Updated June 25, 2024
7 min read
Quoted Expert
Jessica Tangen Daniels Ph.D.
Shift leaders are tenured or experienced employees who are assigned to oversee employees in specific work shifts. They manage team members who are assigned in their shift. They also ensure that business goals are met. Shift leaders check whether team members are working, and they ensure that they always comply with company policies and guidelines. They also monitor the performance of their employees and coach them should the employees need help in any area of their work. Shift leaders should have good communication skills, decision-making skills, and interpersonal skills.
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Shift leader responsibilities
As a shift leader, your responsibilities are crucial to the success of your team and the overall operation of your workplace. These responsibilities often include managing closing duties, completing paperwork, maintaining cleanliness, providing exceptional customer service, and helping with cash handling and inventory control. According to Jessica Tangen Daniels Ph.D., Associate Provost - Innovation and Partnerships, Program Director/Professor, Ed.D. Leadership in Higher Education at Bethel University, educational leaders must also possess soft skills like curiosity, humility, and the ability to ask good questions. These skills, combined with hard skills gained through diverse experiences, can lead to the highest earning potential.
Here are examples of responsibilities from real shift leader resumes:
- Prepare overall security plans and manage security operations of organization, including assignments, staffing and payroll.
- Maintain maintenance and cleanliness of the facility which exceeds customer satisfaction and quality standards.
- Team leadership for excellent customer service delivery during schedule shift including supervision of service associates and pharmacy technicians.
- Answer all incoming calls a long with booking appointments.
- Develop strategies to meet and exceed booking and sales goals.
- Review daily arrivals to ensure proper handling of VIP's, return guests, groups, etc.
- Record all medication, food and water intake of pet, doing light grooming on pet when need.
- Perform monetary using POS terminal.
- Assist customers throughout ordering and PoS
- Greet guest upon arrival and verify identity for reservations.
- Maintain cleanliness of restaurant premises to ensure a quality experience for customers.
- Require flexibility, time management, punctuality, efficiency, and customer interaction
- Communicate VIP arrivals to designate personnel for escort and delivery of amenities.
- Assess both positive and negative situations concerning patients and/or staff and mediate/problem solve when appropriate.
- Assist at adoption functions by educating potential pet parents by providing necessary instructions and information.
Shift leader skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Shift Leaders are proficient in Patients, Customer Complaints, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Detail oriented, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Shift Leaders that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 9%
Evaluated patients, conducted milieu management, and provided crisis intervention Service to psychiatric patients in the emergency department.
- Customer Complaints, 9%
Provided exceptional customer service to patrons, and handled customer complaints accordingly in a patient and accommodating fashion.
- Customer Service, 7%
Demonstrated an unwavering commitment to customer service, gaining relationships with new customers while maintaining premium service levels with existing customers.
- Math, 7%
Responsibilities-Managed cash drawers-Receive and distribute shipment-Manage daily numbers-Greet/help customers Skills Used-Great customer service skills-Quick and efficient problem solving-Basic math skills
- Safety Standards, 6%
Ensured that food safety standards were maintained, and followed established safety and security procedures.
- Cash Handling, 5%
Skilled at cash handling and maintained exceptional records including balancing daily cash inventory.
Common skills that a shift leader uses to do their job include "patients," "customer complaints," and "customer service." You can find details on the most important shift leader responsibilities below.
Business skills. One of the key soft skills for a shift leader to have is business skills. You can see how this relates to what shift leaders do because "food service managers must understand all aspects of the restaurant business, including how to budget for supplies, comply with regulations, and manage workers." Additionally, a shift leader resume shows how shift leaders use business skills: "balanced cash drawers and left designated amount of cash in drawer for following day's business. "
Leadership skills. shift leaders are also known for leadership skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to shift leader responsibilities, because "managers must establish good relationships with staff to maintain a productive work environment." A shift leader resume example shows how leadership skills is used in the workplace: "assumed leadership and managerial responsibilities when store manager was absent including sales, customer service, and store operations. "
Organizational skills. shift leader responsibilities often require "organizational skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "managers have many different responsibilities, including scheduling and overseeing staff, budgeting, and maintaining financial records." This resume example shows what shift leaders do with organizational skills on a typical day: "partner with management on aligning organizational structure, content of jobs and establishment of performance standards. "
Problem-solving skills. Another crucial skill for a shift leader to carry out their responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." A big part of what shift leaders relies on this skill, since "managers need to be able to resolve personnel issues and customer-related problems." How this skill relates to shift leader duties can be seen in an example from a shift leader resume snippet: "established and maintained cash drawers and safe *investigated and resolved guest complaints or concerns in accordance with standard procedures. "
Communication skills. Another skill commonly found on shift leader job descriptions is "communication skills." It can come up quite often in shift leader duties, since "food service managers must give clear orders to staff and be able to convey information effectively to employees and customers." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day shift leader responsibilities: "maintained constant communication with manager and assistant manager about quality of store operations. "
See the full list of shift leader skills
The three companies that hire the most shift leaders are:
- Walgreens5,336 shift leaders jobs
- Taco Bell4,252 shift leaders jobs
- Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores2,609 shift leaders jobs
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Compare different shift leaders
Shift leader vs. Crew manager
A crew manager directs and supervises the crew members' daily activities to ensure project completion or optimal service. Although a crew manager's duties vary depending on their industry or company of employment, their responsibilities usually include setting priorities and guidelines, managing employee schedules, recruiting and training new crew members, and solving issues and concerns when any arise. They also conduct regular assessments, review documents, and oversee supply inventories.
We looked at the average shift leader salary and compared it with the wages of a crew manager. Generally speaking, crew managers are paid $15 higher than shift leaders per year.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both shift leader and crew manager positions are skilled in customer complaints, customer service, and safety standards.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a shift leader are more likely to require skills like "patients," "math," "cash handling," and "management." On the other hand, a job as a crew manager requires skills like "quality service," "payroll," "mowing," and "safety regulations." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Crew managers earn the highest salaries when working in the internet industry, with an average yearly salary of $41,520. On the other hand, shift leaders are paid more in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $36,581.crew managers tend to reach similar levels of education than shift leaders. In fact, crew managers are 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.
Learn more about shift leaders vs crew managers.
Shift leader vs. Assistant manager/shift manager
An assistant manager/shift manager assists managers in maintaining an establishment's smooth workflow. Although the extent of their responsibilities depends on their company or industry of employment, it usually includes participating in setting goals and guidelines, establishing budgets and schedules, delegating tasks among staff, and monitoring operations, solving issues should there be any. They also perform administrative support tasks such as coordinating with internal and external parties, preparing and processing documents, handling calls and correspondence, organizing files, and implementing policies and regulations. In the absence of the manager, an assistant manager assumes their responsibilities to maintain efficient operations.
On average, assistant manager/shift managers earn a $3,931 higher salary than shift leaders a year.A few skills overlap for shift leaders and assistant manager/shift managers. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "customer complaints," "customer service," and "safety standards. "
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that shift leader responsibilities requires skills like "patients," "math," "cash handling," and "management." But an assistant manager/shift manager might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "food safety," "employee engagement," "guest service," and "payroll."
In general, assistant manager/shift managers achieve similar levels of education than shift leaders. They're 1.7% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.
Shift leader vs. Assistant shift supervisor
An assistant shift supervisor helps shift supervisors maintain smooth operations and provide optimal services to clients. Their tasks often include handling calls and correspondence, preparing documentation and presentations, conducting reviews and assessments, coordinating with different teams, managing staff, and overseeing schedules. There are also times when they participate in setting goals, establishing timelines and guidelines, liaising with external business partners, and addressing issues and concerns. Moreover, in the absence of the shift supervisor, an assistant shift supervisor may assume their duties to maintain the smooth workflow of the establishment.
On average, assistant shift supervisors earn higher salaries than shift leaders, with a $7,292 difference per year.Using the responsibilities included on shift leaders and assistant shift supervisors resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "customer complaints," "customer service," and "safety standards.rdquo;
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, shift leaders are more likely to have skills like "patients," "math," "cash handling," and "management." But a assistant shift supervisor is more likely to have skills like "safety procedures," "criminal justice," "food safety," and "cpr."
Assistant shift supervisors earn the best pay in the government industry, where they command an average salary of $44,547. Shift leaders earn the highest pay from the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $36,581.assistant shift supervisors typically earn similar educational levels compared to shift leaders. Specifically, they're 1.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.
Learn more about shift leaders vs assistant shift supervisors.
Shift leader vs. Lead crew member
A lead crew member is responsible for supervising crew members during their tasks, ensuring that they provide the highest customer service to ensure customer satisfaction that would boost the business' reputation, generate revenues, and increase profitability. Lead crew members assist the team on food handling procedures for safe consumption, as well as reiterating the sanitary and hygienic standards during operations. A lead crew member must have excellent time-management and the ability to multitask, especially on serving customers on high volume days while performing administrative and clerical tasks as needed.
Lead crew members typically earn lower pay than shift leaders. On average, lead crew members earn a $984 lower salary per year.According to resumes from shift leaders and lead crew members, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "customer complaints," "customer service," and "safety standards. "
Even though a few skill sets overlap between shift leaders and lead crew members, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a shift leader might have more use for skills like "patients," "math," "cash handling," and "management." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of lead crew members require skills like "drive-thru," "food quality," "mowing," and "food preparation. "
In general, lead crew members hold similar degree levels compared to shift leaders. Lead crew members are 1.9% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.
Learn more about shift leaders vs lead crew members.
Types of shift leader
Updated June 25, 2024
Zippia Team
Editorial Staff
The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.
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Shift Leader Related Careers
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Shift Leader Related Jobs
- Assistant Manager/Shift Manager
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- Cashier/Shift Manager
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- Leader
- Night Shift Manager
- Sales Leader
- Server And Shift Manager
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Updated June 25, 2024
