The profession of the office-manager
Article #8: The profession of the office-manager
The profession of the office-manager has appeared rather recently. Before that, people of such profession were called "administrator", but with a change of business the specialty of the office-manager has acquired new features.
Frequently, office-managers are confused with the secretary, the HR-manager and the administrator. Partly the office-manager carries out both those and other functions, but only partly. As a matter of fact, some other qualities are inherent in the work of this position.
The office-manager is the expert who engages in management of all office services, coordinates their work and also is occupied with office supplying by necessary expendables. As a rule, the office-manager submits immediately to Director General or the Deputy Director of Personnel Management, sometimes he complies with the Head of Department of the Personnel Management.
Professional duties are:
- supervising of work of all office;
- coordination of activities of all office services (secretaries, couriers, administrators, drivers, technical workers, etc.);
- maintenance of business correspondence;
- distribution of calls;
- meeting of visitors;
- administrative and economic support of all office's employees;
- work with primary accounting documentation in the program 1C;
- preparation of consignment notes, invoices;
- write-off of materials;
- maintenance of records management, preparation of various reports;
- management of office expenses, document flow of payments;
- organization of holidays and other corporate measures;
- providing of cleanness and order in the office;
- analysis of suppliers' activity - this requirement operates not in all companies;
- directing of accounting on vacations , compensatory holidays and an overtime hours - this requirement also prevails not in all companies;
- formation of visas, invitations, registration for foreign employees - this requirement is more frequent produced in the large Russian companies, especially in those which specialize in building and insurance;
- obligations of the translator - such requirement is presented just in Western companies.
These are main fundamental obligations, but as representatives of recruitment agencies say, in the different companies, in addition to above-mentioned functions, the most different requirements are imposed to office-managers. In the Western companies, most often, the office-manager combines such functions as the owner of the office + the secretary + the personal assistant. In that way an office-manager is in fact equated to a position of the Administrative Director of the company.
Education which is required for such position:
- the higher education is more frequent required, but in small companies it can be secondary special education;
- for the reason that it is not enough educational institution preparing exactly office-managers, the majority of the companies gives preference to experts with arts education, such as philological, journalistic; also to specialists in the field of PR, sometimes - in economic sphere;
- it is welcomed, the termination of specialized courses in addition to the higher education;
- the completion of additional courses on knowledge of the personal computer (Word, Excel), knowledge of the 1C program, is welcomed too;
- knowledge of a foreign language; this is obligatory requirement in the Western companies.
Requirements to the office-manager:
- organizing abilities;
- independence in decision-making;
- ability to distribute duties between the personnel;
- skill to communicate;
- flexibility;
- patience;
- goodwill;
- tactfulness;
- punctuality;
- conscientiousness;
- responsibility;
- business etiquette.
Author: Job-less.info - Find the right job for you
Back to the Articles page.