Using Critical Incidents: The Development of a Behaviorally Based Training Program for Supervisor Citizenship Behavior and Feedback Skills

• Main Author: Lecheler, Jody J.
• Format: Others
• Published: TopSCHOLAR® 2015
• Subjects: Critical Incidents; Training; Supervisor Citizenship Behavior; Feedback; Applied Behavior Analysis; Industrial and Organizational Psychology; Organizational Communication
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1454; http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2458&context=theses

It has been argued (Greer, 2013) that supervisors are a critical component in organizational effectiveness. Supervisors are required to hold many roles within the organization (Evans, 1965). Specifically, employees often see supervisors as representatives of the organization, while the organization depends on supervisors to maintain production (Greer, 2013). Many supervisors also fill a variety of other organizational roles such as mentor, trainer, motivator, disciplinarian, evaluator, and leader (Evans, 1965). For these reasons, effective supervisors are crucial to organizational success. The present study developed a behaviorally based training program for supervisors for a poultry processing organization. The training program content included displaying supervisor citizenship behavior and providing effective feedback. Examples of actual situations in the form of critical incidents were collected from incumbents serving as subject matter experts (SMEs). The critical incidents were then edited, retranslated, calibrated, and used to provide specific behavioral examples in the training program.