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Example Career: First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

Career Description

Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of clerical and administrative support workers.

What Job Titles First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers Might Have

  • Accounting Manager
  • Customer Service Manager
  • Customer Service Supervisor
  • Office Manager

What First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers Do

  • 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.
  • Implement corporate or departmental policies, procedures, and service standards in conjunction with management.
  • Compute figures such as balances, totals, or commissions.
  • Coordinate activities with other supervisory personnel or with other work units or departments.
  • Participate in the work of subordinates to facilitate productivity or to overcome difficult aspects of work.
  • Make recommendations to management concerning such issues as staffing decisions or procedural changes.
  • 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.
  • Develop work schedules according to budgets and workloads.
  • Analyze financial activities of establishments or departments and provide input into budget planning and preparation processes.
  • Design, implement, or evaluate staff training and development programs, customer service initiatives, or performance measurement criteria.
  • Keep informed of provisions of labor-management agreements and their effects on departmental operations.
  • Discuss work problems or grievances with union representatives.
  • Coordinate or perform activities associated with shipping, receiving, distribution, or transportation.
  • Monitor inventory levels and requisition or purchase supplies as needed.
  • Plan for or coordinate office services, such as equipment or supply acquisition or organization, disposal of assets, relocation, parking, maintenance, or security services.

What First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers Should Be Good At

  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

What First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers Should Be Interested In

  • Enterprising - 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.
  • Conventional - 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.
  • Social - Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

What First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers Need to Learn

  • Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  • Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
  • Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Sun iconThis career has a bright outlook.
Median Salary: $54,340

This page includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license.