How To Become A Manager

The job responsibilities of a manager include making management decisions, allocating resources, and directing the activities of other employees to achieve organizational goals. Many text books on management summarize the activities of a manager as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The skills needed to be an effective manager could be classified into technical, human, and conceptual skills. Technical skills include the potential to apply expert knowledge to real life work scenarios. Human skills encompass the ability to interact with, motivate, and understand the employees they are managing. Finally, conceptual skills refer to the mental capability to analyze and find out solutions to complex situations. A manager job description may include some of the following responsibilities:

• Manage staff through recruitment, orientation and training employees, and provide a secure, healthy, and lawful work environment
• Produce staff results by delivering job expectations to the employees, and by monitoring, counseling, and appraising job results
• Collect business, financial, and operations information in order to establish strategic organizational goals
• Forecast financial requirements, prepare annual budgets, analyze expenditures, and initiate corrective measures in order to accomplish financial objectives
• Maintain high quality service through checking and enforcing customer service and quality standards and solving quality control problems
• Attend educational workshops and training, and establish personal networks in order to maintain professional and technical knowledge
• Contribute to team work by achieving the needed results

How to Become a Manager
There are many business areas in which managers may specialize, such as Finance, Marketing, Sales, Human Resources, Operations, Supply Chain, and Administrative Services.

How to Become a Human Resources Manager
In order to become a human resources manager, usually a bachelor's degree in human resources or business administration is required. The degree may be acquired through traditional campus based program or through online programs. The courses covered in the degree program may include organizational behavior, economics, accounting, marketing, business law, employee and labor relations, and strategic human resource planning. Candidates may also pursue a bachelor's degree in a related field, such as industrial relations, and take courses in human resources subjects. In order to advance in their human resources career, professionals may pursue a master's degree in human resource management as well.

The main job responsibilities of a human resources manager may include the following:

• Utilize employee skills in the best way possible by planning and coordinating the organization's workforce
• Provide guidance to other managers regarding organizational policy
• Engage employees in the business by addressing their queries and concerns, and resolving employee problems
• Supervise and coordinate the activities of support staff and specialists
• Supervise an entity's recruitment, selection, and hiring process
• Manage staff issues, conflicts, and supervise disciplinary processes

The path to becoming a manager in other areas of a business is similar to the human resources manager. The responsibilities for managing employees may be similar for all managers, but may vary for specific business areas.

Job Outlook
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual wage of human resources managers was $99,720 in May 2012. Also, employment of human resources managers is expected to increase by 13% from years 2010 to 2020.