Unit 8 P1 P2

Job roles in a business

Functional Areas in a business

• Explain the purpose of different functional areas in two contrasting businesses.

What are the different jobs available in a supermarket?

• cashier • manager• baker• customer service• assistant manager• security• owner

• supervisor• cleaner • finance• delivery• sales• r+d• chef• Shelf stacker

Key job levelsBusinesses organize themselves to achieve their specific aims and objectives, which means that no two businesses will share the same structure. However, in in all medium-to-large businesses, there will usually be four key job levels.

Owner/Directors

Managers

Supervisors

Operatives and Support staff

Differences between job rolesThere are a number of differences between key job levels ina business. The roles of staff in managerial, supervisory, operative and support roles will vary in terms of:

their key responsibilitiestheir tasks or activities – what the job entailstheir job securitydecisions to make and problems to solvethe skills, qualifications and personal qualities they requirethe related pay and benefits.

Think about the job roles of a supermarket manager and a checkout assistant. How do you think they are likely to differ in terms of each of these things?

The role of a managerManagers are often responsible for the work of several other members of staff as well as their own.

Skills/qualifications: usually educated to degree level.Personal qualities: leadership, ambition, commitment, drive.Pay and benefits: variable depending on the size of the business, but can exceed £100,000. May also also benefit from share option schemes, private healthcare, pension contributions, a company car and performance-related bonus schemes.

Key tasks: running a business or department, meeting targets, managing and motivating staff, planning for the future.Job security: dependent on the success of the business.

The role of a supervisorSupervisors, also known as duty managers or team leaders, are the link between the manager and the operatives. They are responsible for staff within their own department.

Job security: variable, although supervisors cost less than managers so they may be less vulnerable to business changes.Skills/qualifications: dependent upon area of work.Personal qualities: attention to detail, ability to motivate staff, reliability.Pay and benefits: dependent on the size of the company, but less than managers.

Key tasks: ensuring the smooth, day-to-day running of their own department and managing and motivating their staff.

The role of an operative

Job security: dependent upon the demand for the organization’s products and services.Skills/qualifications: dependent on job.Personal qualities: hardworking, reliable, able to work within a team.Pay and benefits: variable – can be salaried or paid hourly.

Key tasks: doing own job professionally, whether it be as a supermarket checkout assistant or restaurant waitress.

Operatives are responsible for carrying out specific tasks, which are crucial to the day-to-day running of the business.

The role of support staff

Skills/qualifications: variable.Personal qualities: reliability, attention to detail (possible supervisory skills for skilled support staff).Pay and benefits: unskilled support staff often receive minimum wage. Skilled support staff are paid according to their specific skills and level.

Key tasks: can include administrative duties, IT support, security, maintenance and cleaning.Job security: variable, although it is rare for any organization to operate without support staff.

Support staff assist the operatives, supervisors and managers. Their roles are not directly related to the production of an organization’s goods and services.

Investigate a job role

• Choose a job and find out about;– Types of tasks– Types of decisions– Level of responsibility– Skills, qualifications, attributes of the job holder– Salary level and other benefits.

Research- P1

• Choose one organisation and produce a leaflet about the different types of job roles they have. You must include; – Types of tasks– Types of decisions– Level of responsibility– Skills, qualifications, attributes of the job holder– Salary level and other benefits.

• Produce a hierarchy to show where each job role sits.

Hierarchy.

Manager

Supervisor

Operative/ Shop floor staff

M1 - How do job roles differ?

Choose two contrasting organisations to compare.

Compare the job roles in the two businesses and for at least 5 job roles, explain how these differ and what the similarities are.

Example comparisonCrew member – McDonalds

• Join us and you'll become part of a crew, or a team, that works together to provide the best quick service, family restaurant experience – by far. If you've visited one of our restaurants before, you’ve probably got some idea of what's involved in working here. But you might not realise the variety and scope of the role. Specific responsibilities that involve serving customers include working behind the counter on the till and being out in the dining areas looking after our customers' needs. A franchised restaurant is a restaurant operated by a local business person trading under the McDonald's name. Currently over half of our restaurants in the UK are franchised but from a customer point of view there's no difference. For employees there will be minor differences between a company and a franchised restaurant. Please refer to additional information for more details.

Requirements:Quite simply, you'll be working in our fast moving, high energy environment and we’re looking for a genuine smile plus an ability to connect with customers and make them feel valued.

Attributes:To join us as a Crew Member you’ll need to be confident in approaching and dealing with diverse groups of people. Friendly, courteous and helpful behaviour will come naturally to you and you’ll work well as part of a team. Effective communication skills such as attentive listening, face-to-face verbal communication and eye contact are a must. You’ll also need to understand the importance of maintaining high standards of quality and service as well as cleanliness. The ability to maintain high energy levels whilst working both efficiently and productively is essential. Finally, your appearance should be smart and clean.

Volunteer- cancer research • Many of our volunteer roles do not require you to

have any experience or specialist skills and we will provide all the training and information you need.

• All Cancer Research UK volunteers have a staff member who they can go to for help and support. Often there are also more experienced volunteers to offer advice to new members of the team.

• Students volunteer to gain skills and work experience to help them get a job while others work full-time but wish to volunteer during evenings or weekends. Some of our volunteers have had a break from the job market and want to build up fresh experience and we also have many retired people who are looking to put their experience and some of their newfound free time to good use.

The main differences are......

The main similarities are...

Organisational Structures.

What is an organization chart?

An organization chart is a diagram which shows the internal structure of a business, and how the different jobs within it fit together.

Different businesses are organized in different ways, tobest achieve their objectives. However, an organizationchart for any business will clearly show:

the different functional areas of the business and the job roles within each functional area

how many people work in each functional area

the different levels of responsibility/authority in the business – who is in charge, and who reports to whom.

What is an organization chart?Headteacher

Deputy Head

Head of Science

Science TeacherEnglish TeacherMaths Teacher

Head of EnglishHead of Maths

What do the horizontal and vertical lines indicate?

This is an organization chart showing how the subject departments (functional areas) of Science, English and Maths are organized in one school.

Draw an organization chart for your school!

Chain of command and span of control

In an organization chart, the people near the top have responsibility for those below them.

The chain of command refers to the number of layers through which messages (commands) have to pass in order to get from the person at the top level of authority to staff at the bottom level. The larger the business, the longer the chain of command is likely to be.

The span of control is the number of people under the supervision of any given manager (i.e. the people below them in the chart).

Hierarchical and flat structures

Large businesses and organizations such as Thorpe Park and your school will usually have a hierarchical structure.

This is a form of organization with many different levels of responsibility. The more levels in a business, the more opportunities there are for promotion up the hierarchy.

Smaller businesses or organizations will tend to have flat structures – where there are only two or three levels. These types of business are more informal, with close contact between managers and the rest of the staff.

What advantages and disadvantages of flat and hierarchical structures can you think of?

P2- Organisational structures

• Write a factsheet in which you identify the different organisation structures you can expect to find in a business. (see exemplar)

M1 part 2- how do organisational structures compare?

Compare the organisational structures for two contrasting organisations.

What are the similarities and differences in the charts?

http://www.theofficialboard.com/org-chart/mcdonald-s

Andy Bond – Head of UK Operations

Divisional Director (North)

Divisional Director (South)

Divisional Director (West)

South West

Division

Clusters x9

M4 Cluster

Wales Division

Divisional Director (East)

ASDA UK Structure