“Sound management is the secret of every successful company.”
I am sure that you must have heard this phrase a lot of times in your life. Every successful company is built on the hard work of a team. Teamwork and professional collaboration work on different management levels in companies. These management levels help define authority and responsibilities within an Organization.
We will be discussing the three levels of Management, which are common in every corporation. Numerous studies and researches have stated the effectiveness of these corporate structures. We will be sharing the details along with the functions of each level of Management.
Without any further ado, let’s discuss the levels and their functions –
3 Levels of Management
Top level Management
Top-level Management consists of the senior-most executives and decision-makers in an organization. Every member of the top Management is responsible for the direction and growth of the company. Sound top-level management in a company basically defines the success and future of a company.
All the C-level executives and some other designations fall under this category. To name a few, some of the top-level designations are –
- Chief Executive Officer
- Chief Marketing Officer
- Chief Sales Officer
- Chief Technology Officer
- President
- Managing Director
- Vice-president
- Chief Operating Officer
- And a few other designations
The right set of people in the top-management can make or break an organization. We would also like to enlighten you about the functions that these executives perform within an Organization –
- Top-level Management is responsible for strategizing and making plans for the business. They form the company’s vision and mission, which helps every employee and the customers understand the fundamentals of every business.
- They design the functions and responsibilities of middle-level Management. They will assign tasks and goals for the employees to follow.
- Top-level Management drafts the policy of the company
- They manage the finance and all obligations of the company. In total, they are solely responsible for the survival and growth of the Organization as a whole.
Middle level Management
Middle-level Management consists of the heads of various departments in an organization. These executives are responsible for communication between top-level Management and the lower level of Management. They handle most of the executions and micro-management within an organization.
Some of the standard designation titles of mid-level management executives are –
- Marketing Manager
- Purchase Head
- Sales Manager
- Operations Manager
- Branch Manager
- Finance Manager
- And similar other designations
There is a basic set of functions and responsibilities which are handled by middle-level executives. Primary of these are –
- Communicate the policies and the mission set by top-level Management. They are responsible for handling all the communications and maintaining a healthy business environment in the office.
- Micro-manage the tasks performed by every member of the lower-level Management. They are responsible for all the coordination between teams.
- They are responsible for the performance of lower-level executives. Motivating and encouraging employees to work efficiently is a crucial responsibility.
- Middle-level Management handles all the recruitments and allocations within a team. They hire the employees and manage company resources for optimum use.
Lower level Management
Operational level management is responsible for managing the coordination between the operative workforce and middle-level Management. They micromanage specific tasks to operative workers and manage teams. Operational level management has very few decision making powers and generally execute orders of the middle-level management.
Some of the standard designations of operational level management executives are –
- Supervisor
- Foreman
- Clerk
- Junior Managers
- Inspectors
- Sub-department executives
Just like all other levels of Management, their role is critical in the success of an organization. The difference lies in the fact that they do not make critical decisions, and their efficiency and performance depend on middle-level Management. Some of the essential roles played by operational level management are –
- The most critical responsibility of operational level management is to communicate the challenges and grievances of operative workers.
- They are responsible for training the workers and micro-managing their progress.
- They are responsible for maintaining healthy working conditions for workers and improving the efficiency of tasks. Operational level workers make sure that all guidelines of operations are followed in the company.
- These executives manage company resources and also work towards the optimum utilization of these resources.
- They help the middle-level Management in assessing employee performance and all other roles of the human resources department in the company.
Also Read: Levels of human resource management