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Investigating Job Roles

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Investigating Job Roles Unit 2: People in Business

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Learning objectives


How are different businesses structured?

What are organization charts? How can they help to define job roles within a business?

What is a job description?

What are the key job roles within a business and what are the differences between them?

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Overview

A job description is a document describing a job role.

Each individual in a business will have a different job role.

For a business to be successful, everyone who works in that business must know what they and others should be doing.

Different levels of job roles in a business are shown on an organization chart.


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).


Chain of command


Case study: Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park is a large business with many different functional areas. This organization chart shows the structure of the Marketing department at Thorpe Park.

General Manager

Marketing Manager

Marketing AnalystBrand Manager PR Manager

Marketing Executive


Case study: Thorpe Park


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?


Centralized and decentralized organizations

Organizations can either be centralized or decentralized. A centralized organization keeps the control in the hands of a few senior managers or directors. In a decentralized organization, authority and control is delegated to the individual managers.

Virgin is well-known as a decentralized organization: the Virgin group consists of separate, semi-independent companies. While Richard Branson is chairman of the Virgin group, he allows his managers to take control of the running of each business.


Key job levels

Businesses 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 roles

There 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 responsibilities

their tasks or activities – what the job entails

their job security

decisions to make and problems to solve

the skills, qualifications and personal qualities they require

the 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?


What is a job description?

Businesses often set out the activities and duties of their employees using job descriptions. A job description is a document that summarizes the key tasks the job holder will be expected to perform and the responsibilities they will have.

Many organizations have job descriptions for every job within the business, from the managing director to the cleaner.

Job title: Theme park cleanerDepartment: Housekeeping and Maintenance

Hours of work:35 hours per week Duties & responsibilities: 1. Work as part of the park cleaning team to ensure that

litter is collected and that the outside areas of the park remain clean and tidy at all times.


Understanding job descriptions

Imagine you are the Human Resources Manager at Thorpe Park. During the busy summer months you need to recruit temporary staff to help out at the park. Select one of the following job roles and write a job description for it.

Ride technicianFood and beverage team leaderCustomer assistantTheme park gardener


Advantages and disadvantages of job descriptions


The role of a manager

Managers 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 supervisor

Supervisors, 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.


Whose responsibility?


Question time!

1. What information is included in a job description?

2. Give two advantages and two disadvantages of using job descriptions.

3. Place these job roles in order of seniority: manager, support staff, supervisor, director, operative.

4. Give two reasons why managers should be paid more than operatives.


Who wants to be an A* student?


Glossary

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