What does an administrative supervisor do?
An administrative supervisor performs various administrative tasks for an organization. These include supervising administrative personnel and office managers, ensuring the smooth and effective management of the company's day-to-day business operations, and organizing training. Additionally, an administrative supervisor is expected to participate in the recruitment of administrative staff and evaluate their performance to ensure their ongoing success. Most employers look to hire someone with strong decision-making skills, relevant industry experience, and in-depth knowledge of policies and terminology.
Administrative supervisor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real administrative supervisor resumes:
- Restructure, decentralize payroll and purchasing; achieve more productive use of headquarters staff; assume increased responsibilities without staff additions.
- Delegated/Assign, review and evaluate work assignments, administer performance evaluations, approve payroll, facilitate team meetings/individual meetings, etc.
- Scan and accurately attach respective laboratory test results to EMR system.
- Enter patient demographics, personal details and insurance information into Medisoft EMR program.
- Back office duties include taking vitals, perform EKGs, injections, phlebotomy, vaccines and assisting in minor procedures.
- Create PowerPoint presentations to be present to company CEO of international company.
- Facilitate appropriate patient placement base on clinical need and expedite flow of patients within the facility and overall organization.
- Perform physical examinations, make tentative diagnoses, treat patients requiring higher levels of medical treatment and emergent transfers.
- Train junior personal in equal opportunity, sexual harassment, and fraternization utilizing open forum discussions and PowerPoint presentations.
- Restructure, decentralize payroll and purchasing; achieve more productive use of headquarters staff; assume increased responsibilities without staff additions.
- Maintain electrical systems, gas equipment, HVAC, AC/DC systems.
- General maintenance, HVAC, appliances, plumbing, and carpentry, make-ready
- Process wholesale/retail accounts monthly billing statements and process A/R for accounts.
Administrative supervisor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 22% of Administrative Supervisors are proficient in Patient Care, Patients, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Administrative Supervisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patient Care, 22%
Directed administrative medical office operations by planning, evaluating, and adequately staffing for optimal patient care.
- Patients, 21%
Facilitated appropriate patient placement based on clinical need and expedited flow of patients within the facility and overall organization.
- Customer Service, 10%
Provide customer service in response to inquiries, assist passengers with ticket purchases/modifications, and hotel and surface transportation accommodations.
- Office Procedures, 7%
Supervised administrative office procedures and managed eight personnel; performed duties as computer system administrator and data base administrator.
- Payroll, 6%
Restructured, decentralized payroll and purchasing; achieved more productive use of headquarters staff; assumed increased responsibilities without staff additions.
- HIPAA, 3%
Demonstrated knowledge of HIPAA by appropriately handling client information.
Most administrative supervisors use their skills in "patient care," "patients," and "customer service" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential administrative supervisor responsibilities here:
Interpersonal skills. A commonly-found skill in administrative supervisor job descriptions, "interpersonal skills" is essential to what administrative supervisors do. Administrative supervisor responsibilities rely on this skill because "secretaries and administrative assistants interact with clients, customers, or staff." You can also see how administrative supervisor duties rely on interpersonal skills in this resume example: "provided strong interpersonal skills and ability to provide effective customer service. "
Organizational skills. Another skill commonly found on administrative supervisor job descriptions is "organizational skills." It can come up quite often in administrative supervisor duties, since "secretaries and administrative assistants keep files, folders, and schedules in order so that an office runs efficiently." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day administrative supervisor responsibilities: "provided quality services by enforcing quality, organizational and customer service standards. "
The three companies that hire the most administrative supervisors are:
- The TJX Companies24 administrative supervisors jobs
- SSM Health15 administrative supervisors jobs
- Hackensack Meridian Health11 administrative supervisors jobs
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Compare different administrative supervisors
Administrative supervisor vs. Supervisor
Supervisors are responsible for overseeing the daily functions of employees in a specific team, department, or even a work shift. They create work schedules, organize work processes and workflows, train new hires, provide necessary reports related to the team function and the employees, monitor and evaluate employee performance, and ensure that goals of the specific team or department are met. When needed, supervisors also provide guidance to employees in terms of their career or even personal challenges. They also help in fostering harmonious work relationships by resolving interpersonal conflicts at work. To be successful in their role, they must have leadership skills, time management skills, decision-making capabilities, analytical skills, and problem-solving skills.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an administrative supervisor are more likely to require skills like "patients," "office procedures," "hipaa," and "human resources." On the other hand, a job as a supervisor requires skills like "safety procedures," "sales floor," "pos," and "store operations." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Supervisors really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $60,088. Comparatively, administrative supervisors tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $56,159.supervisors tend to reach lower levels of education than administrative supervisors. In fact, supervisors are 5.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Administrative supervisor vs. Senior administrative coordinator
A senior administrative coordinator is primarily in charge of overseeing all administrative operations within a company or an organization. Their responsibilities typically revolve around assessing the performance of junior staff and assisting them when necessary, reporting to supervisors or directors, and devising strategies on how to improve the line of communication among all departments. Moreover, a senior administrative coordinator may perform clerical tasks such as preparing progress reports, managing schedules, and maintaining records of all transactions. As a senior, it is also vital to implement the company's policies and regulations, recommending new ones if deemed necessary.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that administrative supervisor responsibilities requires skills like "patient care," "office procedures," "human resources," and "financial reports." But a senior administrative coordinator might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "hr," "coordinators," "sr," and "excellent interpersonal."
Senior administrative coordinators earn similar levels of education than administrative supervisors in general. They're 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Administrative supervisor vs. Service supervisor
A customer service supervisor's role is to oversee a team of customer service workers, ensuring their efficiency when it comes to engaging and assisting clients, all in the joint effort to boost sales and improve the client base. Aside from leading and supervising colleagues, a customer service supervisor must prepare progress reports about the team's workflow, set goals, devise strategies, verify all return refund operations, and coordinate with other managers and supervisors outside the unit. Furthermore, they must also handle calls and other forms of correspondence, building rapport while lending a helping hand.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from administrative supervisor resumes include skills like "customer service," "office procedures," "hipaa," and "human resources," whereas a service supervisor is more likely to list skills in "cleanliness," "safety procedures," "front end," and "customer satisfaction. "
Most service supervisors achieve a similar degree level compared to administrative supervisors. For example, they're 1.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Administrative supervisor vs. Office supervisor
An office supervisor is responsible for overseeing the progress of the workflow and workforce in an office or similar setting, ensuring everything is running smoothly. Aside from this, they must also carry out other tasks such as processing paperwork, preparing reports and presentations, managing schedules, responding to inquiries, and handling correspondence. There are also instances when a supervisor must evaluate staff and address any issues. Furthermore, as an office supervisor, it is also their responsibility to implement the policies and guidelines of the company.
Types of administrative supervisor
Updated January 8, 2025
