roles and

responsibilities

What is the difference between a

role and responsibility ?

1.
2.

5 minutes work with a partner

to come up with the meaning
of role and responsibility
5 minutes what is the main
role of:
Teacher
Doctor

Job Roles

The persons position in the business

or their particular job dictates their
role in the business
For example a teachers main role is
the education of their students, a
doctors is the looking after the
health of their patients

responsibilities

The key responsibilities/tasks that a

particular worker has to carry out
Teacher teaching classes, marking
homework, pastoral care, covering
for absent colleagues, parents
evenings etc
Doctor holding surgery, diagnosing
illnesses, treating illnesses, home
visits, on-call etc

Exercise
For each of the following workers detail
their job role and list their
responsibilities :
1. Plumber
2. Dentist
3. Builder
4. Nurse
5. Police officer
6. Accountant

Types of employees

1.
2.
3.
4.

All employees of a business

can be grouped into either:
Manager
Supervisor
Employee/operative
Support staff

exercise

In pairs 5minutes
What is a manager ?
What is a managers primary
role ?
What are a managers main
responsibilities ?

managers

Main roles: planning, organising,

monitoring and evaluating,
reporting
Responsibilities take
responsibility for an area within the
dept/function they work e.g.
training in HR
Job security FT permanent
contracts, high pay
Important decisions often made
and can be complex

directors

Elected by shareholders of the

business
Role is mainly strategic
Can be a manager and a
director i.e. a managing director
Can be voted out at AGM of a
business

supervisor

Provide a link between management

and staff
Supervisors monitor rather than
manage workers & advise managers
of any problems
Decision making is limited and
restricted to day-to-day issues
Often FT, pay higher than operatives,
lower than managers

Employees/operatives

employees are the junior

members of staff
Can be production-line staff,
shop assistants, call-centre
operators, support staff etc
Tend to have less skills,
qualifications and experience
Job security is poor often PT
temps, pay is low

Support staff

Provide specialist skills eg IT,

secretarial staff
Role offer advice/assistance in
specialist area
Decision making varies but
tends to be routine
Job security varies, can be FT
Pay varies, can be very high in
some areas such as IT

Next Coursework Task

Identify and explain the roles of three

people in the same department/function in
Tesco. Also describe their work and the
different rewards that they receive for their
work.
Department/function - you can choose one
of: Human resources, Finance, Marketing
and Sales, Administration and IT support,
Customer Service, R&D, Operations
The job roles do not have to be at different
levels
Deadline: Monday 28 January 2009