Supervisors and Employee Workforce

Every organization worldwide is composed of different people in many ways, including their viewpoints and approach to various issues affecting the business. These diverse perspectives make it easy for any organization to develop its team and innovate its processes quicker than if it lacked a differentiated employee workforce. Each member of a given department brings to their team a unique set of experience, knowledge, and skills that are crucial in solving short-term and long-term problems the company faces. Several factors can impact the dynamics and effectiveness of any group of employees, depending on their cohesion, nature of work, and organizational culture (Shuffler et al., 2018). Understanding how each employee or team responds to a given factor helps in knowing and appreciating the complex nature of groups and the business environment and how all the relevant elements can be integrated to provide the desired outcome. Supervisors should know and use skills crucial in understanding diversified teams by learning conflict management skills, accepting various lifestyles, acknowledging age differences, and fostering effective communication between teams. We will explore these factors using the social learning theory and adult learning theory.

Supervisors need to understand that their juniors can observe and imitate their peers and acquire some behaviors. According to Shrivastava and Shrivastava (2017), social and adult learning are considered cognitive processes that occur in any social context and among adults. Such knowledge acquisition methods can result from observation or repeated directives, where there is no motor reproduction. These two learning theories are crucial for managers and supervisors because they inform leaders that a team of workers can be accustomed to a repeated situation, thus becoming used to the instructions. Adults want to be considered knowledgeable attentive to directives; hence they do not want conditions in which they are frequently subjected to ridicule or directions. After some time, junior employees become acquainted with what they are supposed to do at any given time. While it should be great behavior, it can mean that the unchecked employees can assume some roles beyond them, thus causing issues with fellow employees. To some extent, it could indicate no need for supervision, thus resulting in the loss of jobs for supervisors. Therefore, it is crucial to keep teams checked and working within their limits.

While an employee can acquire traits through observation and imitations, teams can learn specific behaviors through rewards and punishments. According to Afota et al. (2019), using external factors to impart the desired outcome is reinforcement. Supervisors can use vicarious reinforcement to help the employees behave in specific ways expected by the organization. It is essential to understand that when a behavior is constantly rewarded, it may result in competition among workers, leading to better quality work outcomes. On the other hand, rewards can result in reservations among workers, especially if there is a notion regarding unfair treatment and prejudice in giving such tips. This can hurt the business, especially at the point of sale, where the workers interact with customers. Also, understand that supervisors do not need to impose frequent and unnecessary punishments. Afota et al. (2019) reveal that retributing workers can achieve the desired alignment with organizational principles, but only when conducted appropriately. Excessive chastisement leads to adverse outcomes, such as reduced employee morale. Therefore, supervisors must understand the limits in dealing with different employees or teams.

One of the main issues that have resulted in poor diversity management is that some managers and supervisors do not understand workplace diversity issues, hence do not know how to solve them. Leaders must understand the need for mutual respect at work, which incorporates accepting individual differences, thus fostering copacetic and productive efforts. The lack of care can lead to conflict among workers, especially in instances of racism, prejudice, and discrimination. Leaders must understand how to handle such cases without compromise and taking sides. Moreover, there are instances in which problems among diverse workers arise from gender differences and potentially sexual harassment. The leaders should teach workers to appreciate that their peers are hired to work because they possess unmatched skills and continue to offer their best talents to succeed and get promotions or rewards. Employees who sexually harass their peers should be terminated and severely warned to help maintain a professional environment within the workplace.

Supervisors should also understand the need for open and effective communication between teams and with the management. Employees with no prejudice do not experience delays due to failure in communication. However, the hiring department must ensure that all the workers can understand one language for official communication. Sometimes, the communication channel can be a significant hindrance to the passage of messages, especially between peers whose age differences are vast (Bucher & Bucher, 2010). A younger person occupying a senior leadership position can find it difficult to communicate an issue, such as a corrective measure on an erroring older employee, which can hamper business operations. workers should be trained to understand this factor and accept the decisions of the supervisors or managers.

In conclusion, leadership in workforce plays a crucial role in realizing the objectives and mission of the company. Leaders in various capacities must understand their roles when dealing with a diverse workforce. The major diversities occur due to age, gender, ethnicity, education, or disability, among others. Supervisors must understand these differences and help various teams work cohesively and respectfully to achieve the desired organizational outcome. The success of the company depends on how leaders work address various issues resulting from differences among employees