General Manager

Who am I?

A General Manager is the business manager for a company. The position focus is on effective staff and business management to ensure that all departments reach their goals. A General Manager can be employed in an HVACR contracting business that has residential, industrial, institutional or commercial business or for a manufacturing company producing HVAC equipment as well as working for Wholesalers or Distributors.

Other Titles

Senior Manager
Chief Operations Manager

 

Essential Skills

Essential Skills are not the technical skills required by particular occupations but rather the skills applied in all occupations. These skills provide the foundation for learning all other skills and apply to careers in HVACR. See Employment and Social Development Canada for more details

The most important Essential Skills for a General Manager (as determined through industry consultation) are:

  • Numeracy – Required understanding of financial statements, working with numbers for budgeting, sales targets and others
  • Oral Communication – Ability to interacting effectively with customers, employees, and the business owner is a necessity
  • Thinking Skills - Thinking, analyzing and problem solving while working under pressure to solve problems with customers, staff and suppliers.

What do I do?

As a General Manager you may do some of the following:

  • Focus on business profitability: profit and revenue targets, budgets
  • Develop policy and procedures to improve operation of company and staff
  • Play a leadership role – organized, motivating and optimistic
  • Communicate effectively with customers, business owner and employees
  • Create and interpret financial statements, budgets, projections
  • Ensure that employees adhere to company policy including safety.

Education/Training

  • Usually possess a University degree with a focus on business management
  • Experience and knowledge of HVACR technology
  • Experience working in an environment such as  HVACR contracting, manufacturing or wholesaler
  • Experience in customer service and employee relations.