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Within a business there will be a range of different tasks that each person carries out. Each individual will be responsible for something slightly different and so will have a specific job role. There are a huge number of different roles that a person can have in a business and these will be pertinent to the expertise a person has, their experience, and the industry that the business operates in.
Directors
The owners of a business appoint directors to run things for them. They will make very important decisions on behalf of the business and, with the chairperson, form the board of directors for a company. With large corporations, a director may be specialised in one specific area of the business – for example, a company might have a sales director, a finance director and a production director who are each the head of a department. The director will be in charge of everyone in their own department and will pass down commands to managers below them.
Senior managers
Managers within a business have a number of roles that they must carry out. They are responsible for planning and organising staff as well as making decisions on everyday issues to ensure the business runs effectively. It is the job of senior managers to get things done and achieve the overall vision of the owners of a business using the resources at their disposal. Each senior manager in a company will be accountable to the director that is head of their department. This means that some senior managers can be at the same level on the hierarchy in a company but work in completely different departments and therefore have very different roles in the organisation.
Supervisors and team leaders
A supervisor is in charge of monitoring work in their particular area. They will oversee those that are carrying out the work and be accountable to the senior manager that works in their area. A team leader may be in charge of organising 20 people who work in the sales department of a business and will therefore need to ensure staffing levels are to a good standard and that everyone is carrying out their duties effectively.
Operational staff
Operational staff have usually been working in an industry for quite a while and have a good level of experience. They will have specific skills and usually work in the production of goods so will run machinery and assemble products to a high quality.
General staff
Staff that do not have any specific skills or experience will enter a company at the bottom level of the hierarchy. They will have several tasks to complete, but will focus on assisting operational staff and learning how to do things to a good standard. They are often in roles such as administration and work as assistants. Since general staff are at the bottom of the company hierarchy, they have no authority and usually benefit from training so that they can progress in their career.
