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The Library & Information Science Professional's Career Development Center |
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Becoming a Supervisor: Managing Student Workers |
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Taking on the responsibility of being a supervisor can be an important step in your career. It can create career opportunities in the future, and it definitely looks good on a resume. Before becoming a supervisor, I thought that supervising 20 part-time employees (work-study students) was no big deal. I quickly became aware of the challenges involved. Starting Off The only experience I previously had was supervising a few other associates in retail, and supervising pages and volunteers in the public library. When I was hired in the summer there were no work-study employees, but I was told repeatedly what a “handful” they could be. During that summer, the library staff worked to create an orientation program for our work-study employees. We created a sheet for them to sign, detailing the work-study rules and library policies. We also created a Power Point presentation, a shelf-reading schedule, circulation exercises, and scenario questions. We used the LC Easy program to help them learn to shelf-read and reshelve books. All started out well. The students came in and filled out the forms we had for them. Our library director created their work schedules and scheduled them for orientation. The first challenge was that because each employee had a different start date, we had to introduce each employee to the library individually. Each work-study student seemed to get a different orientation, depending on which staff member did the introduction. Another problem I encountered was non-returning students; some workers would show up their first day of work but would never come back. Limitations & Problems I quickly discovered several challenges in supervising work-study students. At our institution, we did not have the power to fire a work-study employee immediately if there were a problem. We first had to document the problems and try to resolve the situation. If we could not accomplish that, we had to take the issue up with the Human Resources Director or the administration. We also had a few employees that we lost right away; they either did not come back after their first day or they quickly found another job and quit. Other small problems started to occur: students showed up for work not wearing their uniform or not wearing it properly, showed up late, missed work days, played games or “instant messaged” friends on computers at the service desks, or did not complete their assignments. Some other reoccurring problems were talking to friends at the circulation desk, wanting to change their schedule, and calling in often to miss a shift. Some employees would offer a different excuse all the time (friend’s death, car accident, destroyed uniform, overslept, too tired) – and it was usually the same people each time. Solutions I tried several solutions including memos, one-on-one discussion, and constant reminders. I found the latter to be the most disappointing because I thought after reminding them a few times, they would remember what they were supposed to be doing, but some would still not do their job. I explained to many of the work-study employees that this was an important part of their experience at school that would prepare them for real-world jobs. If I were their boss in a “real” work environment, I would view their performance poorly and they might be fired. Schedule changes were allowed for valid reasons, but we didn’t want to let employees constantly change their schedules. If an employee requested too many schedule changes, the director refused subsequent schedule changes. I encouraged the idea of an “employee of the month” program, in which the chosen employee’s name was posted on a sign in our library, and they were given a certificate and a small gift. We documented problems and talked to the students about them, which is about the most we could do. All of the strategies seem to work, but the most important lesson that I learned is that 20 part-time employees are more work than it appeared at first. I made a few mistakes and feel that I have learned from them. Tips for Success Here are a few tips for dealing with some of the most significant and prevalent issues you will encounter as a new supervisor:
Conclusion Being a supervisor is a good test of your decision-making ability. I was proud to put into practice the leadership skills I’d learned in the past. I hope that when other new supervisors read this, they can perhaps realize that there is more to being a supervisor than they might expect, and ask others who have had supervisory experience what they learned in the process. References Here are some books that I would recommend to all new supervisors.
Jacob Cole is a Reference Librarian for Johnson & Wales University’s North Miami campus. He received his Masters of Library and Information Science at the University of South Florida in May 2004, and is currently applying for the part-time law degree program at Florida International University. Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in LIScareer articles are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the LIScareer editors. Article published February 2005
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Page last updated
10/03/2005
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