Manager: concept, characteristics and features of the profession. What is the job of a manager

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Today in Russia everyone is called managers, up to the fact that an employee of a cleaning company 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 is hidden behind the concept of "manager", what are the features of this profession and what these people do. So let's start with some theory.

Concept

A manager is a person who professionally manages something. He is assigned responsibility for making managerial decisions, allocating powers and resources. People in this profession are engaged in achieving goals with the help of performers. A fairly large group of employees falls under this definition: this is the head of an organization or structural unit, activity coordinators, narrow specialists who manage various stages of the production process. The concept of "manager", on the one hand, is very general and vague, therefore, in each specific case, it must be specified, fillingcertain job responsibilities and tasks, and on the other hand, it requires an understanding of the company's specialization, since management skills and knowledge alone are not enough in managing many processes.

Features

In order to understand what the job of a manager is, it is necessary to have a general understanding of this profession. A manager is someone who manages 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 achieve their goals only with the help of other people. The peculiarities of this position are that the manager has to work in a highly volatile environment. Therefore, he must be able to assess the situation and change the organization's development strategy.

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 for the company, increasing the efficiency of the enterprise, meeting the market needs for quality goods and services, and solving social issues. As part of this activity, the main functions and tasks of the manager are:

• formation and optimization of organizationalenterprise structure;
• development of production systems and product marketing schemes;
• coordination of the activities of various structural divisions of the enterprise;
• information support for senior managers;
• managing the work of the assigned unit.

Management theorist G. Mintzberg identified three main roles of a manager:

1. Communication. It lies in the fact that the manager ensures the interaction of employees in his unit, and also establishes links with other structural units of the organization, and, if necessary, with external audiences.
2. Informational. The manager collects, processes, stores and transmits information necessary for the productive functioning of the enterprise.
3. Manager. The manager makes decisions, gives orders, controls the production process.

Job Responsibilities

The responsibilities of managers, of course, differ in each case, as it is very much related to the specifics of the enterprise. But in any case, managers have to deal with four main activities:

• planning;
• organization;
• motivation;
• control.

The traditional training of managers is aimed at performing these functions. The specificity of the tasks facing the manager suggests that he is engaged in mental, creative work. In order to allocate resources efficiently,competent decisions, be responsible for them, the manager has to set goals for himself and his subordinates, and then plan ways to achieve them, control the implementation of these plans. This is the responsibilities of any manager. These goals can be of different levels, it depends on the level of the manager. Also, the manager must conduct research on the market situation so that the goals set remain relevant and lead to the prosperity of the company. In order for employees to work efficiently and help the company develop, they need to be motivated, set tasks that are relevant for them and for the company, solvable and feasible. And to evaluate 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 a manager and other employees is that, as part of the performance of his duties, he is responsible for the successes and failures of the company.

Professional qualities

Describing the concept of "manager", it is worth dwelling separately on those qualities that a person who decides to master this profession should possess. These include:

1. Having knowledge in the field of management.
2. Competencies in the area of production in which the manager works. For example, an economist manager must understand not only management techniques, but also economics and finance.
3. Practical experience in the fieldmanagement and in the area in which the company operates.
4. The ability to analyze the activities of the enterprise, competitors, the market situation.
5. The ability to make forecasts and make decisions in a stable operation of the company, as well as in a force majeure situation.

Personal qualities

Not all people can be managers, 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:

1. Initiativity. The manager must be able to take reasonable and reasonable initiative.
2. Business contact. The manager constantly has to establish relationships with many people, so you need to have high communication skills.
3. Stress resistance. The manager constantly works under high pressure and therefore must be able to resist it.
4. Moral maturity. In order to make fair decisions, it is necessary to have established life principles.
5. Oratory skills. The manager works with people and he needs to be able to convince them, explain the tasks with reason. It is also believed that a manager must be creative, purposeful, courageous, honest.

Requirements for a manager

The main features of the profession of a manager are dynamically changing conditions in which decisions have to be made, and a high degree of responsibility. Therefore, when hiring a manager, there are strict requirements. Amongtheir high professionalism, both as a manager and as a specialist in a particular field; special education; work experience; recommendations; business knowledge. When applying for a job, they assess the degree of the applicant's possession of managerial technologies and skills, the personal goals of a potential manager, and the desire for self-development. But the most valuable thing is the willingness to learn and work for the benefit of the company.

Education

Many students are wondering: "How to become a manager?" Today, educational programs in management are available in almost every university. This may be the training of managers themselves, or it may be management training in certain industries: medicine, the agricultural sector, and information technology. Managers' training programs include a large number of disciplines on various aspects of management. Thus, students receive knowledge on anti-crisis and strategic management, on working on projects, on managing various types of resources. Also in the programs there are many subjects in psychology, because the manager will have to work with people. For effective work in the future, students are given courses in financial management, lectures on marketing, economic and legal literacy, as well as courses on entrepreneurship.

Types of managers

A complete description of the profession of a manager is impossible without an idea of what career steps are possible in it. Typically, lower-level managers are singled out. These are specialists who organize work ondifferent stages of production. This group is the most numerous 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: for sales, for supplies, foremen, foremen, etc. Middle managers organize the work of structural units of the company, they include heads and heads of structural divisions. Top managers or senior managers run the entire company as a whole or entire parts of the industry. This includes directors, ministers, rectors. This is the smallest group of leaders, they bear the greatest responsibility for the activities of the organization.

Manager Specializations

Managers usually have to work in some industries and their specialization follows from this. The most common types of specialization are:

• sales manager;
• HR manager;
• office manager;
• advertising manager;
• tourism manager.

The place of a manager in an organization

Within a particular organization, a manager can perform different functions. Traditionally, people in this profession are given 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 separate scope of work. For example, a project manager in a branding agency is responsible for leading a customer's project from start to finish, from moment to moment.signing the contract and filling out the brief before the delivery of the order and signing the acceptance certificate. And the sales manager in a store or a wholesale company is looking for a buyer and organizes the sale of the right product, that is, his task is to perform certain work. 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 the manager in relation to the employees of this department. He can give them instructions, share the load, encourage them to do good work, encourage employees and impose sanctions on them. Or a manager can be an administrator of different levels of management, his task is to organize the production process and make it efficient. For example, an economist manager will organize the work of the company 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 being a manager

Every profession has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of being a manager include:

• high social status prestige;
• good career opportunities;
• opportunities to gain entrepreneurial experience and subsequently start your own business;
• good enough pay.

The disadvantages of this profession can be called:

• high stress, high costspersonal resources;
• risk in decision making;
• lack of uniform job templates, high variability.