The Augusta office of the University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) wants to help managers build the bridge between generations in the workforce.
The event is coming up next week.
It has scheduled Supervisor Skills for the Modern Manager, a one-day workshop to learn new management and communication styles, along with discipline processes.
Rebecca Mixson, area director for the Augusta office, will be one of the instructors. She told ABD that business owners have hired younger employees who have stayed with the company but have not had training in supervisory or leadership skills.
“So, they are just basically utilizing how they were treated or brought up in the business, except they then need to have these skills to train other people coming up in the business,” she said. “As the business grows, the owners don’t necessarily have the hands-on time to do that, so they send themselves as business owners or their key employees as supervisors and managers to this class.”
Mixson said communication styles will be a foundation of the workshop because, while everyone believes they are great at communicating, that is not always the case. It is especially true as owners and managers try to master a multi-generational language, and it starts with listening.
“We talk about active listening and not necessarily preparing your answer for the conversation that’s taking place, but really listening to what is being said. We do communication activities, which are very eye-opening for most people. And then we just talk about how you deal with different personalities in the workplace,” she explained.
It is an age-old challenge made particularly important for a company’s ability to retain quality employees. Employee loss impacts the bottom line in the amount of time and expense on board a new employee, and in a loss of productivity during that process.
Mixson said this is where simply listening to an employee can make a difference.
“They have these big retention strategies and ideas, which is fine, but I said, ‘Did you ask the employees what they would like?’ You just have to look at things from different perspectives and be open to that. Otherwise, if it’s closed-minded, you miss a whole lot of information and opportunity.
In addition to learning communication styles and how best to utilize them, the workshop will address:
- Identify traits of a good manager
- Identify social styles and situational awareness
- Optimize your time management
- Hire, train, and manage people
- Identify what great customer service looks like
As instructors, Mixson will be joined by Eric Frickey, a senior business consultant for the SBDC office in Augusta.
The fee to attend the workshop is $199. It will be Thursday, June 25, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the UGA SBDC Augusta Conference Room, 2907 Professional Parkway
“We just want people to be able to become effective leaders and supervisors in the small businesses,” said Mixson. “To be a small business, you have to be able to compete on levels of customer service and communication, and flexible workplaces, and all those types of things. So, you have to be very robust as a business owner and know ways that are going to make your workplace the best it can be.”
https://georgiasbdc.org/training-program/0488-028-aug-supervisor-skills-for-the-modern-manager/
