The profession of assistant manager is significant for production management. The specialist deals with organizational issues in the field of coordinating the activities of a business entity. His job responsibilities are contradictory and ambiguous. They are established by the head of the company at each enterprise individually, taking into account the specifics of its activities, the powers of the management team and their desires.
Profession assistant manager
Distinctive features and specifics of the assistant’s activities
There is no position that would be as contradictory and ambiguous in its requirements as an assistant manager. The responsibilities of employees engaged in this type of activity include quite a few items. Additionally, personal assistants are often confused with secretaries or office managers. Although these are similar, they are different types of activities.
Functional responsibilities of the assistant manager:
- Ensuring the boss's working day - schedule, meetings, signing documents and business trips;
- providing a comfortable workplace for a top manager - taking care of the microclimate, cleanliness and comfort of the premises;
- working with the manager’s documents, in particular with incoming letters and calls;
- ensuring psychological comfort for superiors;
- conducting initial negotiations;
- translation;
- providing stationery management, etc.
This list is much broader than both secretarial and administrative duties. However, the specifics that an employee faces in the position of “personal assistant to the manager,” the responsibilities and nuances of the activity will be different for different employers.
It happens that this is mainly secretarial work. Or the assistant is solely occupied with ensuring the boss’s comfort and order. Some assistants are full-fledged deputies and have their own employees subordinate to them.
Regulatory - legal framework for drawing up job descriptions
It basically looks like this:
- current legislation of the Russian Federation;
Legislation allows an employee to be provided with any functions if he is trusted and has sufficient knowledge, experience, and qualifications to resolve such issues. Please note that the manager must formalize the authority by his own order.
- job description;
The job description is drawn up taking into account the specifics of the position and establishes the range of responsibilities. It should reflect the work actually performed by the assistant manager.
- internal documents:
- the organization's charter, management orders, internal rules and conduct.
The assistant must quickly navigate the regulatory framework governing his activities and the work of the officials subordinate to him. He needs to study federal, regional legislation, and regulatory documents of the organization.
Requirements for personal traits of an assistant
In addition to professional ones, assistants to top managers are required to meet a number of personal requirements. The specifics of the position of “assistant manager”, the duties and features of the work require a special character.
First of all, this:
- resistance to stress - after all, the assistant often has to be the first to bear the wrath of his superiors and listen to the dissatisfaction of his subordinates;
- multitasking – the ability to do several things at the same time – is the most valuable quality of a good assistant;
- positive thinking - without this character trait, an assistant manager will not be able to cope with additional responsibilities, because his activities often go beyond the scope of standard business cooperation;
- high learning ability - the desire to learn new things and thoroughly understand the work process should be present in every good assistant.
These are just the basic, basic character traits that every assistant manager needs for successful professional activity. But the most important personal requirement is that the temperament and behavioral characteristics of the boss and assistant should not be dissonant, but ideally complement each other.
Personal qualities
The specifics of the position determine the requirements for the personal qualities of its owner. The specialist operates under the direct supervision of the employer, as a result of which he will have to be the first to bear his wrath, expressed by dissatisfaction with the result of not only the work personally done, but also the activities of the employees subordinate to him. In order to normally perceive conflict situations, you must have such a quality as stress resistance.
Requirements for specialist knowledge
Most likely, management will strive to shift a number of its responsibilities to an assistant, so you need to be prepared for multitasking, which involves high-quality and competent parallel consideration and solution of several tasks. The employee must be prepared for the fact that they will often go beyond the scope of business cooperation.
General responsibilities of an assistant manager
The assistant works directly with the management of the organization, performing both personal assignments and professional duties. They usually include:
- maintaining records of the manager, and in some cases the entire organization. At individual enterprises, assistants manage the secretariat of the organization;
- coordination of management activities. Drawing up schedules for business meetings, reminding superiors about events and activities of various kinds;
- conducting correspondence on behalf of the organization;
- receiving and redistributing incoming telephone calls;
- providing the manager with all necessary information upon request.
Job responsibilities of an assistant to the general director
The scope of responsibilities of an assistant director depends on the size of the enterprise, the standards adopted by the company and the management style. As a rule, the duties of an assistant are limited to the following functions:
1. The assistant must be able to work with documents
- check the correctness of documents before submitting them for signature to the manager, and edit if necessary;
- receive correspondence received by the manager and transmit it to departments or performers, or prepare responses;
- conduct office work, draw up letters, requests and other documents, prepare draft reports, reports and materials for the work of the director;
- create files according to the nomenclature approved by the company, ensure their safety and transfer them to the archive within the established time frame;
- store working documents until archiving;
- monitor the execution of orders and compliance with their deadlines;
- maintain a control and registration file.
Work on organizing the company's work
- receive and transmit messages by fax, e-mail, etc.;
- create the company’s image during telephone communications, protect the director from unwanted visitors, independently make decisions about forwarding telephone calls;
- provide the manager’s workplace with the necessary equipment and office supplies;
- organize and coordinate meetings of the director, develop his rational work schedule;
- prepare meetings and conferences with the manager (collect materials, notify participants), keep minutes of meetings;
- organize presentations and representation activities;
- organize the reception of visitors, facilitate the prompt consideration of employee applications;
- carry out personal errands (choose gifts for business partners, etc.).
A highly qualified assistant director is, in fact, a managing administrator, and to work effectively, he must be able to anticipate developments in order to prevent possible complications. The ability to tactfully handle confidential information is also highly valued.
The most valuable qualities of an assistant to the general director: communication skills, literacy, diplomacy, diligence, accuracy, responsibility, the ability to quickly cope with a large flow of information, which requires a good memory and quick reactions.
The main advantage of this profession is the opportunity to gain invaluable management experience from a successful leader. The knowledge acquired in this way will help you advance in your career or become a starting point for starting your own business.
Additional responsibilities of an assistant to the head of an organization
A personal assistant to an executive with additional responsibilities and functions is the most common vacancy for this field of activity. Most often, management is looking for a fairly multifaceted employee capable of expanding responsibilities.
The most common additional responsibilities are:
- translation from a foreign language, including during negotiations. Management cannot always fully trust third-party workers, and here knowledge of at least English is very useful;
- organizing trips for the manager and accompanying him on trips. Such activities assume that the assistant will take care of all everyday aspects: movement, ordering a taxi and hotel, organizing meals and paperwork;
- accompanying superiors to protocol events;
- household services.
This list is far from complete. Most often, it is quite difficult to unambiguously answer the question of what are the responsibilities of an assistant manager? This activity is very diverse. Each boss makes his own demands, the main thing is to ensure that they are all within the law.
Assistant's Responsibilities
Penalties for violation of a contract, job description, internal regulations, laws should only be in accordance with current legislation. Typically, the degree of responsibility is regulated by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
The Assistant Manager is responsible for:
- improper performance of official duties, refusal to perform;
- violation of deadlines for completing the required work;
- violation of orders, decisions, resolutions of the head;
- actions not within their competence;
- unfriendly, rude treatment of the organization’s partners, visitors, employees, failure to comply with business communication and etiquette;
- material damage caused to the organization, its counterparties, and employees;
- providing false information to employees;
- insufficient control over the activities of subordinate employees;
- disclosure of personal data, confidential information that has limited access.
Penalties are provided for:
- failure to fulfill official duties in full or insufficiently conscientiously (according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);
- offenses (according to legislation: administrative, civil, criminal);
- caused material damage (according to the Labor and Civil Codes of the Russian Federation).
The provided punishment may be in the form of deprivation of material remuneration, even dismissal. At the end of the document there should be visas of the employees approving it and the signature of the assistant manager.
The head of the organization develops instructions, which are approved by: a lawyer, the head of the personnel department, and labor protection. After making amendments and additions, the manager approves. His position, surname (with explanation), date of approval and signature are indicated.
His signature confirms agreement with the changes when amendments are made and the legality of this document.
Working hours of a personal assistant
One of the main features of this activity is the dependence of the employee’s working hours on management. Of course, the standard work day is eight hours. In fact, assistants compare their regime with their superiors.
This “blurring” of working hours, and the need to always maintain contact with management, often discourages graduates from these vacancies. In fact, you have to work no more than in any other place. It’s just that time for rest and work becomes inconsistent.
Assistant rights
The job description always includes the rights that the assistant manager has. Responsibilities provided for by the specifics of the position are always complemented by corresponding preferences. So, what rights does an employee have in the position in question? Interestingly, the responsibilities of an assistant to the head of an enterprise are quite correlated with them. For example, the right to sign and endorse certain documents arises in connection with the need to periodically work with such sources. An example of another right of an employee in a corresponding position is to request from immediate management, as well as from other specialists of the company, the necessary information for inclusion in documents. The assistant manager also has the right to demand that the boss provide comfortable working conditions. The job responsibilities of a person in the relevant position may involve the periodic sending and receiving of documents - and these procedures must be carried out using various technical means. The Secretary has the right to expect full access to such.
Job Description for Assistant Manager
The structure of the position of “assistant manager”, responsibilities, requirements for education and work experience must be specified in the job description. This is a document that ensures transparency of management requirements and easy control over the performance of employee duties.
The job description is normative in nature and mandatory. This document describes all the intricacies of the work of an assistant manager. This is practically a guide to action. The document includes not only duties, but also rights, responsibilities and features of resolving labor disputes.
Due to the specific nature of the activity of an assistant manager, special attention must be paid to the preparation of his job description. It is imperative to specify the specifics of the job, the nuances of organizing work and rest time, and compensation for overtime.
It is necessary to distinguish the job description of an assistant from the same document for the position of “assistant project manager”. The latter's duties are often temporary, like the work itself.
In addition, the job description should clearly state the title of the position. Most often they indicate “secretary”, “referent secretary”, “direction manager”. Please ensure that this entry complies with applicable regulations and is up to date.
Results
Assistant manager is a position that can mean very different job functions. It is important for the employer, firstly, to very clearly define them, and secondly, to consolidate them by issuing a job description.
You can study the features of compiling other instructions in the articles:
- “Job description for an accountant of a budgetary institution - sample 2015”;
- "Job description of the deputy chief accountant."
You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Full and free access to the system for 2 days.
What to include in an executive assistant resume
The position of a personal assistant is an excellent start to a graduate’s career. This way, you can get your first job and gain incomparable professional experience. However, even for applicants with experience this vacancy may seem interesting. Especially if you are planning to change your field of activity.
Knowing the main responsibilities of an assistant manager, it is not difficult to create a resume. This document assumes that you have read the theoretical part of the question and are ready to get started. Carefully study the requirements for the applicant and start writing the text.
Data that must be indicated in the resume for the position of “assistant” or “personal assistant to the manager”:
- Full name, surname and patronymic; in a resume for a foreign company, only the first two are acceptable.
- Family status. This is a mandatory item - the position of an assistant often involves irregular working hours. You need to be sure that such a schedule will not negatively affect family responsibilities.
- Education. Listed in chronological order. If you are still studying, be sure to make a note of how long it will take to complete. Often employers hire final year students as assistants, with subsequent career advancement. Here, indicate your knowledge of a foreign language and level of proficiency in it.
- Experience. Point from the last one. If you don’t already have one, then list your volunteer projects, participation in social activities or professional organizations, educational practices and other suitable activities. If you cannot provide anything, take a reference from the graduating department and write that you are ready to provide it.
- Personal characteristics. Give yourself the most honest assessment possible. Describe your character from the point of view of classical psychology and be sure to note your strengths and weaknesses.
- Additional information. Here you should write why the employer should choose you over other applicants. Also, be sure to include additional skills, such as having a driver's license. Also at this point it will be useful to write about the availability of additional education, advanced training courses, and business education.
- Contacts. Leave as many ways as possible to contact you: cell and home phone numbers, email, Skype, link to a social network page. Provide only current information.
A properly written resume will not go unnoticed by the employer.
Professional requirements
Requirements for a specialist are formed in accordance with the management’s idea of the profession.
Most often, it is seen as a leadership position with potential for a career start. The director, wanting to see a competent specialist in his assistant, will look for a person with experience in management and administration. In large enterprises, management selects an assistant who has knowledge in the legal field.
Functional responsibilities
To perform the assigned duties efficiently, the specialist must have skills in working with office programs, be literate and be able to quickly type texts. Knowledge of foreign languages and computer programs is welcome, which may be useful or even necessary in assisting the activities of the company's management team.
The functions of an assistant manager may include maintaining correspondence and organizing document flow, which obliges him to know the basics of etiquette used in business conditions and office procedures. To negotiate, it is important to know the current legislation and be fluent in speech.
The basic requirements for a specialist can be supplemented by the manager in accordance with the specifics of the company’s activities and his personal understanding of the nuances of the specialist’s work. The applicant may be required to take advanced training courses or have a business education.
Responsibilities of the assistant department head
Typically, job seekers are looking for a job as a personal assistant to an executive. But it’s easier to start advancing in this career niche with the position of “assistant head of sales.” The responsibilities of this employee are not so extensive, but the experience and prospects are incomparably greater.
The main difference between assistant department heads is their more specific and narrowly focused activities. They perform work related to a specific area of production or management. This experience is invaluable for further career advancement.
The responsibilities of an assistant department manager include everything the same as those of the head of an enterprise. But there is also a special specificity:
- the need to thoroughly know the essence of the production, management or trading process of the unit;
- contact with assistants from other departments and the assistant to the general director;
- maintain department-specific documentation.
Employee obligations
Since such a vacancy requires the employee to be aware of many issues that are within the competence of management, the responsibilities of the assistant general director are very large. We list them in this order:
- Planning the manager's schedule . Such an employee receives visitors, compiles lists of visits to management, answers calls and provides the necessary certificates within the limits of his authority.
- Implementation of technical tasks . The assistant ensures the normal activities of the manager, resolving issues with transport, ticket and hotel reservations, and arranging negotiations.
- Carrying out orders from the boss . This person is obliged to strictly follow the orders of management, making the necessary trips outside the territory of the enterprise at the request of the manager.
- Executive accompaniment . An applicant for an assistant position is located next to the director in order to provide all possible assistance in a timely manner in the preparation of documentation and other issues.
- Providing assistance to superiors . This position requires the employee to participate in negotiations and their organization. In addition, he is obliged to document the process and document the achieved result.
- Implementation of relationships with internal and external partners . The assistant is obliged to independently interact with representatives of departments of the enterprise and other organizations within the limits of his competence - after all, the solution of some general issues does not require the participation of the first person of the company.
- Obtaining the necessary information for the manager . The assistant to the director of the company collects documentation at the request of the boss, prepares the necessary visual aids for meetings and business meetings.
- Carrying out clerical work . The assistant receives, registers and presents correspondence to the director.
- Communication with visitors . This employee meets the company's clients and staff, records the appointment, and resolves issues that he can resolve independently.
- Assistance in minor issues . The assistant carries out one-time requests from the manager regarding the performance of work functions to implement personnel rotations and notify personnel.
The manager's assistant is obliged to carry out the manager's orders and organize his working hours
At the request of the manager, the job responsibilities of the assistant manager are expanded. In the event that a vacancy is open to assist a manager implementing a temporary project, the functions of the referent are valid until a specific result is obtained or the contract with such a manager expires.
Career prospects for a personal assistant
Young people see this position as the start of a career. However, you need to differentiate what kind of promotion you want. Horizontal or vertical? At this enterprise, or is this just the starting line on a future resume? The strategy for further action depends on the answers to these questions.
Management values good assistants, and this, unfortunately, has a bad effect on their career growth. The boss does not want to let go of the ideal employee, agrees to increase the salary and gives additional benefits - this is an option for a horizontal career. Most common among personal assistants.
The easiest way to advance your career in a particular organization is from the position of assistant to the head of a department. Such positions are often hired with the prospect of getting to know the employee better and training him. If you want a vertical career, then this is your path.
The position of assistant manager is not noticeable to the outside eye, but is very significant for the organization. A competent assistant can improve the performance of management and thereby provide more profit to the enterprise.
What to consider when writing a CI
A unified form of job description has not yet been prescribed in legislation. This opens up space for firms to be creative, especially in job descriptions. However, there are some generally accepted standards for writing DI, they mainly relate to the number and names of sections:
- General provisions.
- Functions.
- Rights.
- Responsibility.
Additional items may be added to the listed items, which include, for example, a description of working conditions. The feasibility of their inclusion is determined by the management of the company.
Basic provisions
Here the qualification requirements for the employee are stated. For the position of an assistant, it will be important to mention experience in handling office equipment, the necessary set of computer programs, as well as, if necessary, good knowledge of a foreign language. The section also standardly mentions who hires the assistant and to whom he reports, as well as what he should be guided by when performing his functions.
If the director has several assistants, then it is better to draw up a DI for each of them, indicating specific individual responsibilities.
Functions
The contents of this section are devoted to listing in as detailed a manner as possible the functions that are expected from an assistant manager. Usually they describe a range of responsibilities that are close to secretarial ones, but are more related to communicating with people and less related to processing incoming calls and letters. It is also important to take into account the peculiarities of the company’s work, since English is not required everywhere.
In many companies, the functions of executive assistants are performed by secretaries or assistants. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly describe what the manager himself expects from the assistant: he will be a replacement for the secretary or will perform some additional duties.
Responsibility
The section outlines the range of employee liability for violations of Russian laws and company rules, disclosure of data and other violations. Usually the section does not indicate specific measures of responsibility because they can be substantively determined only during labor and legal proceedings.
Rights
This describes the set of rights of an assistant manager. Usually it is quite standard and differs only due to the specifics of both the company itself and the responsibilities of a particular assistant.
After drawing up and approving the instructions, they are printed out in quantities equal to the number of assistants. Usually they are printed on company letterhead, thus saving oneself from the unnecessary hassle associated with entering data into the document about the company and its director. At the final stage, signatures and their transcripts are affixed by both the manager himself and his assistant. Signatures of persons with whom this appointment is agreed upon can also be added. The company seal is not required in this document.
Why instructions are needed
The job description of an assistant manager contains as much information as possible
The expediency of preparing a job description is explained by the fact that in the event of a trial, without it it will be difficult to prove the employee’s failure to fulfill his duties (and an exhaustive list of them is established in the instruction document), because the employment contract with the employee is in accordance with Part 2 of Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation contains only the position and his general job function.
The job description allows the employer to:
- Justify the refusal of a position applicant due to non-compliance with the requirements established in it
- Clearly delineate responsibilities between individual employees
- Evaluate the employee’s performance both during the probationary period and after it
- Justify the employee’s inadequacy for the position he occupies (taking into account the results of the certification).
The presence of a job description is also useful for the employee himself, as it establishes the limits of his duties and responsibilities, and no one should perform functions not provided for by either the employment contract or job responsibilities.