Topic: Troubled Supervisors

Author(s), Title and Publication

Hopkins, K. M. (2001). Manager Intervention with Troubled Supervisors: Help and Support Start at the Top. Management Communication Quarterly, 15(1), 83-99.

Summary

Research has demonstrated the importance of supervisors’ supportive and helping interactions with troubled workers, however, little is known about how managers help troubled supervisors. This study filled this gap by examining managers’ intervention behaviors with troubled supervisors. A survey was carried out at Fel-Pro, Inc., a top manufacturing company in Skokie, Illinois; 131 supervisors answered questions regarding their personal problems, use of formal (e.g., Employee Assistance Program) and informal (e.g., a conversation with manager) resources, and their perceptions of managers’ support. This survey also measured 40 managers’ attitudes towards helping troubled supervisors, their awareness of supervisors’ personal problems, related training level, and intervention behaviors.

Results revealed that supervisors experienced a variety of personal and family difficulties, including stress, depression, marital problems, and substance abuse. In general, supervisors reported seeking more informal than formal help for personal problems, but the most troubled supervisors sought more professional help. When supervisors had personal problems, many perceived their managers as supportive and responsive, and were willing to seek help from their managers. Managers reported supporting and helping troubled supervisors, both informally and formally. But fewer managers reported being aware of supervisors’ problems and having enough training to identify their problems and help them. Similar to supervisors who used more informal help resources, managers were more likely to help the troubled supervisors informally by talking with them rather than referring them to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), personnel department, or a community agency. Among the three tested predictors of managers’ intervention with troubled supervisors (attitude, awareness, and training), only managers’ attitudes about help giving and awareness of supervisors’ problems were associated with their intervention behaviors.

Implications for Practice

Managers may need more comprehensive training to identify subordinates’ personal problems and help them informally or refer them to professional resources. HR or employee assistance staff could use assessment methods (e.g., surveys, focus groups, or informal lunch seminars) to better understand what training managers need, and then meet these needs consistently across departments or units.

Location of Article

The article is available online at: http://mcq.sagepub.com/content/15/1/83.abstract (abstract free, purchase full article)

Heidy Modarelli handles Growth & Marketing for IPR. She has previously written for Entrepreneur, TechCrunch, The Next Web, and VentureBeat.
Follow on Twitter

Leave a Reply