Nature of work
An office manager supervises administrative support workers like office clerks and secretaries and coordinates their activities. He/she works in all types of business and government offices. An office manager may head the entire office in a small firm or administrative support operations in a department of a large company. In both cases the manager is responsible for directing workers and ensuring that their jobs are done efficiently.An office manager often decides what administrative support duties are needed in their department or company. He/she decides what qualifications are necessary to perform the job. For instance, an office manager in an accounting firm may decide that an applicant requires a bachelor's degree to fill the job of accounting clerk. In many offices the manager helps to hire administrative support staff and is in control of promotions. He/she suggests training programs for new workers. Some are also responsible for determining salaries and working conditions. In addition to that he/she makes sure that job duties are not unnecessarily duplicated in the office. A manager often redefines duties in order to achieve maximum efficiency. He/she may suggest a new job or eliminate an existing one. For instance, if a receptionist has too much filing to do, another person may be hired to help.
An office manager decides how much time it should take to do each job. Much of his/her time is spent planning and developing work schedules. If new equipment would make a process more efficient, the manager orders the necessary machinery.
He/she is responsible for reporting to higher management and acting as liaisons between administrative support and the senior management. He/she usually reports on the progress made by his/her department to meet company goals. The office manager takes direction from senior management and translates these directions into working practice.
Environment of work
An office manager usually works forty hours per week although he/she often spends additional time working on projects or attending meetings. Most of a manager's time is spent in the office. He/she is under pressure from top management to make the administrative support operations of his/her department run smoothly. He/she is also under pressure from his/her employees who may require the manager's time and assistance. Therefore, he/she should get along well with all of these people. Professional life
An office manager usually starts as an assistant and progresses to jobs of greater responsibility as a supervisor of large numbers of employees. A few office managers advance to top management positions in their firm. Some go into business for themselves. His/her training makes him/her qualified to run many kinds of businesses. He/she can also become a management consultant to various companies.Employment of office managers was expected to grow more slowly than the average for all occupations through the year 2014. New technologies have eliminated many administrative support jobs as well as the need for someone to manage people in these jobs. Growth in the size and complexity of organizations in both the public and the private sectors, however, will require increasingly sophisticated management techniques, and the demand for skilled administrative specialists will continue to be strong.
Once he/she is in the post, career development may take a variety of routes. It may involve taking on extra responsibilities, such as managing more staff or taking on some senior management responsibilities, or it may involve managing a different office in the organization, usually one which has a larger workforce or carries more responsibility. For example, the employee may move from managing a small team in the finance section to managing the whole finance department. However, after extensive experience as an office manager, career development is likely to involve a step up into senior management and later to head of department.
The exact stages of career development often depends on the organization and employment sector he/she works for, but most organizations encourage office managers to take on extra responsibility. This may be in areas such as finance, human resources and strategic development.
Range of typical starting salaries: 35000 SYP plus potential bonuses.
Getting the job
Most positions in office management require a college degree in business although workers with only a high school diploma sometimes work their way up to managerial positions. College course work in accounting, administrative and personnel management, and data processing are especially useful. There are a number of home-study courses available for people who cannot attend college.An office manager is often trained on the job. Many companies and government offices have management trainee programs. Sometimes a trainee starts by working for a short time in each of the company's departments to find out how the company functions. He/she works under the supervision of an experienced manager. Some companies send employees to courses and seminars at business schools or colleges to learn management techniques.
A college or business school placement office can help a graduate student find a position as a management trainee.. Interested individuals can write to various companies to inquire about jobs, and they can ask to leave an application on file if there are no immediate openings. In addition, the classified sections of newspapers list both beginning and top management openings. Candidates should also look in job sites on the Internet.
Skills
A candidate will need to show evidence of the following skills and personal qualities:- Knowledge in It software including Access and Excel.
- Staff management and appraisals skills.
- Ability to recruit and select staff.
- Stress management.
- Time management.
- Being assertive decisive, observant, and innovative.
- Ability to communicate clearly.
- Analytical ability as well as having tact.
Sources and references
If a candidate needs any further information on what is included in this file, he/she can visit the following websites: www.nma1.org, National Management Association
www.main.org/psi/, International Association of Administrative Professionals
www.amanet.org, American Management Association
Arab Standard Classification of Occupations, 2008, Ed. Arab Labor Organization.
Summary
An office manager organizes and supervises all of the administrative activities that facilitate the smooth running of an office.He/she carries out a range of administrative and IT-related tasks depending on the employing organisation. The work may vary from running the administrative side of a small employer's business as a sole administrator to overseeing the office work of numerous staff.
Although the work of an office manager differs greatly across organizations, they all have the responsibility for ensuring that their office runs efficiently. Job titles vary and an office manager is often called an office administrator especially at more junior levels.