Manager vs. Supervisor

Main Difference

The main difference between Manager and Supervisor is that the Manager is a coordinating the efforts of people and Supervisor is a manager in a business or event.

• Manager

  Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a not-for-profit organization, or government body. Management includes the activities of setting the strategy of an organization and coordinating the efforts of its employees (or of volunteers) to accomplish its objectives through the application of available resources, such as financial, natural, technological, and human resources. The term “management” may also refer to those people who manage an organization.

  Social scientists study management as an academic discipline, investigating areas such as social organization and organizational leadership. Some people study management at colleges or universities; major degrees in management include the Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) and Master of Business Administration (MBA.) and, for the public sector, the Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree. Individuals who aim to become management specialists or experts, management researchers, or professors may complete the Doctor of Management (DM), the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), or the PhD in Business Administration or Management.

  Larger organizations generally have three levels of managers, which are typically organized in a hierarchical, pyramid structure:

  Senior managers, such as members of a Board of Directors and a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or a President of an organization. They set the strategic goals of the organization and make decisions on how the overall organization will operate. Senior managers are generally executive-level professionals, and provide direction to middle management who directly or indirectly report to them.

  Middle managers, examples of which would include branch managers, regional managers, department managers and section managers, provide direction to front-line managers. Middle managers communicate the strategic goals of senior management to the front-line managers.

  Lower managers, such as supervisors and front-line team leaders, oversee the work of regular employees (or volunteers, in some voluntary organizations) and provide direction on their work.In smaller organizations, an individual manager may have a much wider scope. A single manager may perform several roles or even all of the roles commonly observed in a large organization.

• Supervisor

  A supervisor, when the meaning sought is similar to foreman, foreperson, overseer, cell coach, manager, facilitator, monitor, or area coordinator, is the job title of a low level management position that is primarily based on authority over a worker or charge of a workplace. A Supervisor can also be one of the most senior in the staff at the place of work, such as a Professor who oversees a PhD dissertation. Supervision, on the other hand, can be performed by people without this formal title, for example by parents. The term Supervisor itself can be used to refer to any personnel who have this task as part of their job description.

  An employee is a supervisor if he/she has the power and authority to do the following actions (according to the Ontario Ministry of Labour):

  Give instructions and/or orders to subordinates.

  Be held responsible for the work and actions of other employees.

  If an employee cannot do the above, legally, he or she is probably not a supervisor, but in some other category, such as a work group leader or lead hand.

  A supervisor is first and foremost an overseer whose main responsibility is to ensure that a group of subordinates get out the assigned amount of production, when they are supposed to do it and within acceptable levels of quality, costs and safety.

  A supervisor is responsible for the productivity and actions of a small group of employees. The supervisor has several manager-like roles, responsibilities, and powers. Two of the key differences between a supervisor and a manager are (1) the supervisor does not typically have “hire and fire” authority, and (2) the supervisor does not have budget authority.

  Lacking “hire and fire” authority means that a supervisor may not recruit the employees working in the supervisor’s group nor does the supervisor have the authority to terminate an employee. The supervisor may participate in the hiring process as part of interviewing and assessing candidates, but the actual hiring authority rests in the hands of a Human Resource Manager. The supervisor may recommend to management that a particular employee be terminated and the supervisor may be the one who documents the behaviors leading to the recommendation but the actual firing authority rests in the hands of a manager.

  Lacking budget authority means that a supervisor is provided a budget developed by management within which constraints the supervisor is expected to provide a productive environment for the employees of the supervisor’s work group. A supervisor will usually have the authority to make purchases within specified limits. A supervisor is also given the power to approve work hours and other payroll issues. Normally, budget affecting requests such as travel will require not only the supervisor’s approval but the approval of one or more layers of management.

  As a member of management, a supervisor’s main job is more concerned with orchestrating and controlling work rather than performing it directly.

• Supervisor (noun)

  a person who supervises a person or an activity.

• Supervisor (noun)

  a person who directs and oversees the work of a postgraduate research student.