Team leader/supervisor vs unit supervisor

The differences between team leader/supervisors and unit supervisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a team leader/supervisor and a unit supervisor. Additionally, a team leader/supervisor has an average salary of $50,841, which is higher than the $48,749 average annual salary of a unit supervisor.

The top three skills for a team leader/supervisor include safety procedures, quality standards and sales floor. The most important skills for a unit supervisor are patients, corrective action, and social work.

Team leader/supervisor vs unit supervisor overview

	Team Leader/Supervisor	Unit Supervisor
Yearly salary	$50,841	$48,749
Hourly rate	$24.44	$23.44
Growth rate	8%	6%
Number of jobs	96,069	37,120
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	6	6

What does a team leader/supervisor do?

A team leader or supervisor is an individual who leads and supervises a workgroup's functionality through instructions and guidance in an organization. Team leaders provide support to staff members by way of coaching and skills development. They are responsible for preventing and resolving conflicts among staff members by setting ground rules and assigning tasks properly. They also organize team meetings and report the progress of a project to the management. Since they lead a workforce, team leaders must possess excellent verbal communication skills and have a great work ethic.

What does a unit supervisor do?

A unit supervisor oversees and supervises employees, ensuring that work operations adhere to standards, guidelines, timelines, and budget. Although the extent of their responsibilities depends on their industry or company of employment, they are typically in charge of conducting regular inspections and assessments, setting objectives and guidelines, delegating responsibilities among staff, and producing progress reports, submitting them to higher-ranking managers. Moreover, aside from leading teams to reach goals, a unit supervisor also trains new members of the workforce, provides technical support to staff, and resolves issues and concerns to maintain smooth operations.

Team leader/supervisor vs unit supervisor salary

Team leader/supervisors and unit supervisors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Team Leader/Supervisor	Unit Supervisor
Average salary	$50,841	$48,749
Salary range	Between $32,000 And $79,000	Between $30,000 And $78,000
Highest paying City	New Bedford, MA	Olympia, WA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	Washington
Best paying company	Nexteer Automotive	Berkshire Hathaway
Best paying industry	-	Hospitality

Differences between team leader/supervisor and unit supervisor education

There are a few differences between a team leader/supervisor and a unit supervisor in terms of educational background:

	Team Leader/Supervisor	Unit Supervisor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	California State University - Bakersfield

Team leader/supervisor vs unit supervisor demographics

Here are the differences between team leader/supervisors' and unit supervisors' demographics:

	Team Leader/Supervisor	Unit Supervisor
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 55.8% Female, 44.2%	Male, 51.6% Female, 48.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 5.2% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 5.7% White, 60.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between team leader/supervisor and unit supervisor duties and responsibilities

Team leader/supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage an embed Facebook executive protection team that provide security and logistical support for a corporate executive and his family.
Provide outstanding customer service support investigating, correcting, and answering employee payroll questions and discrepancies.
Produce clean, custom build windows to meet customer satisfaction and company standards requirements.
Develop and implement new workforce training programs; create PowerPoint slides and lesson plans.
Provide training presentation from an instructor-le, PowerPoint, to hands on lab environment for newly hire programmers.
Assist in controlling payroll, ensuring accurate timekeeping and minimizing all controllable costs.

Unit supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage direct support professionals serving adult populations for persons with mental health, developmental disabilities and children with autism.
Document patient information and recording information correctly, as well as ensuring other workers are following OSHA and HIPAA requirements.
Attend weekly QA collaboration meetings and actively participate in discussions.
Utilize Kaizen activities to drive continuous process and quality improvements.
Submit MDS assessments to CMS timely and organize documentation for timely filing.
Evaluate admissions for Medicare/ Medicaid eligibility; prepare MDS and PPS documentation.

Team leader/supervisor vs unit supervisor skills

Common team leader/supervisor skills

Safety Procedures, 19%
Quality Standards, 11%
Sales Floor, 7%
Payroll, 5%
Process Improvement, 5%
Continuous Improvement, 4%

Common unit supervisor skills

Patients, 11%
Corrective Action, 10%
Social Work, 8%
Oversight, 7%
Conflict Resolution, 6%
Direct Supervision, 6%

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Team Leader/Supervisor
Team Leader/Supervisor vs Unit Supervisor

Updated January 8, 2025

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