You often find that the supervisor’s job is to check work. It happens in a wide range of jobs, administrative and professional.

If the work is being checked, what does the subordinate learn? To leave any mistakes to be corrected by the supervisors. sometimes these ‘mistakes’ are matters of style (in writing reports) sometimes they are critical to the next step (adding up over time).

The supervisor sometimes checks in a cursory fashion, assuming the subordinate knew what he/she was doing. The error goes to the next step in the process (which may be the customer).

In other circumstances the supervisor pays detailed attention and makes changes. It reinforces the assumption that the subordinate should not produce quality work.

Don’t check work. Use a preventative approach: ensure people are trained for their work and know when to seek assistance. Ensure that everybody can feel responsible for quality.