Traditionally, supervisors and site managers have been recruited from the craft ranks, but quality craftsmen are thin on the ground. Consequently, craftsmen who have stayed in the trade are earning nearly twice as much as foremen or supervisors. Understandably, they want to stay put.
Supervisor shortfall
The numbers of people training to be supervisors is also a cause for concern. Between 1990 and 1995, there was an average of 136 people registered on the CIOB first-line site supervisors' course. And since 1996, 2729 candidates have passed the site management certificate and diploma, and 5454 the first-line supervisor certificate. Even taking into account the number of graduates in training, the shortfall will be critical and it is obvious that there is an urgent need for greater numbers to participate in suitable training.
In the current work climate, it is just about impossible for supervisors and site managers to obtain day release to attend a college for formal training – even if they want to. Many find that colleges with relevant training are just too far away. Even if supervisors can obtain day release, they are often disappointed by the training they receive. A common complaint is that lecturers provide an idealised approach to supervision that cannot be implemented on site because of time constraints.
One way of engaging large numbers of workers in supervisory training is action learning. Conceived in Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory in the late 1920s by a group of scientists including Professor RW Revans, action learning was further developed when Revans brought together small groups of colliery managers in South Wales coalfields with the notion that managers should learn with and from each other by sharing experiences.
Construction has a reputation for making or breaking its supervisors by hurling them in at the deep end rather than intelligently and purposefully developing them, so where better to apply action learning? For contractors running large sites with many supervisors, weekly site meetings between supervisors can be organised. Alternatively, contractors could organise regional meetings of their supervisors or even meetings with supervisors from other companies working on the same site.
One of the great advantages of action learning is that supervisors who are unfamiliar with your problems and settings can introduce a fresh perspective
At the weekly meetings, supervisors can share their experiences and help one another solve problems. The success and failure of various solutions can also be reported back to the group. One of the great advantages of action learning is that supervisors who are unfamiliar with your problems and settings can introduce a fresh perspective to your work.
Enhancing competency
Action learning provides a medium for learning and achieving competence to satisfy specific requirements, and it enhances productivity. It can be used to develop training programmes for supervisors so that they reach recognised levels of competence while dealing with real issues, in a real situation, in real time.
After more than 50 years, the technique is starting to attract the attention of the construction industry and is proving to be an effective vehicle for enhancing communication skills and managerial competencies. For instance, revising operational sequences such as laying out sites is a key area in which action learning can foster progress.
Those engaged in action learning soon get around to examining their own ability to do the job. And whatever the problem they face, participants in action learning claim to have gained both professionally and personally, becoming more confident in the discharge of their duties.
Source
Construction Manager
