PeopleWork Supervisor Academy

We teach supervisors how to be really good leaders.

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Build trust with employees.
Create better teamwork.
Get employee buy-in to safety.

Care For Your People. Grow Your Company. It Starts With Your Frontline Leaders

PeopleWork Supervisor Academy helps you care for your people and grow your company by developing frontline leaders who build strong, engaged teams. Our online training provides supervisors with the essential skills to communicate with empathy, coach effectively, and lead with respect.

We know that frontline leaders—whether foremen, leads, or supervisors — are crucial to your company's culture and success. Our training gives them the tools to create a positive work environment.

By investing in PeopleWork Supervisor Academy, you're investing in a happier, more productive workforce. Our online format makes training convenient and accessible, so you can see a real return on your investment in your people.

PeopleWork Supervisor Academy

Just imagine supervisors with more…

Respect.

The ability to rally their teams and build connection and trusting relationships.

Teamwork.

Understanding what employees want and creating plans for individual team member development.

Caring.

A leader who is empathetic and can communicate the work through the eyes of the employee.

Confidence.

Beyond technical skills, creating and having certainty in your frontline supervisors.

Empowerment.

Encouraging employees to become leaders without overwhelming them or burning them out.

Trust.

Specifically, a two-way trust that is shared and given in the relationship between supervisor and employee.

Leadership.

The skills to lead their teams today and develop the people to lead the company tomorrow.

Motivation.

Increase team motivation with positive reinforcement and celebrating small wins regularly.

Safety.

More than just physical safety, but also mental and emotional safety where people feel comfortable.

It’s everything we cover in PeopleWork Supervisor Academy.

How does PeopleWork Supervisor Academy work?

You will get:

  • The core seven modules of the CareFull Supervisor 8-week daily video training
  • 44 weeks of Monday Mentor weekly videos to keep the learning going
  • The 52 Benefits of Safety video series as weekly safety topics for team meetings
  • Done-for-you downloadable resources and templates
  • Access to the privately-hosted online community of supervisors from around the world
  • Live weekly group coaching with Kevin Burns
  • Bonus masterclasses and advanced training
  • PLUS: Lifetime membership – When you join the PeopleWork Supervisor Academy, you’re a member for life. Complete the live program, then revisit and review the material as much as you want. The training Modules, bonus resources, weekly live coaching, and the online supervisor community, are yours forever.
  • PLUS: Copies of The CareFull Supervisor book – When you complete the 8-week CareFull Supervisor program, we will ship you copies of the book for each supervisor completing the first 8-week program.
PeopleWork Supervisor Academy

The 5 Parts of PeopleWork Supervisor Academy

  1. The CareFull Supervisor 8-week daily learning program
  2. Monday Mentor weekly video learning series
  3. 52 Benefits of Safety weekly video series
  4. Online Supervisor Community
  5. Live Zoom Coaching calls each week
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The CareFull Supervisor

8-week microlearning program of one new idea every weekday for 2 months.

Module 1
Know Your Role

  • Recall your best boss and the important question: are being that example for someone else?
  • Technical skills are the skills employees think are dead last in importance. There are seven other skills that employees want you to have.
  • Being a supervisor is like being a baseball manager, but the baseball manager has a technique they use that can help supervisors build better teams.
  • The gunslinger supervisor does it all and is the only person allowed to deal with problems. It harms a team’s cohesiveness.
  • A look at what employees deserve from their supervisors and how employees take their cues from the leader.

Module 2
Become Premium-Brand

  • Why is it we choose one brand over another? One person over another? Did you know you have a brand already?
  • If your team had to describe you, would they describe you as a budget brand supervisor or premium-brand supervisor? Want to learn the difference?
  • Long driving road trips are the basis for building better engagement among your team members?
  • Road construction that backs up traffic proves the pitfalls of a lack of information and why people jump to conclusions from their worst fears and worst outcomes.
  • Review of what employees want and need from supervisors. And two words that can help them become more effective.

Module 3
Focus Down, Not Up

  • A supervisor’s greatest center of influence with their team starts by recognizing where supervisors are starting from. The team depends on supervisors to be there for them.
  • With so many of them, the competition to get noticed as a mediocre supervisor is tough. True leaders are rare and noticeable. Are you one?
  • You can find a correlation between a mediocre supervisor and staff turnover. People do not leave a job; they leave their supervisor. Here is how to fix it.
  • Most Hollywood movies follow a 7-step formula. The first two steps are most important for supervisors. It is in these first two steps that they can identify their purpose.
  • Will you take a step that can elevate your effectiveness? It’s easy to do once you create your three critical actions.

Module 4
Create Elite Teams

  • As a supervisor, if you don’t have certainty about your team, you will be afraid of what could happen. Elite teams have certainty.
  • What decisions will your team make when you are not in the room? Where there is certainty, there is trust.
  • Would it surprise you to learn that leadership is not as important as coaching skills? Coaching is what turns ordinary teams into elite teams.
  • This is the section that turns more heads. You have three choices of the kind of supervisor you can be. Only one of which can create an elite-level team.
  • Tools to creating your elite team. Standards instead of rules, identifying team strengths, and creating a mission against something.

Module 5
Selling the Safety Brand

  • The word “selling” may make you bristle. But don’t worry, it’s not what you think it is. We discuss why selling safety is necessary for supervisors.
  • In order to get a handle on how to better sell the safety program, we present the simple rule that will help you get better buy-in to your supervisory and safety.
  • Selling is not about jamming stuff down your people’s throats. Selling is about getting permission to help them be better and to help them get what they want.
  • Basketball coach Jack Donohue did this one thing every day to get buy-in to his coaching and buy-in to the team mission. And his players could not wait for it.
  • How can you motivate employees to be more enthusiastic about safety? It starts with identifying what benefits that employees get from safety.

Module 6
Motivating Your Team

  • Supervisors do not generally know much about what motivates people. But motivation of the crew is a supervisor’s responsibility.
  • Everyone is motivated to do something. Trouble is that employees who seem unmotivated are just not motivated by the same things you are.
  • “I’m only in it for the money.” There are six things far more important to employees than money? A half-million workers divulge what it is.
  • The things you should already be doing to make sure that you don’t undermine your own efforts to raise the level of motivation in your team.
  • Safety meetings are wasted and could be utilized so much better – in the same way a sports team uses their pre-game meetings to get buy-in to the mission.

Module 7
The Supervisor As Coach

  • When employees buy-in to safety, you do not need to chase after them. You can replace that time with coaching and mentoring, which is more satisfying.
  • No one does their best thinking under pressure. Certainty is tied to consistency. And consistency is one of the most admired traits for supervisors.
  • Your team buys into you because they trust and respect you. Because you listen to them, hear them and care about them. Conversations matter.
  • Nowhere does it state that safety meetings cannot be fun. Here are four things you should be talking about in safety meetings.
  • Wrapping up the 8-week program, we encourage supervisors to pay close attention to the words in today’s message.
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Monday Mentor

We keep the learning going for 44 more weeks every Monday morning.

The PeopleWork Supervisor Program

PeopleWork Supervisor is an 8-week leadership program that delivers short videos to your supervisors every day.

We supplement the daily videos with bi-weekly Zoom meetings in small groups.

And if Zoom meetings are tough to schedule, we offer our new asynchronous video version for the full 8 weeks.

All sessions, livestream and asynchronous, are hosted by Kevin Burns.

 

Monday Mentor Program

After the 8-week PeopleWork Supervisor program has ended, we keep the learning going for 44 more weeks. Every Monday, supervisors will get video tips, ideas, and strategies to continue developing their skills.

Your supervisors need to stay up to date on the latest trends in supervisory. And Monday Mentor delivers.

Our weekly videos ensure your supervisors set aside time each week to build on their learning. A very important part of developing their supervisory effectiveness.

Why supervisors rate this program so highly

PeopleWork Supervisor is a more effective way of coaching supervisors in leadership than the conventional approach of sitting them in a classroom and force-feeding them information.

Instead, we introduce only one new idea per day. Then, we let your supervisors get comfortable with the new technique before moving on to something else. Minutes after learning a new skill, they can go use it while it's still fresh.

3-Step Process for Supervisor Effectiveness

1

Watch the daily supervisor videos

For 8 weeks, short microlearning videos are delivered via email daily. You can improve in about 5-min/day.

2

Join in the conversations

Whether on a Zoom call or on Async video, participate fully to get the best results for your team.

3

Watch your team results improve

Gain the skills for coaching, motivation, communication, and trust-building with teams.

  • After the 8-week PeopleWork Supervisor program has ended, we keep the learning going for 44 more weeks. Every Monday, supervisors will get video tips, ideas, and strategies to continue developing their skills.
  • Using a combination of review material from The CareFull Supervisor, relevant white papers, research, surveys, the latest trends, and excerpts from business books, supervisors can stay sharp and be continuously learning.
  • These weekly videos ensure supervisors set aside time each week to build on their learning – a very important part of developing their supervisory effectiveness.
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52 Benefits of Safety

52 weekly videos that encourage buy-in from frontline employees every Friday.

To keep your team engaged in safety, you need to keep their attention. Too many safety conversations focus on what the company needs employees to do. But that is only what the company gets.

The most efficient way to build attention and engagement in safety is to talk about how safety benefits the employees.

52 Benefits of Safety is a 52-week video series dedicated to engaging front-line employees and their supervisors in safety. Every Friday for 52 weeks, a new video.

  • No more fumbling around for new things to discuss at safety huddles.
  • No more complaints from supervisors that they need fresh topics.
  • No more eye-rolling from employees when the discussion turns to safety.

Just play the video on a mobile device or computer and then discuss it with your team.

  • 52 reasons to get behind the safety program.
  • 52 ways that employees benefit directly from working safely.
  • 52 weekly safety moments to talk about how employees benefit from safety.
  • 52 ways to change the safety conversation.
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CareFull Community Online

Private online community for frontline supervisors only.

Welcome to our exclusive online hub—a gathering place where supervisors from diverse trades-based and manufacturing industries converge. Whether you are a current or past student of the PeopleWork Supervisor Academy, this community is your compass for growth, mentorship, and shared wisdom.

 

What Awaits You:

  • Peer-to-Peer Dialogue: Supervisors engage in candid conversations with fellow supervisors. They can share victories, challenges, and those “a-ha!” moments that shape their leadership journey.
  • Mentorship Magic: Mentorship isn’t a one-way street. Here, seasoned supervisors guide the next generation, and fresh perspectives invigorate seasoned leaders.
  • Experience Exchange: Imagine tapping into a global network of supervisors—each with unique insights. Your supervisors can learn from their triumphs, setbacks, and innovative approaches.
  • Stay On-Topic: Our vigilant moderation ensures that discussions remain laser-focused. No tangents—just relevant, actionable insights.
 
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Live Weekly Group Coaching

Weekly Zoom interactive coaching calls for supervisors to participate live.

Every week for the first seven weeks, we gather. Imagine a virtual room buzzing with energy—a global assembly of frontline supervisors, each with unique stories and shared aspirations. Welcome to our weekly Zoom coaching sessions—a dynamic blend of learning, camaraderie, and growth.

What Awaits You:

  • Teaching Moments: We kick off each session with targeted teaching. From leadership principles to practical tools, we dive deep into the supervisor’s toolkit.
  • Coaching Intensity: It’s not about theory; it’s about application. We guide supervisors through real-world scenarios, helping them navigate challenges, build resilience, and elevate their impact.
  • Interactive Q&A: Got burning questions? Bring them to the table! Our Q&A segments are lively, insightful, and tailored to supervisors’ needs.

Who’s Invited:

  • First-Time Supervisors: Find your footing, gain confidence, and learn from those who’ve walked the path before you.
  • Veteran Leaders: Share your wisdom, mentor others, and stay sharp. Your experience fuels collective growth.
  • Future Industrial Leaders: If you aspire to lead, this is your launchpad. Connect with role models and soak in the wisdom.

Why Join?

  • Community: Beyond pixels and screens, it’s about human connection. Our Zoom sessions foster a sense of belonging—a tribe of supervisors committed to excellence.
  • Real-Time Solutions: Stuck on a challenge? Tap into the collective brainpower. Together, we find solutions.
  • Inspiration: Witness how supervisors across industries tackle adversity, celebrate wins, and evolve. Their journeys inspire yours.

BONUS: Lifetime Membership

When you join the PeopleWork Supervisor Academy, you’re a member for life. Once you’ve completed all of the elements of the program, you continue to have access as much as you want. All of the training Modules, the bonus resources, the weekly live coaching, and the online supervisor community, are yours forever.

Is Supervisor Academy right for me?

Do you want your employees to feel valued, respected, and excited to come to work? Do you dream of seeing them reach their full potential?

If so, PeopleWork Supervisor Academy is for you. We help you equip your frontline leaders to create a workplace where every person thrives.

It's time to move beyond simply managing tasks and start inspiring people. Our academy gives supervisors the practical tools to build strong relationships, communicate with compassion, and coach for growth.

With PeopleWork Supervisor Academy, you'll know you're giving your employees what they truly want from a leader: support, understanding, and the opportunity to succeed.

Our program is built on these core principles:

  • Trust and Respect: Equip supervisors to build a foundation of trust and respect where employees feel safe and valued.
  • Compassionate Communication: Develop supervisors who listen deeply, communicate clearly, and offer encouragement.
  • Growth and Development: Empower supervisors to coach and mentor their teams, helping every person reach their full potential.
  • Shared Success: Create a culture where everyone works together, supports each other, and celebrates collective achievements.

PeopleWork Supervisor Academy helps you cultivate a workplace where your people are engaged, fulfilled, and committed to building a brighter future together.

Yes, PeopleWork Supervisor Academy works for…

... anyone leading a team (foremen, leads, supervisors, etc.), because effective leadership is about people skills and the confidence to use them, not just job titles.

For New Supervisors: We provide the essential skills and build their confidence to create supportive and positive relationships with their team, focusing on communication, trust, and creating a positive start.

For Experienced Supervisors: We help them become more confident mentors and coaches, empowering their team members to grow and succeed together.

For Future Leaders: We teach the importance of empathy, active listening, and self-assurance, building a foundation for strong connections and effective leadership.

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Our company has been working with the PeopleWork programs for three years, and we have committed to two more. A testament to how much of a difference these programs have made for our people and culture.

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Billy Shearer

New Braunfels Utilities, TX

5star-02

Other outfits may teach frontline leadership skills, but none would have the message, the steps, the method of delivery, the professionalism, and charisma. This is the whole package.

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Kim Grant

Paper Excellence, BC

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I was able to work through quite a few of the things that this program provided us with and it helped me in being better planned and more prepared. And I’ve noticed much more engagement from my team.

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Beau Boughman

CHS Refinery, KS

Who teaches PeopleWork Supervisor Academy?

PeopleWork Supervisor Academy is taught by Kevin Burns, the author of PeopleWork: The Human Touch in Workplace Safety and The CareFull Supervisor: The Skills to Lead and Be the Supervisor Employees Want to Have.

Kevin understands that the heart of any successful industrial company is its people. That's why he's dedicated to helping organizations develop frontline supervisors who prioritize building strong relationships, communicating with empathy, and creating a culture of care.

With nearly 30 years of experience, Kevin provides practical, proven strategies that empower supervisors to inspire their teams, reduce turnover, and foster a more positive and productive work environment.

aboutkevin

Let's Talk About Your Supervisors

I personally review every inquiry and respond within 24 hours (usually same day). This isn't an automated system—it's me, Kevin, ready to discuss your specific supervisor challenges.

With 25 years of helping industrial companies develop frontline leaders, I'm passionate about finding practical solutions that work for your unique situation.

Share your challenges in the form, and let's start a conversation about transforming your supervisors into the confident leaders your company needs.

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