Research Summary. Here are some key points about hiring general managers in the United States:
Recruiting general managers involves both the one-time costs of hiring and the ongoing costs of adding a new employee to your team. Your spending during the hiring process will mostly be on things like promoting the job on job boards, reviewing and interviewing candidates, and onboarding the new hire. Ongoing costs will obviously involve the employee's salary, but also may include things like benefits.
You can expect to pay around $71,581 per year for a general manager, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for general managers in the US typically range between $19 and $60 an hour.
To hire a general manager, consider the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Follow these steps to hire a general manager:
The first step in the general manager hiring process is determining what type of worker you actually need. For example, certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.
Hiring the perfect general manager also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires, and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.
Here's a comparison of the average salaries of common general manager roles:
Type Of General Manager | Description | Hourly Rate |
---|---|---|
General Manager | Top executives devise strategies and policies to ensure that an organization meets its goals. They plan, direct, and coordinate operational activities of companies and organizations. | $19-60 |
Manager On Duty | A manager on duty's role is to oversee operations in a store or a particular department, ensuring efficient workflow and workforce performance. They mainly evaluate and delegate tasks among employees, arrange schedules, set goals and budget, handle issues and concerns, and impose disciplinary actions... Show More | $12-25 |
Multi-Unit Manager | A multi-unit manager is responsible for supervising multiple departments and overseeing various process sectors within an organization. Multi-unit managers handle the budget limitations for each unit, allocating adequate resources to support business functions and client requirements... Show More | $23-41 |
Before you start to recruit general managers, imagine the ideal employee for this position and begin creating a profile and job description. What skills do they have, and what responsibilities do they have to be proficient in?
General managers typically have the following skills:
Here are the responsibilities that most general managers perform:
Beyond the basics, you should also consider how well a candidate fits into your company culture. In other words, you should think about how your ideal general manager will live by the company's mission statement and contribute to the team dynamic you already have in place.
Rank # | State | # Of Jobs | % of Population | Avg. Salary |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ohio | 5,823 | 50% | $56,892 |
2 | Georgia | 5,227 | 50% | $53,419 |
3 | North Carolina | 5,159 | 50% | $63,122 |
4 | Virginia | 4,296 | 51% | $69,783 |
5 | Indiana | 3,560 | 53% | $52,897 |
Including a salary range in the job description can help attract top candidates to the position. A general manager salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience and seniority of the candidate, any certifications they may hold, and the prestige of the company they will be working for. For example, the average salary for a general manager in Wyoming may be lower than in Hawaii, and an entry-level general manager may earn less than a senior-level general manager. Additionally, a general manager with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.
Rank | State | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Count |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | California | $98,643 | $47 | 49 |
2 | Washington | $93,660 | $45 | 1 |
3 | New York | $90,656 | $44 | 256 |
4 | District of Columbia | $90,607 | $44 | 64 |
5 | Massachusetts | $81,775 | $39 | 65 |
Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | NVIDIA | $209,406 | $100.68 | 4 |
2 | $194,200 | $93.37 | 28 | |
3 | Meta | $193,727 | $93.14 | 5 |
4 | Bristol-Myers Squibb | $178,290 | $85.72 | 841 |
5 | VMware | $177,416 | $85.30 | 1 |
6 | Exxon Mobil | $175,656 | $84.45 | 4 |
7 | Microsoft | $174,650 | $83.97 | 13 |
8 | Zoetis | $172,301 | $82.84 | 3 |
9 | Abbott | $169,824 | $81.65 | 77 |
10 | AEA Investors | $168,631 | $81.07 | 83 |
11 | Apple | $167,846 | $80.70 | 814 |
12 | Golden State Water | $165,811 | $79.72 | |
13 | Amphenol | $165,595 | $79.61 | |
14 | Bridgewater Associates | $163,672 | $78.69 | |
15 | UST Global | $163,428 | $78.57 | |
16 | General Electric | $162,696 | $78.22 | 51 |
17 | Fluke | $162,058 | $77.91 | |
18 | Mapbox | $161,163 | $77.48 | 7 |
19 | Clean Harbors | $159,864 | $76.86 | 94 |
20 | CITGO Petroleum | $155,812 | $74.91 | 5 |
A good general manager job description should include a few things:
There are various strategies that you can use to find the right general manager for your business:
Post your job online:
To successfully recruit general managers, your first interview needs to be all about engaging with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.
It's also a good idea to ask about candidates' special skills and talents to see if they map with your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Once you've found the general manager candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary, as well as the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer needs to be competitive if you really like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.
It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.
To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.