Teaching Supervisors How to Supervise

Source: California CPA Magazine

Because of the importance of staff retention, it is crucial that CPA firms teach their supervisors how to develop and motivate people.

When staff are asked what they want in a supervisor, they generally say teaching skills, communication skills, and patience.

People are motivated in different ways:

• Level of achievement.
• Recognition.
• Being part of a team.
• Absence of pressure.
• Security.

Supervisors should find out how each of their assistants is best motivated.

Here’s what supervisors should do:

• When making assignments, consider how they will help personal growth.
• Don’t judge your supervisory skills by the quantity of review notes. If you instruct well, there should be fewer review notes.
• Make frequent inspections of the work to assure that errors aren’t repeated.
• Try asking people to write their questions. Often the act of writing the question reveals the answer.

For the complete article, click here and select “The Softer Side of CPAs” from the July 2008 issue.

From California CPA Magazine, California Society of Certified Public Accountants, July 2008, http://www.calcpa.org/Content/home.aspx.

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