Role of Supervisors in Workplace Learning

Learn about the role of supervisors in workplace learning and how they facilitate the learning process for staff. Understand the importance of quality supervision and the impact supervisors have on the workplace.

4D. In the driving seat
I have learned from the article “The supervisor's influence on workplace learning” about the role
of supervisors in the workplace. I came to know that the positions of the supervisors as a
facilitator of what is learned by the staffs. The supervisor allowed us to see practically how this
organisation runs. During the first two weeks of my internship, the supervisor needs to inform
about the vision and mission of the organisation, how the company delivers product and services
to its customers. I also learned new ways by which supervisors encourage to evaluate new
technologies and new products, services and processes. To get a robust training and even get
support and commutating facilities from our supervisors.I came to know about the three elements
to ensure quality supervision that includes a portion for an administration that will meet the
requirement of the profession and post. An aspect of development is also an essential factor that
will ensure that an individual is growing, developing and improving every day (Furley, 2014).
The supervisor needs to be supportive that will encourage the trainees.
From the article “You deserve good supervision! a guide for supervisees” written by Margaret
Morrell, I have found out that the supervision policy of the workplace also provides the elements
of good supervision. I have learned about lp in an individual employee. It also helps to
understand the difference between supervision and managing the performance, debriefing and
counselling. These learning help me to become a good practitioner and what good supervision
provides us. After reading the articles, I feel that we need to be confident about what we are
learning and able to handle the complicated situation which arises while doing some practical
experiments. The supervisors some impacts on the workplace.

From Internet search engine I find out that supervisors take an active role to enhance the
learning of the staff. I also find out on surfing on the internet that the supervisors are directly and
indirectly performs traditional activities of supervision that gives the interns a significant
personal learning experience. The supervisors in a workplace need to provide a learning facility
to the learners that will help them to understand their roles in the organisation (Hughes, 2004).
The workplace should provide a place for learning, and the supervisors are the facilitators who
will ensure that this learning environment persists. In the coming future, this will help me
understand what I can learn from my supervisors and what is their responsibility towards the
employees.
5D. Occupational Health and Safety Regulation
As I have learned in the article of “ I wish that I belonged more in this whole Engineering
Group” that if I do not get safety induction in my job for the guidelines to use machinery safely
and another safety issue I will ask the management about the same to provide as it is essential.
As a new employee, I need to know about the safety hazards that can arise while arising. Carry
on with the responsibility is fine but to follow specific rules and regulation is also essential to
work in a protected environment. I would wish to enter an industry that will have particular
health and safety regulations. The organisation in which I would like to join must have earthing
protection systems like the TT system, RN system, and IT system (Male et al., 2018). The
lightning protection system is also present in the organisation which includes lightning rod, the
lightning rod with taut wires and a meshed cage conductor for lightning. It is the responsibility of

the employers as well as the employees to ensure safety. To act following the security is also
essential. If I am an employee of the organisation, I will expect that there will be risk
management technologies within the organisation. I have never witnessed any incident in the
health and safety of the employees is at risk in the organisation from where I have done my
internship.
From “European Journal of Engineering Education”, I learned there is a need for special care of
the employees and provided high level security and safety. If I ever witnessed such an incident, I
will first try to evaluate that that from whose end the mistake took place. If it is from the
company's end, I will recommend the managers and executives to rake specific actions regarding
that, and if the employee is responsible, then I will recommend them to take proper training
(Foor, Walden & Trytten, 2007). 4-H Farm Safety Day held at the Weyburn Curling Rinkin this
year, a horrific electrocution accident in the organisation where the employees were
manufacturing steel grain bins. Several such incidents take place all over the world which has
affected many lives. So, I think after reading and learning the journal the safety of the employees
needs to be considered first.
6D. Ethics
There are three types of ethical elements are right ethics which ensures for the decision
that is taken the organisation needs to make the responsibility of the decision that is accepted as I

learned from the learning activity I was engaged with. The leading platform for taking an ethical
decision is by considering the viewpoints of all the employees of the organisation. The next ethic
is the duty ethics which ensures all the employees follow the moral theory (Carew, 2009). Under
this ethics, an act is considered as ethical if it is done for the sake of the duty and is done by
respectfully treating humanity. Utilitarianism is another element under which an act is
considered as moral or immoral in accordance to the consequences. IT main aim is to maximise
the happiness of the employees (Longstaff, 2017). Under this ethics, the suffering of an
employee is measured with the help of a relative scale. Thus it measures the satisfaction of the
employees in their particular work files. I have faced some ethical dilemma because while using
some of the machinery it causes pollution, but such machines contribute to the significant part of
the production.
While reading the article, I got to learn many things and get the opportunity to apply many
theoretical concepts. I learned many things about ethics in the workplace and the ethical
dilemmas that arise. I learned more about handling that these moral dilemmas and come to know
about different types of human behaviour, values and attitudes. I decided to understand and
evaluate the ethics and take decision according to it. I also recommend my friends and
classmates to make ethical decisions in case they fall in a situation of moral dilemma as there are
many topics, understanding on the same need some practical implementations. I hope that I will
get to apply to many companies with my experience while reading and understanding from these
articles. I also get clear and transparent knowledge in the field. I am expecting that the way this
article have enhanced my education will help me in my coming future.

References
Carew, A. L. J. (2009). Engineering your future: an Australian guide.
Foor, C. E., Walden, S. E., & Trytten, D. A. (2007). “I wish that I belonged more
in this whole engineering group:” Achieving individual diversity. Journal of
Engineering Education, 96(2), 103-115.
Furley, R. (2014). You deserve good supervision!: A guide for supervisees [Book
Review]. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 26(4), 97.
Hughes*, C. (2004). The supervisor's influence on workplace learning. Studies in
Continuing Education, 26(2), 275-287.
Longstaff, S. (2017). Everyday Ethics. Simon and Schuster.

Male, S. A., Gardner, A., Figueroa, E., & Bennett, D. (2018). Investigation of
students’ experiences of gendered cultures in engineering workplaces. European
Journal of Engineering Education, 43(3), 360-377.

1D. Job Market Analysis
I am an electrical engineer, and I have been looking for internship opportunities in
various companies. After a thorough search, three of the companies that I would like to join are
Origin Energy, Schneider Electric, and AGL Energy. All three companies deal with electric
power. However, while Schneider Electric is concerned with products, solutions, services, and
support for electric power generation, distribution, and consumption, Origin Energy and AGL
Energy is involved in the retail, exploration, production, and generation of electricity. On
September 2018, Origin Energy announced plans to build the largest virtual power plant in
Victoria with a capacity of 5MW. The proposed solar electric plant will store the energy
produced in batteries and will be expected to power up to 650 customers when there is a peak
demand (Market Screener, 2018). One of the most recent projects of AGL Energy is the
construction of two large-scale solar energy power plants with a combined capacity of 155MW
in New South Wales (Mackett, 2019). Schneider Electric won a grant to develop micro-grid solar
power in South Australia. The project is jointly implemented with Planet Ark Power. The project
comprises the micro-grid management system for 5.7MW of the solar power plant, and 2.9MWh
of storage batteries (Microgrid Knowledge, 2017). I have studied some of the projects that the
three companies have undertaken in the recent past, and they are the type of projects, in which I
wish to get involved . I am passionate about electric power, and I would like to work in the
future in either service as a field services engineer or become involved directly in projects as a
project engineer. None of the three companies displayed the managers engaged in recruiting. All
of them indicated the procedures that one has to follow to apply for an internship, graduate
programs, and jobs.

All the three organisations have advertised for various jobs graduate programs, and
internships recently. Origin Energy has announced for the positions of automation systems
engineer, senior completions engineer, lead production engineer, and IT Field Engineer.
However, it has not announced locations for an internship. They accept interns only when one
applies. Some of the jobs advertised by AGL Energy include Lead Engineer, Maintenance
Strategy Engineer, Maintenance Planner, and Maintenance Scheduler. Besides several jobs for
experienced electrical engineers as well as graduates, Schneider Electric also have adverse for
summer internship programs for technical field and commercial field.
2D.Strategy for Getting Internship
The internship is critical in my area since it gives me early experience on how I should
prepare for a long term career growth. However, to get a course; I need to create connections
with those who make decisions.Consequently, the most important people to me are key people
who are directly involved in recruiting employees and interns. Specifically, the most relevant
people, in this case, are the recruiting managers. Since the companies do not indicate on their
websites the people who are involved in the recruitment, I will have to employ a different
strategy. My strategy is to ask people who I already know where I can get the contacts of the
recruiting managers in the companies I wish to join. It is very likely that some of them know the
recruiting managers in the company based on their past job search experience or they know some
people working in the company. They may be even working with employees from the company
in some projects, and it would be easier for them to get contacts. Since I am not looking for a
permanent job, I would ask to interview them for an internship opportunity in their company —

the second strategy I would use to contact them through social media. I will search for the
employees of the company in various social media sites and inquire from them if I can get
contacts of the recruiting managers. Once I get their connections, I would ask them if they have
internship opportunities in their company, and whether they can accept me. Since they may want
to know a few things about me, I would develop an e-portfolio and ask an experienced engineer
or human resources manager to review and advise me on how I can improve it. This will also
help me in my future as I will already develop knowledge in that field. Some of the professional
bodies represented in Sydney include the Professionals Australia and the Institution of Engineers
Australia. The Institution of Engineers Australia is planning World Engineers Convention 2019
which will be held in Australia. Professionals Australia have not announced any major event in
the future. Through the games, I can get a chance to meet professional engineers who can guide
me on how I should develop my career. Some of the engineers I will meet may be working in the
companies or are in the field of my interest. They will offer valuable advice to me. By engaging
in the Peer Review Feedback Activity, I learned that people have different views for the same
situation. I want to respond to the feedback I received by thanking the reviewer and correcting
the mistakes. Through reviewing other people's work, I increase my knowledge and expand my
view. Unlike other subjects, learning this subject is interesting, but it requires practice. The
question involves exposure to the outside world through an internship or shadowing. It needs one
to have a full grasp of theoretical knowledge and how to integrate it into practice in the
workplace. Understanding this subject is better when training is involved.
3D Photography
Photography and critical incident journaling help document what has been learned. It helps
summarises what can be expressed by using many words. Photographs also aid in recalling

incidents faster than words. I will be taking pictures of significant events in my learning. That
will help me to support the facts with influential figures. For instance, if I am experimenting, I
would be taking photos of the equipment used, and the results obtained. Every photograph will
have a short description about it and referenced as per the Harvard referencing style. Professional
engineers use reflective skills with their peers when they want to develop a strong understanding
of concepts. These help in implementing the concepts in real time situations. Reflective listening
skills help one to understand better the idea and to retain the information for a longer time. It also
helps in asking the right questions. In the recent past, there are a lot of changes that have
happened in my field. Besides the emphasis on sustainability, there is a lot of opportunities for
integrating new technologies such as the internet of Things, and Bock Chain Technology with
my field.

About me
I am currently a second-year student in Bachelor of Electrical Engineering at the
University of Technology Sydney (UTS). I have studied two years out of four in Canada at the
University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). I always have a passion for Electrical
Engineering. I have set a goal during the next two years to be participated in some engineering
activities to build up my experience and have the leadership sense.I have also gained knowledge
in supervision strategies and the way it has helped me to decide in complex situations. I have
also analysed the job market. I have skill in 3D photography. I know about the ethics in an
organisation and what are the ethical values that are needed to follow the decisions that need to
be taken if a complicated situation arises. I have definite ideas about getting an internship in an
organisation.