Most of America is moving away from institutional regulation back to the country's founding roots of self-reliance. Organized labor is pursuing government employees to replace private sector markets lost to the refound, self-reliant workers. Public employers should not look to blame anyone for this migration. It is simply a traditional American business, the union, replacing a lost market with a new one. The public sector supervisor of the 1990's is challenged with a new employee attitude.

The new "all for all" attitude removes the individuality from the "all for one — one for all" platform. Just as the word one is dropped from the quote, so is the individual's pursuit to excel dropping away.

The employee that seeks advancement to improve his individual value gets labeled a rogue by his peers. The "all for all" mentality works to reduce employees to lower levels of competency. The supervisor can keep performance levels high by a personal one to one relationship with each employee in his immediate work team. This one on one approach is High Touch Supervision (HTS). HTS is the one to one counter balance to the all for all mentality. HTS promotes the basic human needs of fulfillment on the job by regular informal and structured feedback sessions with employees. High Touch Supervisors will daily emphasize the strength of the individual's role in the total success of the work team. Individual responsibility must be stressed but not lost in an every man for himself competition. When an employee achieves his own fulfillment needs, his work ethic will be close to perfect.

The informal daily feedback to each employee needs the balance of a structured appraisal process. The appraisal process should clearly show the employee's value in regular performance activities and goals set specifically for him as an individual.

HTS promotes the individual and individual responsibility. Even the labor union that promotes treating everyone exactly alike will agree that people must be rewarded for their individual effort. Individuality is the force forming the future. HTS will recognize and reward the initiative of the individual. The individual's success will teach those that avoid responsibility and hide in the group that opportunity passes them by.

HTS is as easy as we make it. Set standards, set goals, informally appraise performance daily, appraise in a standard format quarterly, reward and correct actions when appropriate. Concentrate on the individual, his needs and abilities. Never compare or measure individuals against one another. Take the one to one approach at all times. High Touch Supervision will yield higher performance and improve relationships to make everyone's work easier.

Page 20 / Illinois Municipal Review / November 1990