Functions of Management

How do managers know exactly what his or her job functions really are? Is it based on what he or she feels needs to be done to complete the job, or is it based on the training for the job? Actually, it could be the latter. During training, managers are indirectly taught how to plan, organize, lead, and control. We will look at each one and see how it affects the day-to-day functions of managers, as it will assist any new manager with running his or her team efficiently (Watson, 1983).

Planning

According to Google Definitions (2007), planning is defined as “an act of formulating a program for a definite course of action.” Planning can take on a number of faces, anything from completing employee work schedules, to planning a personnel improvement plan.

My company has set up Employee Job Functions for each level of employee, as this shows what the company is expecting from each of its employees. It sets forth everything that our job entails, and explains the roles that each level has in order to work together. The planning process can also work to help “motivate employees” (Planning, 2007), as this will help keep the employees wanting to do his or her job on a daily basis.

Organizing

“Organizing is assembling and coordinating the human, financial, physical, informational, and other resources needed to achieve goals” (Bateman and Snell, 2007). Organizing employees can include gathering and hiring new employees, and explaining job duties, just to name a couple (Bateman and Snell, 2007). This process is described as being more descriptive, as many of the job expectations are listed on paper (Sisk, 1972).

In my line of work, managers must have good communication skills, as insurance laws change daily. The managers are the ones who advise the employees how the change will affect what the employees do. Since all the employees are there to accomplish the same tasks, it is very important that we get the correct and up-to-date information. If the employees do not have the correct and up-to-date information, this hinders what the employees are supposed to accomplish (Robbins, 2005).

Leading

Leading employees is probably the most rewarding, as a manager has the opportunity to “mold” employees to be the best that he or she can be. Leading by example, employees can see what the job actually entails, so that he or she can build on what they already know (Bateman and Snell, 2007). This also allows the employees to become more familiar with the job functions, and to get the employees to learn to think for themselves.

Working in insurance, employees must be self-thinkers and not solely rely on the managers. Customers will ask different questions, or address different issues that must be handled with on an individual basis. The managers in my company work with each employee to help each employee learn to grow and expand. Each employee gets a 30-minute, one-on-one session with the manager to discuss ways to improve. This is important, because the more that I know, the better prepared I am to assist the customers with their questions. On top of that, managers are also able to control the behavior of each employee.

Controlling

By controlling, a manager is able to help guide employees’ behavior so that it is professional and consistent amongst all the employees. For example, if an employee is consistently