Career profile Office Manager

Table of Contents

• What does an Office Manager do?
• What is a typical salary for an Office Manager?
• What personality traits are common among Office Managers?
  • Career Interests
  • Values
  • Psychological Demands
• What education and training do Office Managers need?
  • Typical educational degrees
  • Required knowledge and expertise
  • Important abilities
  • Critical skills

What does an Office Manager do?

Office Managers directly supervise and coordinate the activities of clerical and administrative support workers.

What kind of tasks does an Office Manager perform regularly?

Office Managers are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

• Supervise the work of office, administrative, or customer service employees to ensure adherence to quality standards, deadlines, and proper procedures, correcting errors or problems.
• Resolve customer complaints or answer customers' questions regarding policies and procedures.
• Provide employees with guidance in handling difficult or complex problems or in resolving escalated complaints or disputes.
• Review records or reports pertaining to activities such as production, payroll, or shipping to verify details, monitor work activities, or evaluate performance.
• Discuss job performance problems with employees to identify causes and issues and to work on resolving problems.
• Prepare and issue work schedules, deadlines, and duty assignments for office or administrative staff.
• Recruit, interview, and select employees.
• Interpret and communicate work procedures and company policies to staff.
• Evaluate employees' job performance and conformance to regulations and recommend appropriate personnel action.
• Train or instruct employees in job duties or company policies or arrange for training to be provided.
• Research, compile, and prepare reports, manuals, correspondence, or other information required by management or governmental agencies.
• Compute figures such as balances, totals, or commissions.
• Implement corporate or departmental policies, procedures, and service standards in conjunction with management.
• Coordinate activities with other supervisory personnel or with other work units or departments.
• Make recommendations to management concerning such issues as staffing decisions or procedural changes.
• Participate in the work of subordinates to facilitate productivity or to overcome difficult aspects of work.
• Develop or update procedures, policies, or standards.
• Maintain records pertaining to inventory, personnel, orders, supplies, or machine maintenance.
• Consult with managers or other personnel to resolve problems in areas such as equipment performance, output quality, or work schedules.

The above responsibilities are specific to Office Managers. More generally, Office Managers are involved in several broader types of activities:

What is an Office Manager salary?

What personality traits are common among Office Managers?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as an Office Manager are usually higher in their Enterprising, Conventional, and Social interests.

Office Managers typically have very strong Enterprising interests. Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Also, Office Managers typically have strong Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Lastly, Office Managers typically have moderate Social interests. Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as an Office Manager tend to value Support, Relationships, and Independence.

Most importantly, Office Managers strongly value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Second, Office Managers strongly value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Lastly, Office Managers strongly value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Office Managers must consistently demonstrate qualities such as integrity, dependability, and leadership.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Office Managers, ranked by importance:

What education and training do Office Managers need?

Office Managers often have training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Office Managers usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Office Managers

• 2.5% did not complete high school or secondary school
• 20.7% completed high school or secondary school
• 27.4% completed some college coursework
• 12.9% earned a Associate's degree
• 27.4% earned a Bachelor's degree
• 7.8% earned a Master's degree
• 1.3% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Office Managers

Important Abilities needed by Office Managers

Office Managers must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Office Managers need abilities such as oral comprehension, written comprehension, and oral expression in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Office Managers, ranked by their relative importance.

Critical Skills needed by Office Managers

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Office Managers frequently use skills like reading comprehension, active listening, and speaking to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Office Managers, ranked by their relative importance.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

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