U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

Distinguishing Between Program Management Work and Managerial Work

Within organizations, particularly in the human resources (HR) arena, it is common to use the terms "management" and "managerial" to describe work and job duties and responsibilities.  For example, " management" used as a collective noun often denotes, as a group, those employees whose roles and responsibilities distinguish them from the general r ank-and-file workforce, as in "labor-management relations."   As discussed below, this and other job family classification standards more typically use the term "managerial" in this context, particularly to describe high-level supervisory roles and responsibilities.  These standards do not commonly use the term "management" to describe high-level supervision, and when they do, that meaning is generally clear from its context.

Program Management Work

The term "management" can also describe a kind of work that may or may not include supervisory responsibilities.  Many positions include such "management" responsibilities; for example, "printing management" and “facility management.”  Here the meaning derives more from the task "to manage" than the role of "manager."  Managing, and hence "management," involves activities like planning, monitoring, budgeting, reporting, reviewing, overseeing, allocating, adjusting, controlling, preserving, and evaluating with respect to the area of responsibility.  For example, some of the occupations in this job family may have responsibility for overseeing various equipment, facility, and services projects, and we describe such work informally as "management or program management."  Incumbents of these positions do not necessarily have high-level "managerial" responsibility, as discussed below.  Rather, the incumbents are responsible for applying subject-matter knowledge of the respective discipline to assure the program or project operates within approved guidelines.

Managerial Work

As noted above, the term "managerial" is generally used within the HR arena in the context of high-level supervisory situations.  Practitioners generally use "managerial" to describe at least second-level supervisory duties and responsibilities, and the work generally involves a combination of both administrative and technical, subject-matter related oversight of work.

In that context, we have established, as a general threshold guideline, that a position must meet Level 3-3b of Factor 3 of the General Schedule Supervisory Guide to be considered a "managerial" position.

Accordingly, to meet this "managerial" threshold, a position must include at least eight of the following duties and responsibilities:

• using subordinate supervisors, leaders, team chiefs, group coordinators, committee chairs, or comparable personnel to direct, coordinate, or oversee work;
• exercising significant responsibilities in dealing with officials of other units or organizations, or in advising management officials of higher rank;
• assuring reasonable equity (among subordinate units, groups, teams, projects, etc.) of performance standards and rating techniques developed by subordinates or assuring comparable equity in the assessment of subordinates of the adequacy of contractor capabilities or of contractor completed work;
• direction of a program or major program segment with significant resources (e.g., one at a multimillion dollar level of annual resources);
• making decisions on work problems presented by subordinate supervisors, team leaders, or similar personnel, or by contractors;
• evaluating subordinate supervisors or leaders and serving as the reviewing official on evaluations of nonsupervisory employees rated by subordinate supervisors;
• making or approving selections for subordinate nonsupervisory positions;
• recommending selections for subordinate supervisory positions and for work leader, group leader, or project director positions responsible for coordinating the work of others;
• hearing and resolving group grievances or serious employee complaints;
• reviewing and approving serious disciplinary actions (e.g., suspensions) involving nonsupervisory subordinates;
• making decisions on nonroutine, costly, or controversial training needs and training requests related to employees of the of the unit;
• determining whether contractor performed work meets standards of adequacy necessary for authorization of payment;
• approving expenses comparable to within-grade increases, extensive overtime, and employee travel;
• recommending awards or bonuses for nonsupervisory personnel and changes in position classification, subject to approval by higher level officials, supervisors, or others; and/or
• finding and implementing ways to eliminate or reduce significant bottlenecks and barriers to production, promote team building, or improve business practices.

Further, to meet those 3-3b requirements, a position must first exceed Level 3-2c requirements as outlined in the General Schedule Supervisory Guide.  Essentially, to be considered "managerial," a position must supervise positions that carry out at least three of the first four, and a total of six of the following Level 3-2c authorities and responsibilities:

• planning work to be accomplished by subordinates, setting and adjusting short-term priorities, and preparing schedules for completion of work;
• assigning work to subordinates based on priorities, selective consideration of the difficulty and requirements of assignments, and the capabilities of employees;
• evaluating work performance of subordinates;
• giving advice, counsel, or instruction to employees on both work and administrative matters;
• interviewing candidates for positions in the unit; recommending appointment, promotion, or reassignment to such positions;
• hearing and resolving complaints from employees, referring group grievances and more serious unresolved complaints to a higher level supervisor or manager;
• effecting minor disciplinary actions such as warnings and reprimands, and recommending other action in more serious cases;
• identifying developmental and training needs of employees, and providing or arranging for needed development and training;
• finding ways to improve production or increase the quality of the work directed; and/or
• developing performance standards.