Production Supervisor: What is the cost of hiring?

Why hire a production supervisor?

An efficient production supervisor helps streamline the production operations of the company. They utilize the available raw materials and other resources to get better output from the production processes.

• Strategize and establish monthly/weekly/daily production goals for the production team and communicate to the respective employees
• Organize and manage the production processes, assign responsibilities and monitor schedules
• Manage, monitor and coach employees and provide training as needed

What are the types of production supervisors?

When looking to hire a production supervisor, it’s important to understand management roles and responsibilities. Depending on the manufacturer, production supervisors can oversee a range of business activity. Here are common types of production supervisors:

• Production manager: A production manager develops and implements policies and procedures to achieve the company’s production-related goals, helping the business grow more efficiently.
• Operations manager: An operations manager is responsible for managing the company’s resources effectively and making the company run more smoothly. They may also handle HR tasks, budgeting and special project management.
• Plant manager (or plant operator): Plant managers oversee the activity in a production plant to streamline manufacturing processes. Some work within a specific department, while others manage the activity of the entire plant.
• Manufacturing supervisor: Manufacturing supervisors coordinate the daily routines of workers in a production facility, including organizing training, delegating tasks and evaluating employee performance.

Where to find production supervisors

To find the right production supervisor for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Hire from within. Is anyone in your company or organization looking to move up? Assess your current staff’s skills and see if any employees would be a good fit in a production supervisor role.
• Network. Attend professional conferences, business meetups and other networking events for manufacturers to see if any qualified candidates are available.
• Ask members of the manufacturing industry. Ask manufacturers if they know someone who’d be interested in working for your company.
• Post help wanted ads in public spaces. Print out help wanted flyers and post them where people can easily read them.
• Post your job online. Try posting your production supervisor job on Indeed to find and attract quality production supervisor candidates.

Skills to look for in a great Production Supervisor

Production Supervisors are an integral part of a production team. It is crucial to note which qualifications and skills are vital for hiring a suitable Production Supervisor.

• Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering or similar fields
• Previous experience in a production facility as a supervisor with over 4 years of experience in manufacturing or production
• Proven organizational and team handling skills with the ability to delegate and assign work responsibilities Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills
• Strong physical ability to carry 50 lbs loads and stand for extended hours
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills
• Excellent time management and work prioritization skills

Writing a production supervisor job description

A thoughtful description is important to finding qualified production supervisor candidates. A production supervisor job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your production supervisor job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting . These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on production supervisor jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Production supervisor
• Supervisor
• Production manager
• Manufacturing
• Manager
• Manufacturing supervisor
• Management
• Production
• Production supervisor manufacturing
• Manufacturing manager

Interviewing production supervisor candidates

To hire a suitable production supervisor, take the time to vet candidates and ask detailed interview questions to understand their knowledge and skills. 

• How they’ve led and managed a production team and assigned them daily/weekly production targets
• Experience in working in a production or manufacturing facility in a supervisory role
• How they’ve contributed to achieving high efficiency from the production processes by use of existing resources

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of production supervisor interview questions for examples (with sample answers).