Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between unit managers and operations 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 unit manager and an operations manager. Additionally, an operations manager has an average salary of $76,894, which is higher than the $60,561 average annual salary of a unit manager.
The top three skills for a unit manager include quality care, patients and federal regulations. The most important skills for an operations manager are customer service, logistics, and continuous improvement.
| Unit Manager | Operations Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $60,561 | $76,894 |
| Hourly rate | $29.12 | $36.97 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 366,932 | 343,868 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Unit managers are responsible for managing the nursing unit. They primarily supervise the daily care of patients and ensure quality patient care. Usually, they perform tasks like evaluating staff performance, conducting orientation for new staff, and training new members. Also, they manage schedules, minimize expenditures, and enforce health as well as safety regulations. Unit managers are registered nursing professionals with an undergraduate or graduate degree. They are honest, adaptable, and analytical professionals with strong management and leadership skills and relevant experience in nursing and patient assessment.
Operations managers are in charge of running the main business of the organization. They ensure that the business is running smoothly from an operations standpoint. They make sure that the processes in place produce the necessary output by implementing quality control measures. They also manage finances and ensure that there is enough budget to keep the operations of the business running. They also ensure that the production of goods or services is cost-efficient. Operations managers also handle people-related concerns. They are responsible for interviewing candidates, choosing the ones to hire, and ensuring that individuals assigned to operations are properly trained.
Unit managers and operations managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Unit Manager | Operations Manager | |
| Average salary | $60,561 | $76,894 |
| Salary range | Between $38,000 And $96,000 | Between $47,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | Los Angeles, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Delaware |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | McKinsey & Company Inc |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a unit manager and an operations manager in terms of educational background:
| Unit Manager | Operations Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between unit managers' and operations managers' demographics:
| Unit Manager | Operations Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 42.4% Female, 57.6% | Male, 69.4% Female, 30.6% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |