Manager: Role of a

A manager will carry out a range of activities, with the main feature often being to ensure the individuals, team, project or department etc, for whom the manager has responsibility for operates efficiently and effectively.

A manager will typically be involved with:
• Planning activities to meet organisational aims and objectives, short to long term planning, routine work to project work, setting targets, meeting deadlines.
• Organising - allocating tasks and responsibilities.
• Co-ordinating – ensuring different people, teams, resources etc. all come together appropriately so as to deliver the desired outcome.
• Motivating to meet needs and wants of staff, maintaining productivity, efficiency and effectiveness, providing constructive feedback, empowering and engaging others.
• Delegating, giving responsibilities to others, helping to develop staff, which then provides more time for a manager to focus on high priority requirements.
• Negotiating – contracts, purchases, sales, working conditions, priority allocations, targets,
• Staffing – Induction, recruitment, performance appraisals.
• Developing diversity of staff, teams and ideas.
• Training, mentoring, coaching.
• Budgeting – forecasting, monitoring, controlling.
• Leading - providing vision and direction, inspiring others, acting as a role model.
• Regulatory compliance.
• Communicating – various forms (reports, presentations, verbal, one-to-one, groups, seminars etc.) and to different people (staff, senior managers, directors, members of the public, customers, peers, etc.).
• Collaborating – building good working relationships with other to achieve desired results.
• Controlling – implementing processes and procedures, implementing plans, adjusting priorities, making changes/ improvements, ordering goods and services, ensuring adequate resources are available to meet desired outcomes.

An apprentice standard for an Operational or Departmental manager (Level 5) systematically categorises the required skills, knowledge and behaviours for the role and this can be contrasted with a similar standard for that of a Golf Course Manager.

The occupational role is described as “… someone who manages teams and/or projects, and achieving operational or departmental goals and objectives, as part of the delivery of the organisation’s strategy. They are accountable to a more senior manager or business owner. Working in the private, public or third sector and in all sizes of organisation, specific responsibilities and job titles will vary, but the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed will be the same. Key responsibilities may include creating and delivering operational plans, managing projects, leading and managing teams, managing change, financial and resource management, talent management, coaching and mentoring.“

Skills
1. Organisational performance – delivering results

A. Operational management
• Able to input into strategic planning and create plans in line with organisational objectives.
• Support, manage and communicate change by identifying barriers and overcoming them.
• Demonstrate commercial awareness, and able to identify and shape new opportunities.
• Creation and delivery of operational plans, including setting KPIs, monitoring performance against plans.
• Producing reports, providing management information based on the collation, analysis and interpretation of data.

B. Project management
• Plan, organise and manage resources to deliver required outcomes.
• Monitor progress and identify risk and their mitigation.
• Able to use relevant project management tools.

C. Finance
• Able to monitor budgets and provide reports and consider financial implications of decisions and adjust approach and recommendations accordingly.

2. Interpersonal excellence – managing people and developing relationships

A. Leading people
• Able to communicate organisational vision and goals and how these to apply to teams.
• Support development through coaching and mentoring and enable and support high performance working.
• Able to support the management of change within the organisation.

B. Managing people
• Able to manage talent and performance.
• Develop, build and motivate teams by identifying their strengths and enabling development within the workplace.
• Able to delegate and enable delivery though others.

C. Building relationships
• Able to build trust and use effective negotiation and influencing skills and manage conflict.
• Able to identify and share good practice and work collaboratively with others both inside and outside of the organisation.
• Use of specialist advice and support to deliver against plans.

D. Communication
• Able to communicate effectively (verbal, non-verbal, written, digital) and be flexible in communication style.
• Able to chair meetings and present using a range of media.
• Use of active listening, and able to challenge and give constructive feedback.

3. Personal effectiveness – managing self

A. Self-awareness
• Able to reflect on own performance, working style and its impact on others.

B. Management of self
• Able to create a personal development plan.
• Use of time management and prioritisation techniques.

C. Decision making
• Able to undertake critical analysis and evaluation to support decision making.
• Use of effective problem-solving techniques.

Knowledge
1. Organisational performance – delivering results

A. Operational management
• Understand operational management approaches and models, including creating plans to deliver objectives and setting KPIs.
• Understand business development tools (e.g. SWOT), and approaches to continuous improvement.
• Understand operational business planning techniques, including how to manage resources, development of sales and marketing plans, setting targets and monitoring performance.
• Knowledge of management systems, processes and contingency planning.
• Understand how to initiate and manage change by identifying barriers and know how to overcome them.
• Understand data security and management, and the effective use of technology in an organisation.

B. Project management
• Know how to set up and manage a project using relevant tools and techniques and understand process management.
• Understand approaches to risk management.

C. Finance
• Understand business finance: how to manage budgets, and financial forecasting.

2. Interpersonal excellence – managing people and developing relationships

A. Leading people
• Understand different leadership styles, how to lead multiple and remote teams and manage team leaders.
• Know how to motivate and improve performance, supporting people using coaching and mentoring approaches.
• Understand organisational cultures and diversity and their impact on leading and managing change.
• Know how to delegate effectively.

B. Managing people
• Know how to manage multiple teams and develop high performing teams.
• Understand performance management techniques, talent management models and how to recruit and develop people.

C. Building relationships
• Understand approaches to partner, stakeholder and supplier relationship management including negotiation, influencing, and effective networking.
• Knowledge of collaborative working techniques to enable delivery through others and how to share best practice.
• Know how to manage conflict at all levels.

D. Communication
• Understand interpersonal skills and different forms of communication and techniques (verbal, written, non-verbal, digital) and how to apply them appropriately.

3. Personal effectiveness – managing self

A. Self-awareness
• Understand own impact and emotional intelligence.
• Understand different and learning and behaviour styles.

B. Management of self
• Understand time management techniques and tools, and how to prioritise activities and the use of different approaches to planning, including managing multiple tasks.

C. Decision making
• Understand problem solving and decision-making techniques, including data analysis.
• Understand organisational values and ethics and their impact on decision making.

Behaviours
A. Takes responsibility
• Drive to achieve in all aspects of work.
• Demonstrates resilience and accountability.
• Determination when managing difficult situations.
• Seeks new opportunities.

B. Inclusive
• Open, approachable, authentic, and able to build trust with others.
• Seeks the views of others and values diversity.

C. Agile
• Flexible to the needs of the organisation.
• Is creative, innovative and enterprising when seeking solutions to business needs.
• Positive and adaptable, responding well to feedback and need for change.
• Open to new ways of working.

D. Professionalism
• Sets an example, and is fair, consistent and impartial.
• Open and honest.
• Operates within organisational values.


(Operations or Departmental Manager Apprenticeship Standard)