The back office operation is a certain part of the company responsible for running the back operations. Picture this, if a business sells a certain product, the back office would be responsible not for selling the products per se but for processes that will allow the business to keep up with the selling. This part of the company is not made up of one specific department alone but is actually composed of several sub-departments such as human resources - to manage the workforce, the IT department - to keep machines and computers running and so on and so forth. All of these sub-departments are under one operation executive that ensures smooth flow of operations for all.
The operation executive at the back office covers a wide range of responsibilities and tasks. He or she is tasked to implement general office procedures and company policies, ensuring that all processes and tasks in the back office are implemented well and on time by employees, and even recording client feedbacks and implementing the necessary changes in order to provide better quality services in the company. To put it simply, operation executives ensure the proper functioning of every department in the company's back office, run at a tight shift and keep both clients and workers happy.
In order for one to do this, an operation executive should be able to have the right know-how and skills to manage anything inside the company. One of the most important requirements that companies look for is a degree in business management or any related field. The right education background is very important for understanding how a company is supposed to be run, how each department should function and so on and so forth.
And since back office operation will require dealing with different departments and people, an operation executive should have the right social and interpersonal skills as well. After all, a harmonious work place always starts with how well executives deal with people under them.
An operations executive should also be well organized, given that he or she will be managing not just people under a single department but multiple departments within the company as well. Aside from that, operations will also require communicating with outside contractors and suppliers - which means, he or she also needs to monitor, at least, if shipments and services acquired from the outside are delivered appropriately and on time.
Being an operations executive will require making big decisions that can affect the company in a large-scale. Thus, he or she needs to have good decision making and analytical skills to weigh out choices and be able to identify cost-effective solutions, beneficial to all concerned.
And last but definitely not the least, he or she should have the right leadership skills to bring the company forward. Leading this large number of people under different departments and ensuring smooth flow of operations in general requires nothing less than the best of skills and knowledge. Most of the time, operation executives are hired internally, from employees who have risen up the ranks slowly and surely and have a deeper understanding of the how back office operation works.
