����tv

Businesses employ staff to take on a number of different roles, with different duties and responsibilities. Roles in a business often follow a hierarchy and include owners and leaders, senior managers, supervisors, team leaders, operational and support staff.

Leaders and owners

Owners and leaders are the people at the top of a business and its organisational structure. Small businesses may only have one or two owners or leaders. Larger businesses often have a board of directors or leaders who make the key business decisions. A board of directors is often made up of a senior person from each department, governors and the owner or chief executive officer (CEO) of a business.

Leaders and owners:

• have overall control of the business and all employees
• make decisions about the overall aims and objectives of a business, setting long term targets
• are usually experienced in the industry and may have held senior positions previously -they are likely to have a range of qualifications
• often delegate tasks further down the chain of command to managers and senior managers
• are usually the highest paid people in a business - often they have a series of benefits and bonus incentives

Senior managers

Senior managers sit below the level of owner or leader. They are the most high-level managers in a business, and usually have overall responsibility for all staff below them.

Senior managers:

• have to manage supervisors and operational employees, giving instructions and day-to-day tasks
• make decisions about how the aims and objectives of a business will be implemented and met
• are usually experienced in the industry and have often worked their way up to a management position
• often delegate tasks further down the chain of command to supervisors and operational employees
• are usually well paid and are offered some incentives to help motivate them

Supervisors and team leaders

Supervisors and team leaders sit below the senior managers in the chain of command. They often manage a team of employees, providing them with daily duties and rotas of working hours, and ensuring employees fulfil their roles. For instance, in a supermarket each department is likely to have a team leader, eg the fruit and vegetable section will have a dedicated team of employees managed by a team leader.

Supervisors:

• have overall responsibility for operatives, providing them with tasks and monitoring performance
• will make decisions about tasks that operatives complete, and deal with any immediate operational or customer service issues
• are usually skilled in the role and have had experience as an operative
• will often delegate tasks to operatives to ensure work is evenly distributed
• will be paid at a higher rate than operatives, but a lower rate than senior managers

Operatives

Operational staff are the employees who complete and support the who complete the tasks directly related to the products and services that the company produces in a business. For example, in a car dealership the operational staff will be the sales representatives and car engineers. In a supermarket, operational staff will be customer service representatives, checkout operators and cleaners.

Operatives:

• do not have managerial authority and their responsibilities are provided to them by employees further up the chain of command
• will often be skilled in a particular area of work, though some operatives are lower skilled workers
• do not delegate tasks to others - they complete work that is given to them
• Are usually the lowest paid group of employees in a business