Summary
A bakery manager is the person who leads a team of bakers in producing baked goods in a bakery. The bakery manager performs various duties to make sure that food is prepared, proper procedures and rules are adhered to, customers are satisfied and profit is made.
Duties
In store operation matters, the main responsibility of a bakery manager is to make sure that the bakery is making money. As such, he regularly analyzes sales reports in an effort to better identify which products are selling and which are not as popular with customers. Using this information, the bakery manager decides what items to purchase when ordering inventory. He may for example, deduce from the report that croissants are selling more than lemon pies, he may then decide to buy more croissant and reduce the amount of lemon pie to purchase. He adds this information into reports and then presented to management. In team management, the bakery manager supervises a team of full and part-time retail workers. He has the responsibility to recruit, hire, train and supervise them. He also designates shift schedules of each employee based upon the coverage needs of the bakery. As team leader, communication is an important responsibility of the bakery manager. As management implements new guidelines such as marketing plans, initiates product changes and company policies, the bakery manager must communicate, utilize and enforce these directives to the staff. The bakery manager monitors the work of each employee. If the employee is underperforming, he has the authority to take disciplinary action including termination to rectify the situation. In the aspect of customer service, depending on establishment size, a bakery manager may be required to work side by side with his team, providing service to customers. He, takes customer orders, answers questions, hears complaints and makes suggestions based upon their taste.
Education and Training Requirements
A high school diploma is the minimum requirement to become a bakery manager, but more and more employers prefer a college education, particularly postgraduate education and relevant work experience.
Knowledge and Skills Requirements
To become an effective bakery manager, one must possess good negotiation skills, great analytical ability, good organization skills, computer literacy and a thorough knowledge in implementation of food safety.
Working Conditions
The bakery manager works in both production areas and in sales areas of the bakery. He may experience discomfort due to heat and noise cold exposure to the freezer. Standing for long hours is and interacting with customers is part of his job.
Salary
A bakery manager makes $37,000 annually on average. Factors such as size of company, location, nature of the industry, benefits and experience may cause salaries to vary considerably among bakery managers.
