| The most important person in your company? Perhaps. The office manager provides that vital bridge between you and your staff, often coping with HR duties, as well as accounts and general office maintenance or servicing. They may even double as your PA in smaller organisations. So whether it’s general office upkeep you want or something more all-encompassing, your office manager is key to a co-ordinated workplace. Your office manager is probably the most important person at your company. Yes, really. They keep the place working sensibly, enabling everyone else to do their own job. The term office manager is not as tightly defined as most jobs at growing businesses. At most companies, the office manager will be in charge of ordering stationery, keeping office equipment (copiers, phones, faxes, etc) running, and dealing with premises related issues such as cleaners, minor repairs, keeping the landlord happy, and so on. At quite a few companies the office manager will also be the HR Manager, while at some companies, they will also do the bookkeeping. They may also be in charge of security measures for the building. At growing businesses, this role can be pretty full-on. Most will be hiring new staff on a fairly regular basis, and from time to time will need to add additional office space to house them. Hence the role becomes more important than would be the case at more static businesses. It's also a role that may well disappear once your company reaches a certain size. Once you get to around 200 people you will probably have hired a dedicated HR manager, as well as a dedicated facilities manager or even purchasing manager. You will almost certainly have your own PA. At that time, the existing office manager may be suitable for one of the more specialist positions, or may move on. Good office managers need three attributes in particular. They must be well organised, be good communicators and have a particularly large dose of common sense. Strong experience of working in offices is also, of course, very important. Realistically, you’re unlikely to find one that has the required mix any younger than their late twenties. The role does need someone who has authority and respect but also the knack of persuasion for all those trifling little things that need doing but tend not to get done, like keeping the fridge or kitchen clean of rotting food. In addition, a basic knowledge of accounts or budgets is an advantage as usually the role involves monitoring or authorising expenditure and invoices and keeping basic office expenses as low as possible.
Beyond this, determination and toughness are pretty key, in trying to break through the inevitable rounds of excuses hurled at any office by the likes of telephone, utility, or other office maintenance companies. | 
