We hear and encounter words like officer and executive frequently in our daily lives. Whether we need our work done in a bank, police station, or any other government office, we need the cooperation and help of an officer or an executive. The titles of officer and executive have come to mean the same thing in many organizations though there are differences that will be talked about in this article. Some companies prefer to use the title of officer while others make use of executive. The situation becomes confusing when both words are used in a title such as in executive officer. Let us take a closer look.
Officer
The title “officer” is a common one used in many organizations depending upon the industry. For example, to differentiate between a young recruit and senior level personnel in armed forces and police department, the title officer is commonly used. In most government offices, official level staff that manages and supervises the clerical staff is labeled as officer though it is a generic word and refers to a senior position in the management. There is no single person as an officer in a government department and the roles and responsibilities of different officers are obviously different depending upon their expertise and with the part of the organization they are involved. Thus, we can have officers in sales, production, marketing, and administration.
We talk about army officers, police officers, and bank officers to name a few of the organizations where the title of officer is used. Even where there is no title of officer, it is assumed that all those personnel who are occupying chairs in top management are officers even if they are being called President, Vice President, and so on.
Executive
Executive is a title that is used for senior level personnel in a company or an organization. In the case of a government, executive refers to the arm that is responsible for running the administrative affairs. It is the responsibility of the executive to implement the policies of the government in accordance with the laws made by the legislative branch. If one looks up a dictionary, he finds that an executive is defined as a person having managerial or administrative authority in an organization. The word comes from another English word Execute that means to carry out.
An executive has the responsibility of turning into reality the plans and policies of the top management or the legislative branch of a government. All personnel involved with the administration in an organization are referred to as executives though they may hold different job titles.
What is the difference between Officer and Executive?
• It is easy to see that the titles of officer and executive are used based upon conventions in different organizations and industries.
• While armed forcers and police departments make use of the title of officer, government and private sector enterprises make use of the executive to differentiate between those running administration from those involved with clerical level jobs.
• There are different ranks in both officer and executive nomenclatures, and the roles and responsibilities of senior level employees are defined according to their titles.
• In general, officer is a title that is used for those holding bachelor level degree and even young recruits in sales division are referred to as sales officers to make them feel good.
• An executive is a person who has had some specialized training or education and obtained a professional degree such as an MBA, or they are educated a step higher than officers.
• The executives are seen getting a higher salary than officers in the same organization though organizations having only officers are exceptions.