Sheet 54
HOW TO PROVIDE OJT
Supervisors are required to consider the following points when providing OJT.
1 Accept that OJT is the Responsibility of Supervisors
Believing that OJT isn't part of a supervisor's role is a great mistake. Supervisors must develop the knowledge and skills of staff to a level where they may successfully achieve the organizational goals. Training is therefore an extremely important undertaking for supervisors to take.
2 Relate OJT to OFF-JT
When OJT and Off-JT are designed to complement each other, the result will be twice as effective. OJT provides staff with information and advice on a daily basis while OFF-JT provides opportunity to solidify this knowledge. OJT allows the knowledge acquired in OFF-JT to be put into practice. Supervisors should thus try to complement the provisions of each training method.
3 Take an Enthusiastic Approach to Staff Development
When trust exists between supervisors and staff, stringent training methods will not become a source of conflict. To develop this trust, supervisors must perform their own tasks diligently and show determination towards developing the abilities of their staff. In addition to this, management should evaluate, not only the performance of a supervisor, but also their ability to train staff. This is an important factor in good supervision.
4 Learn from Staff
It is very rare for a supervisor to be better than their staff in every aspect of their work. Quite often staff have more knowledge or are more sensitive to certain issues than their supervisors. As the surrounding social and economic climate becomes more complex, cases are bound to appear where new phenomena are viewed as strange by both supervisors and staff alike. Supervisors should try to learn from staff in areas where they know better and join them in studying matters that neither of them understand.
5 Guide Staff According to their Individual Abilities and Expectations
When supervisors train their staff according to their own abilities and motivation, it may prove to be too demanding and staff may give up . Training must be conducted at their pace and not at the pace of the supervisor. People are often more willing to implement decisions that they have made themselves. They will take initiative and be more active in accomplishing the work if they have been fully involved from the beginning. When conducting OJT, it is important to listen to the opinions of staff and to include them in any decision making. The full participation of staff in every process of OJT will prove effective training.
