Recent trends in the development of supervisors: A summary of the latest views of the Institute of Supervisory Management

One of the implications of Operation Vulcan, that training systems should be judged by whether they produce a satisfactory improvement in the performance of the trainees, appears obvious. This desirable end result can, however, be lost sight of in the challenge of developing a training system rather than people who can do their jobs better. The examples quoted highlighted some of the necessary features of potentially successful training systems, such as: • the relationship with the actual job should be apparent; • any adaption necessary should not require the user to carry out a detailed analysis; • implementation should be within the capacity of a skilled performer rather than needing a highly skilled trainer. It does look as though, in general, there would be advantages in training for most jobs in the job environment and using identical tools and methods — on the job training. If true of office or shop floor jobs, might it not apply equally in the sphere of supervisory management?