Supervision at Work: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Abstract

How does supervision impact worker performance? In this paper, I study the effects of frontline supervision on the speed and quality of production in a Ugandan data-collection firm. I conducted a field experiment that varied the timing and intensity of supervision among workers to identify its effects on performance. I find that increased supervision leads workers to improve most along the dimensions of performance where they were initially weakest. These improvements persist even on days, tasks, and performance metrics that are not directly supervised. My results suggest that supervision facilitates targeted on-the-job coaching, generating economically meaningful gains in worker performance and highlighting the role of supervisors as conduits for transmitting tacit production knowledge within organizations.