Supervision, in a culture of security, must be oriented to at least two focuses: on the one hand, to the technical actions that preventive management demands, and on the other, to the well-being of the people who make up the organization. Although these dimensions of supervision are not new, the interesting thing is to be able to apply them in the context of preventive technical and human management, in which our supervisors have a strong orientation towards both, determining a type of “integral” leadership (Orientation to people and preventive technical management or P + G +).
Considering that there may be many other classifications, with the aforementioned dimensions, we can obtain four styles of supervision as shown in the following matrix:
|
Orientation to technical preventive management |
|||
|
G- |
G + |
||
|
Orientation to treatment and interest in the well-being of people |
P + |
Accommodating P + G- |
Integral P + G + |
|
P- |
Reagent P- G- |
Bureaucratic P- G + |
Matrix Styles of Supervision in Prevention, Goldman, K. 2015.
Each of these styles (Reactive, Complacent, Bureaucratic and Integral) has the following characteristics:
Reactive Style (PG-): Characterized by being a supervisor who complies with the minimum aspects of his work, without showing interest in any of the two dimensions. They are distanced from people and have a low or regular performance generally because they are unmotivated, even though in some cases they simply do not dominate the techniques of preventive management or of psychology applied to prevention, which is easier to solve. They are very reactive in terms of the activities they must carry out: they participate and make contributions when requested, but they do not strive for continuous improvement. They tend to blame others for mistakes or to overlook more reckless actions as long as they don't directly affect them.
Complacent Style (P + G-): This style has a strong orientation to interpersonal relationships, leaving aside the technical guidelines of preventive management, that is, it privileges ties with others over the application of norms, demands or the actions that preventive management requires are applied. It generates climates of camaraderie and camaraderie, even transcending work limits towards social and family ones. Many times they tend to create bonds of friendship with their collaborators that prevent them from making security demands or applying sanctions.
Bureaucratic Style (P-G +): Bureaucratic supervisors focus their energy on compliance with regulations and systems, leaving aside interpersonal relationships or positive links with workers. They focus on goals, on numbers, on charts. Generally does not listen and therefore does not consider the opinion of others. You may not understand unsafe behavior and its causes, or you may not even care, as "the end is more important than the process." He often blames others for accidents, for not following procedures as directed by the system, without doing an analysis of the underlying causes. The errors are of the people because "they are stubborn", or because they are not up to the level of the system. Although its management has results,It is possible that he is not perceived as a true leader and generates resistance among his collaborators, by way of tension or passive aggression. It generally achieves its goals by imposition.
Integral Style (P + G +): an integral style has a balance that allows you to put the company's preventive management system into practice in a group of people who value it and consider it a leader, since it has generated positive links, is firm but friendly, being consistent with the purpose of creating safe work environments with good weather. He is capable of transforming others through conviction and persuasion, rather than through imposition.
The following table compares the different styles of supervision:
| Dimensions |
Reagent P- G- |
Accommodating P + G- |
Bureaucratic P- G + |
Integral P + G + |
| Trading style | It moves between avoiding and imposing. | Precede the giving or pleasing. | It tends to impose. | Solely seek collaborative actions and solutions. |
| Attribution of prevention achievements | Own. | From the workers | Own and the coherence that the systems present. | Shared. |
| Attribution of errors in prevention | From the workers. | Of the system | From the workers. | Shared, emphasis on aspects to improve. |
| Level of commitment to prevention | Complies or reacts according to demands of the position. | Engages in issues that benefit workers | It is committed to the issues and goals required by the system. | Express your interest in practice by proactively engaging. |
| Inclusion of others in preventive management | Null or very low, only if there is an obligation to do so. | Try to involve only those who are interested. | Workers must simply comply with the demands of the system | Encourage individual and group participation in decisions, ideas and improvements |
| Feedback and performance monitoring | Null or very low, only when you should if it is planned. | Focused on interpersonal relationships and friendship ties. | Focused solely on meeting goals. | Focused on improving the performance and well-being of workers. |
| Innovation and continuous improvement | Null, in general there is no interest in proposing improvements. | Very low or according to the interests of the majority. | According to the provisions of the same systems. | It proposes improvements and ideas based on the indications of the system and the experiences and contributions in daily work. |
| Application of control mechanisms | Low and reactive | Low and depending on the context, preference for people. | High, strict and attached to the rules. | Firm but friendly in the deal, explaining the reason for the control and promoting self-care. |
| Worker development | No interest in the development of others | Seeks the personal development of workers | Look for the pertinent closing of technical gaps according to each position. | Fosters interest in the personal and professional development of workers |
| Climate generated in your environment | Uncertainty | Relax | Tension | Participation |
| Perception it generates in others | Boss. | "Friend". | Boss. | Leader. |
Due to the relevance of supervision in all preventive management models, it is key to identify the style that best characterizes our middle managers and make the decisions and actions that allow us to have comprehensive heads. What type of supervisors do you want in your company?
