This article was first published on Berita Harian on 28 November 2025.
Let us picture this: two employees from different companies attend the same week-long digital skills course and return to their workplaces.
Scenario 1: At Company A, the employee comes back eager to apply her new knowledge. But her supervisor quickly loads her with urgent tasks, insists she “sticks to the old system”, essentially leaves no room for experimentation. Within days, her enthusiasm wanes and her new skills fade.
Scenario 2: At Company B, the employee also returns brimming with ideas. Her supervisor adjusts workflows to create space, encourages her to share insights with colleagues, and assigns a project to test and apply the new skills. With support and opportunity, her skills take root, and soon the whole team benefits.
The difference? It is not the training itself, but the support or lack of it that employees receive from their supervisors that often determines whether new skills fade or flourish.
Training creates real impact only when employees use what they have learnt to solve problems, improve processes, and drive innovation. Frontline supervisors, who directly oversee and support staff in day-to-day operations, shape the conditions that turn training from theory into practice, are central to making upskilling succeed.
Research across contexts has consistently shown that supervisor support is one of the strongest predictors of whether new skills are applied at work. In a recent Singapore study I conducted, employees who perceived strong supervisor support were not only more motivated to apply new skills but also reported higher job satisfaction and greater readiness for change.
A word of encouragement, time set aside to try new methods, or constructive feedback can make the difference between skills that fade and skills that flourish. Thus, supervisor support determines not only whether training takes hold, but also how employees adapt, innovate, and thrive at work.
Supervisor Support as the Linchpin of Training Impact
Frontline supervisors occupy a unique position in the workplace learning ecosystem. Positioned closest to employees, they set the tone of daily work. A discussion organised by The Straits Times as part of The Usual Place podcast highlighted this reality: training is effective only when reinforced by company support. For instance, when organisations roll out enterprise-level programmes such as system upgrades or the adoption of AI tools, frontline supervisors are key for getting staff on board quickly and consistently because training is tied directly to operations.
By contrast, soft skills training may seem less urgent, yet it is equally important for long-term growth. In these cases, supervisors act as cheer leaders or coaches.
Whether the training is mandatory or developmental, supervisors play a key role in shaping whether staff have the space to experiment, whether mistakes are treated as part of learning, and whether innovation is encouraged or dismissed. In doing so, they send a clear signal that training is valued, expected, and worth applying.
How Supervisors Can Bridge Training and Impact
Training that aligns with organisational goals creates value for both companies and employees. This also means that training is not a perk; it must be embedded in business goals, reinforced in daily work, and treated as a core part of employees’ professional growth. This raises an important question: to what extent should training and its application be nudged more deliberately, and how?
The answer lies in finding the right balance. Supervisors should avoid pushing in ways that make training feel like a burden, yet they must send a clear signal that continuous learning and applying new skills is expected and valued within the organisation. Often, this begins with clarifying objectives before training and conducting proper training needs analysis to ensure relevance.
It continues with adjusting workloads and providing active support during training, so that employees know their upskilling is taken seriously. It extends further to reinforcing new skills afterwards through coaching, feedback, and assigning work projects linked to the training to support its application.
Support is essential, but accountability ensures training delivers results. Without it, even the best training risks being forgotten once employees return to routine. Accountability is not about pressure, but about setting clear expectations, linking new skills to real projects, and following up on their use.
When supervisors combine guidance and encouragement with accountability, they show that training is not an isolated event but a commitment to continuous improvement and workplace productivity. By fostering a workplace culture that values experimentation, rewards innovation, and recognises progress through feedback or praise, supervisors create the conditions for continuous upskilling and lasting workplace impact.
How Organisations Can Support Frontline Supervisors
That said, supervisors need support and training too. For companies to see real returns on training, supervisors must be equipped as learning leaders, not just task managers. That means giving them the time and tools to support staff, strengthening their coaching skills, and creating communities of practice where they can share strategies and learn from one another.
Senior leaders shape the culture from the top. When they prioritise employee training and provide recognition to supervisors who help their teams put new skills into practice instead of only rewarding immediate results, they send a clear message that employee upskilling is a strategic priority and not a side activity. If this is neglected, training investments risk being wasted. Get it right, and supervisors can transform training from a classroom exercise into a powerful driver of adaptability, productivity, and innovation across the organisation.
Conclusion
At its core, supervisor support is the hidden factor that often makes or breaks training impact. While supervisors do not bear the responsibility alone, they are indispensable in shaping whether new skills are applied or abandoned. With their support, employees turn training into practice, building a workforce ready to adapt and lead in the future of work.
The full paper is published in Volume 4 of the National Trades Union Congress’s Singapore Labour Journal
