A manager is somebody who is responsible for leading a given group in realizing a company’s operational goals and the ultimate services/goods production. Management and the roles of a manager are interrelated and they define how an institution is run in regard to, staffing, operation, leadership, and planning among other management credentials. Management can be sub-divided into three main categories: top-level management which is the highest management level in a company that staffs aspire to be, mid-level management, first-level management, and personal contributions. Top-level management is where the top leadership dwells and it is occupied by the company’s CEO/chairman. Mid-level managers include directors, departmental heads, and other sub-team leaders. First-level management refers to company supervisors while personal contributors include the duties of cooks, groundsmen, among others.
Managerial duties are designed to encompass all business operations in a bid to realize the goals of a company. Managers, therefore, have to be well acquainted with all business processes so they can ensure the production of goods and services is well coordinated. This coordination calls for good inter-departmental communication channels and general communication from the bottom to the top leadership. A good manager should know the goals, mission, and vision of a company as those are the driving factors that propel a successful company. A manager’s role involves planning, controlling, recruitment, organizing, and providing leadership. Despite the overall guidance role played by managers, modern business ethics call for managers to act as personal motivators, team players, and facilitators. This is a move that has deemphasized formal management to a friendlier and team-oriented leadership that boosts the morale of employees. This form of management is also known as horizontal management and its ideals are opposed to the top-to-bottom/vertical management model.
Managers must be equipped with basic skills that will ensure effective business operations are run comprehensively. These skills include interpersonal skills, technical knowledge in regard to processes, political skills, conceptualistic skills, and analytical skills. The above managerial skills can be nurtured through behavioral change and developing conceptual knowledge. Besides, a manager can gain managerial skills via observation of how managers carry out their duties. Self-initiated quizzes can also act as a vital source of developing skills as one can personalize his/her own style from the quizzes he/she forms. The most important action by students who aspire to be managers in the future is to put learned skills into action out of the classroom and to practice these skills frequently.
The position of a manager in a company depends on the type of company and how its operating systems are designed. One cannot be a manager if he/she lacks the necessary skills of running a given department. The interviewee justifies this claim because before he was employed in the company, he had practiced management in another company and upon moving to the current firm, he worked for two years before being elevated to the management position he currently holds. Experience is really necessary because an individual has to acquaint him/herself with the operations of a company before he/she takes over. The interviewee also recruits employees considering personality, creativity, originality, and ability to work under pressure. This concurs with the ideals of management that require a manager to recruit staff in his/her docket. Besides, the interviewee is the leader of those in his department.
On the contrary, the management essential above suggests a horizontal management system that modern business institutions employ today. The interviewee however operates under a top-to-bottom/vertical leadership channel that is not employee-friendly. In addition, the interviewee affirms that he forces his employees to adopt his operation ideals regardless of their personal opinion as long as he thinks his moves are geared towards the realization of company targets. The manager however reassures that their mutual relationship is maintained via team building sessions he organizes with his employees. The manager agrees with the fact that managerial duties call for academic credentials. The manager intends to further his education (attaining a degree) so that in the near future he may become Manager/ Visual Zone Director. This conforms with the essentials required of a manager as suggested above. Besides the academic work, a manager has to equip him/herself with the technical skills of a department. The manager interviewed has got skills in creating visual displays which is a technical skill that is in line with this requirement.
In my own view, having looked at the essentials of becoming a manager and the findings of the interview, I believe that management is not as easy as it appears in paper/classwork. Managerial skills are nurtured from academics to real experience before one moves from lower managerial levels to the top level of a CEO/chairman. It is vital for students pursuing managerial posts in the future to get skills out of the classroom in order to get the real picture of what duties befall a successful manager. The most critical role of managers; though, is to be able to master all business operations for good coordination of inter-departmental roles. Besides, this is a move that is crucial when one target to move to the highest level of management.