Today in Russia everyone is called managers in a row, even to the point that a cleaning company employee is called a cleanliness manager. This is explained by the fact that not all people understand the meaning of this word. Let's talk about what lies behind the concept of "manager", what are the features of this profession and what these people do. So, for starters, a little theory.
The concept
A manager is a person who is professionally involved in managing something. He is entrusted with responsibility for making managerial decisions, the distribution of powers and resources. People in this profession are committed to achieving goals with help from performers. Such a definition includes a fairly large group of employees: this is the head of the organization or structural unit, coordinators of activity, narrow specialists who manage various stages of the production process. The concept of "manager", on the one hand, is very general and vague, so in each case it needs to be concretized, filling it with certain job responsibilities and tasks, and on the other, it requires an understanding of the company’s specialization, since only many managerial skills are not enough in managing many processes and knowledge.
Specifications
In order to understand what the work of a manager is, you need to have a general idea of this profession. A manager is a manager of something. His area of responsibility is decision making in his area of work. The manager knows how to set goals and define tasks, knows how to assess risks, allocate resources, while he has administrative and economic independence. Also, representatives of this profession should be able to work well with staff, because they can only achieve their goals with the help of other people. The features of this position are that the manager has to work in conditions of high variability of the environment. Therefore, he must be able to assess the situation and change the development strategy of the organization.
Roles and Functions
The concepts of management and manager are closely related to the achievement of goals with the rational use of resources. At the same time, the main goals of management are: making a profit, increasing the efficiency of the enterprise, meeting the needs of the market for high-quality goods and services, and resolving social issues. In the framework of this activity, the main functions and tasks of the manager are:
- formation and optimization of the organizational structure of the enterprise;
- development of production systems and distribution schemes for products;
- coordination of activities of various structural units of the enterprise;
- information support of top managers;
- management of the work of the entrusted unit.
Management theorist G. Mintzberg identified three main roles of a manager:
- Communication. It lies in the fact that the manager ensures the interaction of employees in his unit, and also establishes relations with other structural units of the organization, and, if necessary, with external audiences.
- Informational. The manager collects, processes, stores and transfers information necessary for the productive functioning of the enterprise.
- Manager. The manager makes decisions, gives orders, controls the production process.
Job responsibilities
The responsibilities of managers, of course, vary in each case, as it is very strongly related to the specifics of the enterprise. But in any case, managers have to do four main activities:
- planning;
- organization;
- motivation;
- control.
It is on the performance of these functions that the traditional training of managers is directed. The specifics of the tasks facing the manager suggests that he is engaged in mental, creative work. In order to efficiently allocate resources, make competent decisions, bear responsibility for them, the manager has to set goals for himself and his subordinates, and then plan ways to achieve them, monitor the implementation of these plans. This is the responsibility of any manager. These goals can be of different levels, it depends on the level of the manager. Also, the manager must conduct market research, so that the goals set remain relevant and lead to the prosperity of the company. In order for employees to work efficiently, to help the enterprise develop, they need to be motivated, put before them relevant and feasible tasks for them and for the company. And to assess the work of performers, the manager must develop adequate criteria and conduct competent measurement and accounting of the activities of subordinates. In addition, the manager must create conditions for the development of staff. The main difference between the manager and other employees is that he is responsible for the success and failure of the company as part of the performance of official duties.
Professional quality
Describing the concept of "manager", it is worthwhile to dwell separately on those qualities that a person who has decided to master this profession should possess. These include:
- Possession of knowledge in the field of management.
- Competencies in the area of production in which the manager works. For example, a manager-economist must understand not only management techniques, but also in the field of economics and finance.
- Practical experience in the field of management and in the field in which the company operates.
- Ability to analyze the activities of the enterprise, competitors, market situation.
- Ability to make forecasts and make decisions in the conditions of stable functioning of the company, as well as in situations of force majeure.
Personal qualities
Managers may not be all people, this requires a predisposition and the presence of psychological and personal qualities, some of which can be acquired, and some are given by nature. The list of these qualities includes:
- Initiative. The manager should be able to take a reasonable and reasonable initiative.
- Business contact. The manager constantly has to establish relationships with many people, so you need to have high sociability.
- Stress resistance. The manager is constantly working in conditions of intense stress and therefore must be able to resist it.
- Moral maturity. In order to make fair decisions, it is necessary to have established life principles.
- Oratorical skills. The manager works with people and he needs to be able to convince them, to explain tasks reasonably. It is also believed that the manager should be creative, purposeful, courageous, honest.
Manager requirements
The main features of the managerial profession are dynamically changing conditions in which decisions have to be made, and a high degree of responsibility. Therefore, when applying for a job, the manager has strict requirements. Among them are high professionalism, both as a manager and as a specialist in a certain field; special education; experience; recommendations; knowledge of office work. When applying for a job, they assess the degree of the applicant’s knowledge of managerial technologies and skills, the personal goals of the potential manager, and the desire for self-development. But the most valuable is the willingness to learn and work for the good of the company.
Education
Many students wonder: "How to become a manager?" Today, educational management programs are in almost every university. This may be the training of managers themselves, or it may be management training in certain sectors: medicine, the agricultural sector, and information technology. Training programs for managers include a large number of disciplines in various aspects of management. So, students receive knowledge on anti-crisis and strategic management, on work on projects, on managing different types of resources. The programs also have many subjects in psychology, because the manager will have to work with people. For effective work in the future, students are taught courses in financial management, lectures on marketing, economic and legal literacy, as well as courses on entrepreneurship.
Types of managers
A complete characterization of the profession of a manager is impossible without an idea of what steps of the career ladder in it are possible. Usually, low-level managers are singled out. These are specialists who organize work at different stages of production. This group is the largest in this profession, not only people with special education come to it, but also those who, for example, have completed a course in financial management. This type includes managers for certain types of work: sales, supply, foremen, foremen, etc. Mid-level managers organize the work of the structural units of the company, these include heads and heads of structural divisions. Top managers or top managers manage the entire company as a whole or entire parts of the industry. These include directors, ministers, rectors. This is the smallest group of leaders, they have the greatest responsibility for the activities of the organization.
Manager Specializations
Managers usually have to work in any industry, and this implies their specialization. The most common types of specialization are:
- Sales Manager;
- HR Manager
- Office Manager;
- Advertising Manager
- tourism manager.
Place of manager in organization
Within a specific organization, a manager can perform various functions. Traditionally, people in this profession are assigned one of three places. Or he is the organizer of some work, the leader of the program and target groups, responsible for the implementation of a certain amount of work. For example, a project manager in a branding agency is committed to leading a customer’s project from start to finish, from the moment of signing the contract and filling out the brief until the order is completed and the acceptance certificate is signed. A sales manager in a store or a wholesale company searches for a buyer and organizes the sale of the right product, that is, his task is to perform a certain job. Or he can be the head of a structural unit, lead a group of people, his subordinates. So, the head of the personnel department will be a manager in relation to the employees of this department. He can give them instructions, distribute the load, stimulate them to do good work, encourage employees and impose sanctions on them. Or the manager can be an administrator of different levels of management, his task is to organize the production process, to make it effective. For example, the manager-economist will organize the work of the company precisely in the area of his specialization. Although in this perspective, the manager is often understood as a person without specialization. Such an administrator can manage any enterprise or production, as he is familiar with management methods.
Pros and cons of the profession manager
Any profession has its own advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of a manager’s profession include:
- high social status prestige;
- good career opportunities;
- Opportunities for gaining business experience and subsequently opening your own business;
- good pay.
The disadvantages of this profession are:
- high stress, high costs of personal resources;
- risk in making decisions;
- lack of uniform job performance templates, high variability.