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Business unit leader vs performance manager

The differences between business unit leaders and performance managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a business unit leader and a performance manager. Additionally, a business unit leader has an average salary of $111,361, which is higher than the $103,521 average annual salary of a performance manager.

The top three skills for a business unit leader include continuous improvement, quality standards and lean manufacturing. The most important skills for a performance manager are performance management, project management, and customer service.

Business unit leader vs performance manager overview

Business Unit LeaderPerformance Manager
Yearly salary$111,361$103,521
Hourly rate$53.54$49.77
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs88,824314,923
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age4444
Years of experience66

What does a business unit leader do?

A Business Unit Leader manages growth initiatives such as future acquisition opportunities, strategic partnerships, and organic innovation. These professionals control strategy deployment to ensure operational productivity and economy. They offer this service to sites focusing on Human Resources, Information Technology, Lead Operation, Lean Accounting, Lead Process, Strategic Pricing, and more. Business Unit Leaders also lead by promoting talent management, counseling, team concepts, individual development, training, coaching, mentoring, and retaining. They develop and manage the business unit department budget and strategic plan.

What does a performance manager do?

As the name entails, performance managers are responsible for maintaining and improving employee performance based on organizational objectives. Their job may vary depending on the industry they work in, but common duties include collecting and analyzing performance data, developing effective systems for information collection, and performing statistical performance analysis. Additional duties of a performance manager may include organizing and conducting training and development on best practices and resolving workplace barriers to performance.

Business unit leader vs performance manager salary

Business unit leaders and performance managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Business Unit LeaderPerformance Manager
Average salary$111,361$103,521
Salary rangeBetween $64,000 And $191,000Between $78,000 And $137,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCWashington, DC
Highest paying stateNew YorkNew Jersey
Best paying companyGoldman SachsMeta
Best paying industryManufacturingProfessional

Differences between business unit leader and performance manager education

There are a few differences between a business unit leader and a performance manager in terms of educational background:

Business Unit LeaderPerformance Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Business unit leader vs performance manager demographics

Here are the differences between business unit leaders' and performance managers' demographics:

Business Unit LeaderPerformance Manager
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 81.1% Female, 18.9%Male, 61.6% Female, 38.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.2% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between business unit leader and performance manager duties and responsibilities

Business unit leader example responsibilities.

  • Manage and develop employee KPIs to assist in reaching monthly and annual gross profit goals.
  • Manage a team of four and hold matrix leadership responsibility for specialists assign to particular technical areas for business continuity projects.
  • Coordinate all KPIs and develop measurement tools of teams by line/shift.
  • Deliver meaningful fact-base guidance for visual analytics and data review to support decision making from patient safety and data review prospective.
  • Metal stamping, heading, screw machine, CNC, tapping, light press stamping and assembly work.
  • Utilize PDCA cycle to measure department goals.
  • Show more

Performance manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage a staff of 40 FTE exempt and non-exempt employees.
  • Manage the QA process to ensure all forecasting and billing goals are meet.
  • Manage position management project which assign job codes and create hierarchy in HRIS.
  • Manage in-house ShoreTel VLAN network and install and configure IP phones for new employees.
  • Manage the assessment and subsequent modifications to the end-to-end PMO processes for maintenance projects.
  • Initiate and manage the development of a randomize UVM environment for verification of this IP.
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Business unit leader vs performance manager skills

Common business unit leader skills
  • Continuous Improvement, 10%
  • Quality Standards, 6%
  • Lean Manufacturing, 6%
  • Safety Culture, 6%
  • World Class, 5%
  • Business Development, 4%
Common performance manager skills
  • Performance Management, 9%
  • Project Management, 9%
  • Customer Service, 8%
  • Process Improvement, 6%
  • Performance Improvement, 6%
  • Continuous Improvement, 5%

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