of the workforce
by 2020,•

Millennials place greater emphasis on finding
meaning in their work and personal development, and•

Millennials are more interested in being in aleadership position.

If you’ve been following our work at TAP Resource, this “Recommendation” may sound very
familiar. Reinforcing the belief that creating a sustainable supervisory and leadership development
program is a must.

When should you invest? Yesterday. The next best
time is today. Victor Lipman stated this very clearlyin his 2016 Harvard Business Review article.

(Most People Don’t Want to Be Managers byNicole Torres HBR SEPTEMBER 18, 2014)

BUCKMAN DIRECT
TAKES ACTION

I know talent development budgets are perpetuallytight, but we can’t afford to overlook the juniormanagers who would most benefit from management knowledge. I’m not arguing that senior leadership development doesn’t have value — of course
it does — but our proportions seem out of balance.
We may be unconsciously harming our organizations by giving short shrift to those at lower levels.

DIVERSION(BDD)

As a result of these industry trends, BDD selected
TAP Resource to provide both introductory and advanced two-day intensive programs which cover theessential skills and knowledge necessary for firstline supervisors and managers.
1

“Tap Resource was selected to provide Leadership
Training as part of the BDD’s “Grow Your Own”
value system. Tap was selected based on excellentreferences and all the participants were impressedand pleased with the high level of training.”– Charles Vokes, BDD Facilities Manager.

that required the focused attention of the 16 participants.
The program components included:
1. Self-Awareness2. Core responsibilities and roles of a supervisor
3. The Employee Cycle
4. When things go South (dealing with conflict)
5. Organizational Culture and Leadership Styles

BDD is committed to providing a safe, reliable andsustainable source of quality drinking water to residential and business customers in the city and county of Santa Fe. They are dedicated to the improvement of the regional water supply under drought
conditions, replacing current groundwater pumpingthat cannot be sustained, and making a drought reserve possible. Underpinning what they do are threedefining principles: collaboration, stewardship andtransparency.

1. SELF-AWARENESS
At the center of the Management Research Group’s(MRG) four filters that define effective leadership isthe Individual. TAP Resource agrees that in order toaffect the organization as leader, we need to startwith the Individual and then work our way out toSituational awareness, the Role they play, and eventually the impact that they have with and on the Organization.

The Organization filter describes an organization'sattempt to identify the leadership culture that supports its objectives. This is where a major portion ofmost leadership development programs are focused.
However, that approach fails to determine whether
an individual is ready and willing to do what is necessary to become an effective leader. In beginningwith the Individual, the participants at BDD could
see the importance of knowing one’s self, as connected to their situation, and role, are crucial in determining organizational effectiveness. While theimportance of the Role and Situation filters are reasonably understandable, the demands of the Individual filter are often ignored.

TAP Resource fits into their broader strategy because “BDD encourages leadership training for all
staff as they advance, gain more responsibilities,
and move up the career ladder,” says Bernadine
Padilla, PR Coordinator at the facility. They strive
to “improve communication skills in order to interact more with the public or other departments. It’s
helpful for all levels of staff to learn new skills, oreven be reminded of supervisory skills they’ve been
trained on in the past.” TAP Resource had provided the intro level training 2 years ago, so this engagement revisited and advanced the idea of a sustainable program to reinforce knowledge along an
employee’s journey with the company.

BDD’s supervisory training began with developing
an understanding of self-awareness; a clear understanding of ourselves and the different ways thatpeople behave. There are a number of instruments
used to assist with this understanding, at BDD weused the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. Our facilitated process helps develop and clarify the information

Because experiential learning has proven to be mosteffective, our training program enlisted the help ofKaren Main with Innovations in Training to facilitate a highly interactive five-component program2

that is gathered and then relate it to the different
filters, which is crucial for a comprehensive understanding.

Managing people can be tricky, primarily because
people have moods and opinions; they are motivateddifferently and have different goals. For many newto supervision, it’s the people side of things that is
the most challenging to contend with. New supervisors at BDD are provided ongoing support to effectively manage the people side of the equation. Theprogram reinforced the broadly held belief that once
BDD supervisors learn how to manage the diverse
needs of their work team, it often becomes the mostrewarding part of the job!
As one of the participants of the BDD training noted, “This will help me be more supportive of myteam.” And another noted, “Enjoyed the class learned quite a bit about different styles of people
and how to deal with them, everyone’s perspective
matters.”

2. CORE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A
SUPERVISOR

4. WHEN THINGS GO SOUTH

When an employee at BDD moves into a supervisory position, their responsibilities change from being
responsible for themselves and their technical work
to representing the interests of the organization. The
BDD supervisor must ensure that work is accomplished by other people rather than by themselves.
This is a key transition that must be recognized andit’s often one of the most difficult.

No matter how effective a supervisor is, or how hard
they work, there will be times when things don't go
as planned, work doesn't get done, or employees
don't get along with each other. Many of us see conflict as a negative, as something to avoid. However,
if we understand conflict and the various ways thatpeople address conflict, it can actually be a positive.
In any case, BDD supervisors needed to understandconflict and the various ways that people deal withit.

BDD recognized that this transition from a focus on
the work or task to getting work done through others needed to be addressed. Through our workshops, we addressed the foundation of the issues
such as communication, delegation, feedback, follow-up, performance management, coaching, andrecognizing and rewarding. In addition, we covered
how supervisors must ensure that their employees
have the information and resources needed to besuccessful.
3. THE EMPLOYEE CYCLE
Supervisory training at BDD also included a discussion of the various components that make up theEmployee Cycle. This cycle, our journey, begins
with the development of the job or position description and includes selection. But it also includes theemployee's development through the entire timethey are part of a supervisor work group, and perhaps beyond. This requires on-boarding, coaching,training, guiding, rewarding and helping themachieve their individual goals.

This involved showing BDD supervisors that firstunderstanding their own preferences as a supervisor,
and then learning how to handle conflict in differentways. One of the most valuable skills we emphasize
is the ability to understand when you, as the supervisor, are experiencing performance problems. These
problems often happen because employees are notclear on "what they are supposed to do,” "how well3

they are supposed to do it,” and “how well they aredoing.”

tive leaders in their organizations, but each of theseorganizations vary significantly from each other, as
would the type of leadership style needed to successfully lead the organization. There are at least 4 different leadership styles; Participative, Directive,Standard Setter, and Charismatic. Our program with
BDD examined the different styles and their relationship to the four leadership filters.

A core part of the BDD supervisor curriculum focused on resolving and managing workplace conflict. The goal being to increase a supervisor’s tolerance for conflict and ability to weather different
types of conflict.
5. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND
LEADERSHIP STYLESCONCLUSION
BDD has recognized that leadership development isa journey that must begin at or near the beginning ofan employee's experience with an organization. By
implementing the supervisory/leadership program
outlined above, BDD is endeavoring to begin theleadership continuum early to ensure the greatest
likelihood of success. Such a program, combinedwith the advanced leadership development program,
will assist BDD in aligning its leadership performance, build meaning and satisfaction among employees, as well as insulate against the inevitablethreats to the organization’s success.

Lastly, to be effective, a supervisor must understand
BDD as an organization; and what makes it tick.
The true nature of the organization is a pattern ofdynamic relationships. This pattern at the organizational level describes BDD’s culture.
A management idea, no matter how good, will notwork in practice (implementation) if it does not fit
the culture of the organization. We reinforced theimportance for BDD supervisors to understand theconnection between BDD's culture and leadershipand how it relates to any management program. Understanding their culture will help leaders to develop change programs that are consistent with their
mission and vision.

Call us at (303) 561-3788
email us at info@tapresource.com orvisit us online at www.TAPresource.com
to make your organization more effective.

As stated in a Harvard Business Review article
from earlier this year, The Leader’s Guide to Corporate Culture:
Unfortunately, in our experience it is far more common for leaders seeking to build high-performing
organizations to be confounded by culture. Indeed,
many either let it go unmanaged or relegate it to theHR function, where it becomes a secondary concern
for the business. They may lay out detailed,thoughtful plans for strategy and execution, but because they don’t understand culture’s power anddynamics, their plans go off the rails. As someone
once said, culture eats strategy for breakfast.
Part of the problem is the assumption that there is
only one right way to lead. If that's the case, why
are there dozens and dozens of books on leadershipin your local book store, let alone the massive listing on Amazon (100 pages long)? Compare Andrew Grove's, former CEO of Intel, book High Output Management, Joseph Franklin's Building Leaders the West Point Way, and Max Depew's Leadership is an Art. Each of these authors may be effec4