Managers are responsible for significantly more than you may think. By understanding the scope of their responsibilities and how that scope widens as you move up the ladder, you will gain an appreciation for all that a manager does. Better still, you’ll be in a much better position to move up the ladder because you know what is expected of you and you can better plan to get there.
The leader/manager mentality
To instill a sense of pride in their managers, some companies have started to transition to this idea of transforming leaders within their company. While the responsibilities between leaders and managers may be very similar, it’s important to understand the distinction between the two.
The main difference I find between a manager and a leader is which they value more: people or numbers.
A manager’s focus is on the results – the numbers. Odds are you’ve either experienced or heard about this type. What matters most to a textbook manager is the results they receive, regardless of the possible impact. An effective manager will get the results expected of them, but how they get them can be questionable as far as long-term success.
Leaders, on the other hand, tend to be more focused on the process of getting those numbers rather than the numbers themselves. Leaders set their sights on the long-term success of their field and work to progress towards it. They acknowledge the obstacles at hand and recognize when it is appropriate to slow down and remove it than trying to skirt around it for short-term success. A leader’s success is also lasting because of the way they motivate and inspire their team to improve as opposed to strict discipline for the sake of quick numbers.
Both managers and leaders can attain results. The difference between the two lies in:
- The method in which they get their results
- How evergreen and lasting their success is
Now that you understand the difference, you can probably see why many companies try to merge the two: they want results and they want them fast, but they recognize that the best way to do that is to get the employees to want to strive for those goals.
Sidebar: to avoid confusion, we’ll refer to anyone running a store or a business as a manager. A leader can be a manager, but a manager isn’t always a leader.
They’ve (hopefully) been in your shoes
Managers are responsible for much more than you probably realize, and the truth is you won’t be able to fully understand and appreciate their workload until you experience it yourself.
Consider a basic retail store hierarchy of four levels: entry, supervisor, assistant manager, and manager. This is a super simplified version compared to how most businesses are run, however, it’s a good starting point to understanding the differences in the levels of a company.
Odds are unless your manager was an outside hire (which is another topic entirely), they’ve had to climb the same ladder that you are trying to climb now. The best managers are the ones who have experienced the workload of those around them because they are better equipped to recognize what needs to be done to move in the right direction towards their goals. They understand the stress and pain points of those around them and use those to guide their decisions, making sure not only that the results are achieved but that the process is seamless along the way.
And this is why outside hires come with their quirks and complications. For companies looking to hire a manager that will get the numbers and get them quick, outside hires may be attractive options because they come in with a fresh point of view that won’t be hindered by previous experience in the company. They’ll focus on the numbers and likely get quick results. On the other hand, for companies wanting to foster lasting, evergreen success, the ideal person for the position will be the leader who takes the time to slowly progress and maintain results.
Types of skills managers need
Soft Skills
Soft skills are generally made up of communication and interpersonal skills. These skills are unique in that they are applicable everywhere in life – work, friendships, even relationships benefit from having a solid soft-skillset under your belt. In the professional workplace, some examples of soft skills include:
- Conducting interviews
- Having coaching and documented conversations
- Critical thinking and problem solving
- Phone communication skills
- Conflict resolution
- Teamwork, dependability, and empathy
- Adaptability and willingness to learn
- Effective communication
PRO TIP: When including these skills in your job application and resume, prepare for the interview by having a story ready to tell and demonstrate your expertise in the skill
While soft skills are extremely malleable, you’ll likely want to consider which ones you want to highlight to your potential employer depending on the industry and business you are going into. If you’re applying for a telemarketing sales job, they’re going to be much more interested in phone communication skills than they are with your ability to conduct interviews.
Because necessary soft skills can greatly vary depending on your industry, these types of skills can only be honed with practice and time.
Hard Skills
Unlike soft skills, hard skills are typically much more industry-specific. These types of skills are learned on the job and are usually much easier to master than soft skills because they are straightforward with their expectations. The list below provides an insight into some common hard skills that would be found in retail or food-service industry.
- Operating a cash register
- Creating a schedule
- Making a specific drink
- Multilingual skills, or college degree
- Conducting inventory counts and placing orders
What managers are responsible for
Now for the bread and butter – what exactly are managers responsible for when running a store? Both soft and hard skills are essential to an efficient manager’s toolkit – what you’ll realize, however, is that soft skills become more and more relevant as you climb the corporate ladder. This is why it’s sometimes a super common misconception that a boss is doing nothing just because they’re not actively using a cash register or similar activity – because much of their time is dedicated to managing the overall operations of the store.
Keep in mind that this list is by no means exhaustive. To keep it simple, I’ve kept the retail store model with the example responsibilities below. While responsibilities between a retail manager and a computer scientist program manager will be nowhere remotely similar to each other, it is plain to see that the scope of power widens when you move up the ladder.
With this in mind, here are some examples of what a retail store manager would be responsible for, listed under broader scopes of responsibility:
- Daily operations
- Making sure equipment is in good maintenance
- Verifying time punches, creating schedules, and conducting payroll
- Managing inventory levels
- Reporting to officers
- Creating digestible reports to support business decisions
- Monthly, weekly, or even daily meetings and calls
- Interacting with customers
- Handling customer complaints
- Responding to customer incidents, injury, theft, etc.
- Ensuring quality service is being provided by the team
- Business Analysis
- Identifying which aspects of the business are excelling or falling behind
- Adjust plans based on results
- Convey information and progress to employees
- Achieving targets
- Making decisions based on targets set by officers
- Creating and adjusting plans on a regular cadence
- Actively working to find and remove any obstacle to success
- Directing and delegating employees
- Creating schedules that support business needs
- Working with supervisor team to direct employees towards goals
- Concisely communicating plans and expectations
How this helps you with promoting
By understanding the work that is involved in the position above you, you put yourself in a significantly better spot to move up.
It’s incredibly easy to fall into the trap of thinking “my manager does nothing but sit in the back on the computer all day”. While unfortunately this is sometimes true, many times instead I’ve seen people underestimate the work that is being put in behind the scenes.
Acknowledging that your supervisor or manager has a wider scope of responsibility than you is your first step in working up to that position. Plus, when you understand the work that is involved in the next level it gives you a better insight into what you can work on to be noticed and promoted sooner.
TLDR
- Managers in the corporate world are identified by their ability to achieve results quickly and effectively
- Leaders in the corporate world are similar to managers in their ability to achieve great results but much different due to their emphasis on the actual process and their comfort in progressing slowly towards goals to ensure evergreen success in the future
- Unless your manager is an outside hire, they likely went through the same rigor you are to get to where they are now
- Soft skills become increasingly important as you climb up the corporate ladder and widen the scope of your responsibilities from the daily minutiae of a job to farther-reaching activities
- Hard skills are more industry- and business-specific skills (ex. Operating a cash register) that are important in understanding how a business operates, but require less of your attention and focus the more you climb your ladder
- While the specific responsibilities may differ between industries, there are many that fall on the shoulders of the manager alone and create a need for a level of delegation of responsibilities
- By recognizing the work required in the job above you, you move into a much better position to be considered for promotion
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