Manager development programme for Water infrastructure contractors: engineers and supervisors who lead gangs
Site engineers are chosen for technical skill and then asked to lead gangs, handle clients and keep records. A short, practical programme closes that gap.
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Share your requirementsWhy manager development programme matters in water infrastructure contractors
A good site engineer on a water project can read a longitudinal section and fix a levelling error. Put in charge of a hundred workers, three gang leaders and an officer from the public body, he may struggle. He has not been shown how to give instructions, settle a dispute between gangs or tell a client that a stretch will run late. Supervisors face the same step up from being the best pipe layer to leading others.
A development programme here is not a classroom course. It is a set of short sessions on real situations, taken on or near the site, with a senior as mentor. Topics include briefing a gang, keeping a daily note, dealing with an angry client and handling a worker who is hurt. People practise, then discuss what happened on the next stretch.
How to set it up
1. Choose who goes through it
Pick site engineers and supervisors who will lead teams in the next year. A group of six to eight works well, with a mix from different projects.
2. Build sessions around real cases
Use situations from your own routes, such as a gang leader who leaves midweek or a client who rejects a joint. Let participants say what they would do before the group discusses it.
3. Teach the daily routine
Show how to run the morning briefing, keep the route note and hand over to the next shift. Practise on one example, not a general principle.
4. Pair each with a mentor
A senior project head meets each participant monthly for a few months, asks about problems and reads a sample of their daily notes.
5. Review what changed
After three months ask project heads and gang leaders what has altered. Adjust the sessions. The leadership and people management training may supply parts.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- List engineers and supervisors promoted in the last two years and ask what help they got.
- Ask a gang leader what he finds hard about a new supervisor.
- Read two daily route notes and compare their clarity.
- Ask a young engineer what he would like to learn about handling clients.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach manager development programme in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Usually not on its own. Short sessions on real situations, with practice on site and a mentor, work better. People learn how to act when they see it done and try it themselves.
Long enough to cover a few real cycles of work, often a few months with short monthly sessions. A single day is soon forgotten. What matters is practice between sessions.
A senior project head or a manager respected by gangs and clients. He should have time to meet and be willing to share mistakes. A good mentor is more valuable than a polished syllabus.