Tom Ault, Author at ERC

The Best Supervisor Training Programs for Your Organization in 2026

October 18, 2025 Tom Ault

When employees move into supervisory roles, it’s common to realize they need new skills to lead effectively. Supervisors may be navigating the shift from peer to manager, learning how to communicate expectations, or figuring out how to handle conflict constructively. Here’s how to explore supervisor training options that fit your organization’s goals and resources. For … Read more

Ohio TechCred: How Ohio Employers Can Get Up to $180,000 for Upskilling Employees

May 31, 2025 Tom Ault

If you’ve been planning on upskilling your workforce, or even if you weren’t, now might be a better time than ever for employers with employees in Ohio. What is TechCred? In simple terms, TechCred provides Ohio employers with Ohio-based employees funding to upskill their teams. Employers can get reimbursed up to $2,000 per credential earned … Read more

Span of Control: How Many Employees Should Your Supervisors Manage?

January 26, 2025December 8, 2024 Tom Ault

The Highlights:

Span of control refers to the number of employees a supervisor or manager is directly responsible for overseeing and managing effectively.
Organizations should calculate a supervisor’s span of control by considering their direct reports’ complexity of tasks, experience levels, and amount of support required.
A narrow span of control involves fewer direct reports, allowing for more hands-on management, while a wide span of control oversees more employees, encouraging autonomy and efficiency.

Span of Control How Many Employees Should Your Supervisors Manage supervising employees effectively ideal span of control

How many employees do your supervisors manage? Has your organization considered the effects of what narrow or wide supervisory and managerial spans of control mean for your employees and the levels of support and empowerment they receive on the job?

New to Management: Training Individual Contributors to Become Managers

August 9, 2025November 26, 2024 Tom Ault

If you’ve been watching first-time managers struggle with the challenges of their new role, you’re not alone—and you’re in the right place. Helping new managers succeed isn’t just about fixing problems as they arise; it’s about giving them the right tools and training from the start. Let’s explore the common challenges they face and how … Read more

Are Supervisors and Managers Allowed to Yell at Employees?

January 26, 2025November 15, 2024 Tom Ault

The Highlights:

While yelling at employees may be legal, research shows it’s generally ineffective and often harms morale, productivity, and workplace relationships.
Yelling can sometimes be considered harassment if it’s severe, pervasive, and creates a hostile work environment or targets protected characteristics.
HR and leadership are responsible for identifying yelling issues in the workplace and can intervene through coaching, training, and clear policies.

Work can be stressful at times. Projects may be piling up or sales goals aren’t being met. Depending on the leadership in your organization, you may come across a supervisor or manager who tends to communicate in a more aggressive fashion, by yelling. A supervisor’s tendency to yell at employees may seem like it is the “wrong” way to manage people. But is it?

Additional Resource

The Ultimate Guide to Training Your Supervisors and Managers

Learn how training your supervisors and managers will help them overcome challenges, motivate those around them, and be more effective in their roles.

A Training Expert’s Approach to Making Employee Training Stick

August 9, 2025November 14, 2024 Tom Ault

A photo of employee training stuck on a wall

Have you ever walked into a training room and felt the tension—a sea of crossed arms and disengaged faces? I’ve been there. Employees shuffled into a session because “management said so,” treating it like a checkbox on an otherwise endless list of to-dos. But what if we could flip the script? What if training wasn’t … Read more

7 Clear Signs Your Leadership Team Needs Training

November 14, 2024November 14, 2024 Tom Ault

Leadership Team Meeting where people are frustrated

Effective leadership teams set the vision, drive the strategy, and inspire everyone to perform at their best. But let’s be honest: leading isn’t easy. Even experienced leadership teams can run into challenges that prevent their team from working seamlessly. Issues like lack of trust, poor communication, or working in silos can be signs of a … Read more

Expert Tips on the Preferred Leadership Style for Each Generation

October 21, 2024October 18, 2024 Tom Ault

With five—and sometimes even six—generations now working side by side, today’s workplace has become more complex than ever. From Traditionalists to Generation Z, each group brings unique perspectives, values, and work styles. This can lead to opportunities for growth, as different generations contribute with unique strengths, however, it can also present challenges like communication barriers, … Read more

Middle Management Training: The Ultimate Guide

January 26, 2025August 18, 2024 Tom Ault

Let’s talk about some of the unsung heroes of your organization — the middle managers. They’re often the ones translating the vision of senior leadership into actionable plans for their teams. They’re an essential link that ensures strategies are executed effectively and daily operations run smoothly.

Finding the Right Supervisor Training Program: The Ultimate Guide

August 9, 2025August 16, 2024 Tom Ault

Supervisor discussing tasks with employees

Choosing the right supervisor training program is an important step for HR leaders and business owners looking to set their teams up for success. New and seasoned supervisors often encounter common challenges, from understanding how to effectively manage a team to making decisions that impact their team and the organization. Supervisors are tasked with juggling … Read more

10 Things Successful Supervisors Do Differently

January 1, 2025July 27, 2024 Tom Ault

The Highlights: We’ve all had good supervisors and bad ones, and chances are, we remember the characteristics of both pretty vividly. The good ones probably stick out as people who have made a positive impact on our work lives and who have made us more successful in our careers. The bad ones probably showed us … Read more

Effective Conflict Management Styles for Managers and Supervisors: Resolving Workplace Disputes

January 1, 2025July 2, 2024 Tom Ault

Conflict Management illustration with arrows

The Highlights: Workplace conflict is a common challenge that all organizations encounter. The way managers and supervisors handle workplace conflict can have a significant impact on productivity, morale, and employee retention. This guide provides information on various conflict management styles, aiming to assist leaders and HR professionals in training their managers and supervisors with the … Read more