Duties of an Assistant Manager

Assistant managers are small fish in the corporate pond, responsible for execution of business policies and plans made by the board. Depending on the nature of a business, their roles may vary substantially.

Assistant manager positions are ubiquitous and indispensable in large corporate organizations, with a variety of tasks to deal with, due to the large scale of business and management complexity. The position is an intermediate one in the corporate hierarchy.

In any organization, without going into domain-specific details, one can say that an assistant manager plays a supporting role to a general manager and a managerial role to team leaders, supervisors, and other employees, whom he outranks in the corporate pyramid.

These managers may be assigned a specific domain of work, according to their expertise or be given a general domain of work, which encompasses mixed set of responsibilities.

In short, the duties will vary according to kind of organization he/she is in, the nature of tasks, and scale of business operations. I will present a general set of duties, irrespective of any business specifics. It may be a retail business, a manufacturing company or a corporate giant. Here are some niche-specific job descriptions of assistant managers.

Here are the duties in production section:

• Take in production orders and convey them to the production team.
• Act as a connecting bridge between different production departments.
• Divide tasks among workers to ensure maximum utilization of resources.
• Ensure completion of production targets and manage balance between demand and supply.

• Implement measures to guarantee the cost-effectiveness of a production process.
• Ensure that the quality standards of a product are met.
• Handle machinery problems if any.
• Provide regular reports to superiors.
• Lead and motivate teams to excel and work in harmony.
• Suggest and implement improvements in process flow.

Here are the duties and responsibilities that are part of their job profile.

• Implement marketing and sales strategy of the company product and oversee execution.
• Develop an adaptive marketing and sales strategy to capture consumer pulse and market developments.
• Conduct demographic analysis of sales regions for targeted advertising and marketing campaigns.

• Coordinate with advertising executives to create effective marketing campaigns, distributed over various promotion channels, including television, print, Internet, and other mediums, according to business needs.
• Create information brochures and promotion pamphlets for customers.

• Develop sustainable long-term relationships with clients, customers, and distributors.
• Handle communication with clients and guarantee immediate delivery of products.
• Handle social media and Internet advertising campaigns.
• Maintain sales and marketing performance records.

• Ensure the completion of weekly, monthly, and quarterly sales targets.
• Report to the general manager regarding all the developments in his/her domain.
• Ensure a high quality level of sales service, with support for customers.
• Manage marketing budgets and ensure allotment of adequate resources.

Following are the duties of an assistant manager in human resource management profile:

• Handle the initial phase of screening, recruitment, and training of prospective candidates, as well as manage the entire logistics involved.
• Manage salary-related tasks, along with financial transactions related to tax issues.

• Ensure compliance and implementation of company policies.
• Scout for new talent through direct contacts, advertisements, recruitment agencies, and online web portals.
• Create test material and strategies to ensure the screening out of only the best candidates.
• Motivate employees to give their best to the organization.

• Analyze employee performance and submit periodic reports.
• Focus on employee welfare and assist them to solve their day-to-day problems.
• Maintain detailed employee files containing their overall performance and personal information.
• Report and work under the guidance of the head human resource manager.

Their duties in financial management can vary according to the type of organization. It may be a purely financial firm like a bank or the finance/accounts section of a manufacturing or services company. Here are the generic duties in finance domain.

• Manage day-to-day sale and purchase accounts of assigned sub-division.
• Present a review of the finance requirements and financial status of his/her sub-department to superiors.

• Submit quarterly financial reports detailing overall performance. Creation of these financial statements (balance sheets, cash flow statements, profit and loss accounts) forms a major a part of his role.
• Assist in filing a company's financial returns.
• Study and recommend tax-saving solutions as well as better fiscal health strategies.

• Work with external auditors to ensure internal compliance of company financial policies with government regulations.
• Basic bookkeeping of daily expenses and profits.
• Assist the yearly budget planning process by providing data and inputs.
• Handle financial queries from managers.
• Ensure accurate entry of financial data and check for errors.

Being an assistant manager in any field is a challenging job, requiring high levels of commitment, skill in managing people and decision making. An ability to multitask, quick decision making and technical soundness are the virtues employers mostly look for when hiring them.

Their primary role is that of a supporting bridge between the upper corporate hierarchy and the entry-level workforce. The specific requirements may vary according to the field of expertise, but almost invariably, confident candidates who can hold their own and work with least supervision are preferred.