Unit manager vs performance manager

The differences between unit managers 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 unit manager and a performance manager. Additionally, a performance manager has an average salary of $103,521, 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 a performance manager are performance management, project management, and customer service.

Unit manager vs performance manager overview

	Unit Manager	Performance Manager
Yearly salary	$60,561	$103,521
Hourly rate	$29.12	$49.77
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	366,932	314,923
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	6	6

What does a unit manager do?

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.

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.

Unit manager vs performance manager salary

Unit managers and performance managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Unit Manager	Performance Manager
Average salary	$60,561	$103,521
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $96,000	Between $78,000 And $137,000
Highest paying City	Los Angeles, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New Jersey	New Jersey
Best paying company	Microsoft	Meta
Best paying industry	Finance	Professional

Differences between unit manager and performance manager education

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

	Unit Manager	Performance Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Nursing	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Unit manager vs performance manager demographics

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

	Unit Manager	Performance Manager
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 42.4% Female, 57.6%	Male, 61.6% Female, 38.4%
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, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.2% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between unit manager and performance manager duties and responsibilities

Unit manager example responsibilities.

Develop corporate culture utilizing skills attain through ERP and TQM management training.
Set and achieve goal of entire staff certification in ACLS and EKG interpretation.
Manage departmental resources, staffing plans, KPIs, strategic initiatives, and budget.
Enhance scheduling visibility to reduce age work-in-progress (WIP) and achieve EBIT goal.
Lead and manage the delivery of patient-care to a 50 patient unit in a LTC facility.
Achieve all major milestones in preparation for major ERP system upgrade and cultural change for organization.

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.

Unit manager vs performance manager skills

Common unit manager skills

Quality Care, 17%
Patients, 10%
Federal Regulations, 8%
Resident Care, 8%
Customer Service, 6%
Compassion, 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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Executive Management Industry
Unit Manager
Unit Manager vs Performance Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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