English Speaking | Typical Organizational Functions
In any corporate organization, one can be involved in many different functions. Although the exact nature of the job may be quite specific to one’s firm and it’s business. These can be broadly divided into line and support functions. Well refined English speaking skills will help you grow in an organization irrespective of whether you are in line function or support function.
Line Functions
Line functions are those that are directly related to the objectives of the enterprise. An interruption in line functions would impact the income of the firm immediately. Examples of line functions include manufacturing, engineering, sales, marketing, and supply chain.
Support Functions
Support or staff functions are secondary business activities that support the line functions of a business to achieve the business objectives. These include fields like HR, Finance, and Information Technology.
Sales
One of the most obvious line functions is Sales. This is a customer facing function and is considered very important as it directly brings in the business in any company. A young sales person in a manufacturing firm would typically deal with distributors and stockists in his or her given sales territory, which could be urban or rural. This function involves a large amount of traveling to customer locations. The salesperson would be responsible for month-on-month or quarter-on-quarter targets.
In service-oriented organizations such as technology consulting firms, hotels, and advertising agencies, the sales function is typically performed by senior executives. Banks are an exception to this, since here sales are done at many levels. As a personal banker in a private bank for instance, you would be dealing directly with customers and would be responsible for sales.
Marketing
Another function in most corporate organizations is Marketing. This is a very strategic and creative function. At a broader level, one might be involved in deciding a firm’s marketing and brand strategy. At an entry level one would be involved in a lot of number crunching and analyses. A marketing executive may also perform activities like executing marketing plans, interacting with advertising and PR agencies, coordinating marketing events, budgeting for events, or even framing the firm’s sales, product, or marketing strategies.
Operations
A third important line function is Operations. This may refer to operations on the manufacturing floor where an executive’s role would be to ensure that the product is being produced as per schedule and process and would involve working closely with the engineers. It may also refer to operations in supply chain, where the executive’s role would involve activities such as procuring goods and services at the least possible cost, issuing Requests for Proposals or RFPs, interacting with vendors and suppliers, ensuring raw materials are supplied on time, developing supplier relationships, identifying new suppliers, and other such responsibilities.
Operations in the service industry involve being at the heart of what is being delivered to clients. This means that one is actually delivering the service to the customer. For instance, in a technology firm, you would be working on project delivery and, after gaining a few years’ experience, project management. You could also be doing business analysis or management consulting roles. In a bank, an operations role would mean working as a personal banker or wealth manager for the bank’s customers.
Human Resources
Within support or staff functions, the most obvious is Human Resource Development or HR as it is commonly called. In the HR function, an executive would be involved in a wide variety of people and process oriented work such as employee compensation and benefits, development and documentation of policies, hiring, training, employee morale and engagement, and industrial relations. This function is totally people focused and will require you to interact with the firm’s employees on a continuous basis.
Finance
Another important support function in any firm is Finance. The finance team is responsible for measuring and guiding the firm’s profitability. At the entry level, an
executive may be involved in areas such as treasury, taxation, accounting, corporate finance, pricing, and costing of products. Typically, this involves a lot of number crunching, analysis, and reporting.
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Based on one’s interest and skills, all the above functions has the potential to offer very interesting and meaningful professional opportunities. It is important to go with what you like and what you’re good at, instead of aiming for only the “most popular” functions. The right skill fit, a good employer, excellent English speaking skills and a healthy dose of enthusiasm and drive on your part will go a long way towards ensuring you succeed, no matter which spoke of the organizational wheel you’re part of.