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What does an Assistant to the Regional Manager do?

Erin J. Hill
Erin J. Hill

The assistant to the regional manager may carry on a variety of tasks. He or she can include human resource work like hiring and training new employees, organizing the regional manger’s time, clerical work, and running individual stores. Many times the assistant is hired by the manager personally to help with tasks he or she can’t handle alone. Other times, the parent company hires an assistant to help manage and run their stores.

Often, the assistant to the regional manager will do human resource tasks. This is especially true in chain restaurants and stores where they may not have separate human resource departments for each location. Tasks in this area involve hiring new employees, firing current ones who are not working out, and training new recruits to do the job. This person may also help keep track of top performers as well as employees who are not maintaining a high level of performance and need correction.

An assistant regional manager handles the daily operational issues of a business.
An assistant regional manager handles the daily operational issues of a business.

Other assistants may act more as personal assistants. This type of assistant may be responsible for doing small, more trivial tasks like getting coffee or picking up mail. Clerical duties like typing, filing, and answering phones may also be required. In some cases, an assistant will take on both managerial and personal roles in order to best meet the manager’s needs.

Assistants are often personally hired by a manager.
Assistants are often personally hired by a manager.

Sometimes the assistant to the regional manager is also the branch manager of a single store location. This person would be in charge of the aforementioned human resource duties, as well as managing the operation of the store, ordering new supplies, and filing paperwork. Assistants in this role may be employees who move up the chain of command, or college graduates who enter the field as a lower level manager. In this case, eventual promotion to regional or district manager may be possible.

The assistant to a regional manager may handle customer complaints on behalf of the regional manager.
The assistant to a regional manager may handle customer complaints on behalf of the regional manager.

In order to become an assistant to the regional manager, one must either have worked with a company for many years or obtained a degree. The amount of education needed will vary based on the individual responsibilities of the assistant in any given case. Requirements may range from basic computer skills to a four year degree in business or management. If the assistant has no educational background and starts as a lower level employee, he or she often gains educational experiences while on the job. Companies that hire assistants to regional managers generally include franchises and other chain retailers.

Discussion Comments

wavy58

@OeKc05 - That is why assistants to the regional manager are so hard on their employees. They are held responsible for anything bad the employees do while under their supervision.

It’s impossible to watch all of them all the time. I think it’s a little unfair for the assistant to get called out for something he probably had no prior knowledge of, but it motivates him to run a tight ship.

I work at an ad agency, and when I made a mistake in an ad that printed, the assistant to the regional manager said some harsh things to me. I know it was because his boss had just finished lecturing him about it, but still, he wouldn’t accept my apology. I thought this was a bit mean.

OeKc05

An assistant to the regional manager sure does have a lot of responsibility. My friend had the duty of running a restaurant that was part of a chain, and his boss rarely checked in on him.

He had to manage all scheduling and issues that arose with employees. He was in charge of keeping ingredients and other items in stock and making sure that the employees kept the place clean and followed sanitation guidelines.

When the health department came to inspect the place, they found one employee in the back who wasn’t wearing gloves, and he was handling food. When word of this got back to the regional manager, my friend was held accountable for it, even though he had no idea the guy was glove-less.

seag47

My friend worked at a clothing store for years. She had a great sales record and a pleasing personality. Her boss was retiring soon, so she asked her if she would like to be assistant to the regional manager.

She took the job, but she lost some of her friends because of it. Her former coworkers were now her underlings, and they resented having to take orders from her. I have a feeling they also resented not being offered the position.

She made a lot more money in her new position. She stayed on, even though her friends gave her grief about it. They eventually quit and moved on to other places, and she hired new people who respected her.

Perdido

You have to be tough to be assistant to the regional manager. Firing and managing unruly people is not for the warmhearted, as I found out.

I got this great paying job, so I was thrilled about it. Then four weeks later, my boss told me to let someone go. Our budget could no longer support the whole staff, and he left it up to me who to terminate.

I knew who needed to go, but I lost sleep and my appetite over having to tell him. After I fired him, his friend on the staff starting acting out. I could not control his obnoxious behavior, so I had to fire him, too.

Over time, I developed a thicker skin. Now, it is easier for me to take control of situations.

parkthekarma

@Nepal2016 - I completely agree with you. I call that a "Welcome to the team" promotion. They pile work on you, with little extra compensation, and then tell you that you aren't a "team" player if you complain or ask for help.

If you want to be a senior manager, you have to put up with some of that as you work your way up. Middle management is really a miserable job, in my opinion. You get it from both ends.

Nepal2016

The worst jobs like this are where you are the assistant regional manager and also have a store of your own. Managing a store is a full-time job and then some. Add to that all of the regional HR and other jobs, and you are looking at some very long weeks, and probably not for much more money than you were making just having the store.

In my opinion, it is a way for corporate to get out of hiring another manager. Since most managers are on salary, they can just add work to the poor guy's day without paying any more.

Veruca10

I was assistant to the regional manager of a video distribution company a few years ago, before I quit and started my own business. I learned something very valuable in that job. Okay, I actually learned it when I was in the military, but my theory was validated when I had the management job.

Here it is: In any bureaucracy, the best job to have is assistant to some fairly high level manager. You have 90% of the power with 10% of the accountability and headaches. People still do what you say, because they are afraid of your boss. But the buck never stops with you.

I first saw this in boot camp, where I was Assistant Yeoman of my Navy recruit company. The Yeoman is mostly concerned with record keeping and administrative tasks. It is the third highest recruit position in boot camp, and most importantly, both Yeoman and Assistant Yeoman are exempt from standing watch.

Now, my boss there was constantly getting harasses by the drill instructors because this document or that report was not where they thought it was supposed to be. Me? They barely knew I was alive. I had all the rights and none of the responsibility. Every night, I was snoozing peacefully in my bunk while the riffraff took turns standing "fire watch". In a cement building. With a sprinkler system. Never made a bit of sense, really.

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    • An assistant regional manager handles the daily operational issues of a business.
      By: Monkey Business
      An assistant regional manager handles the daily operational issues of a business.
    • Assistants are often personally hired by a manager.
      By: Gianluca Rasile
      Assistants are often personally hired by a manager.
    • The assistant to a regional manager may handle customer complaints on behalf of the regional manager.
      By: Adam Gregor
      The assistant to a regional manager may handle customer complaints on behalf of the regional manager.