Comparing Organisational Structures & Functions in BP & XerciseLess

Over the summer I completed a six week internship at BP and also had the opportunity to look at a smaller business Xercise4Less. I am now going to write a report where I will compare and contrast organisational structure and functional areas in BP and Xercise4Less.

There are many differences in organisational structure between BP and Xercise4Less. Xercise4less are a small UK private company with a flat hierarchy with a few people in each department. Compared to BP who are a worldwide public limited company with a tall hierarchy including a board of directors and directors for each department; something Xercise4less wouldn’t have.

Xericise4less started in Leeds and after their success have opened 20 gyms around the UK and plan to open many more in the near future. They have a board of directors and departments within the gyms with a small number employees due to their small scale. In comparison, BP operate in over 80 countries with approximately 17,200 retail stores with over 84,500 employees amongst departments around the world which is significantly larger than Xercise4less.

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Despite being very different in size both companies have supportive roles which are similar although have a difference in employees.

In BP they have certain support roles including, Reception, Post, Administrator, Finance, IT, Security, Marketing, Personal Assistant, Maintenance/cleaners, Customer Service, Human resources. In contrast Xercise4Less have less support roles because they are a smaller business and do not need to make use of all of them. However, Xercise4less will also have departments that BP do not have because of the different sector they work in.

Xercise4less works in the health sector compared to BP who work in the energy and natural resources sector. The support roles in Xercise4Less are Membership Consultant, Reception, Housekeeper, Personal Trainer, Maintenance, Purchase Lodger Clerk, Human Resources, Customer Service and Social Media Assistant. There are similar roles in both businesses but their job roles will be specific to the business and won’t be the same to other organisation with the same roles.

Reception at BP usually located in the front of buildings. They will receive or greet any visitors, take telephone calls, send emails and to help staff with problems they may have, such as finding the location to something. Xercise4Less reception will be accountable for all head office reception duties including answering the telephone and transferring calls, arranging refreshments, sorting and distributing post and providing general support to managers. They will be the first point of contact for visitors of the gym. Reception is similar in most organisations. However, there are slight differences in BP and Xercise4Less. Reception at BP will give visitors passes to enter the building which won’t happen at Xercise4Less because they will have members or interested members entering their gym and won’t need to gain access passes to get into the building like at BP.

They also at BP help staff with problems they may have such as finding the location to something, reception at Xercise4Less may not help staff as much but help members instead. Reception in BP will help them be more efficient because the staff are what makes the business run and they can call at reception to gain the help they are needed. Xercise4less’s reception makes them more efficient because all visitors or members will need to go through reception and they are the first point of contact for them.

BP also have a team who deliver post to employees at their desks. For instance, if an employee needs a new headset in order to have Lync calls, they can order one and the post service will deliver it right to their desk.

The admin team at BP are mainly involved with booking meeting rooms for members of their team. They may also contact other departments like security if a team member needs there help. They will also send emails, receive calls and order items like stationary.

Finance at BP are involved with money and future plans. They will prepare accounts like invoices, management accounts, and financial accounts for shareholders. They will also prepare wages and salaries for the employees and obtain capital and resources such as money for expansion or to pay for resources such as equipment and materials.

IT at BP are involved with anything to do with technology. They will buy and install new hardware and software, update systems and provide online support for all employees if they face issues; they will give advice on how to fix the issue or may fix it themselves by doing computer repairs.

At BP Security are involved with ensuring all staffs safety. They will monitor CTV cameras, monitoring lobbies of buildings. They may assist employees with passes to get into buildings or keys for locked draws.

Personal assistants within BP will assist a senior member of the team. They will book meetings and then inform the senior member when these are and inform when special events are happening, they will send and receive emails, talk to anybody who needs information from the senior member beforehand.

Maintenance and cleaners at BP make sure that all buildings are clean and everything is working correctly. For instance, the cleaners, clean the toilets, tea and coffee area, restock tea and coffee and stationary. Maintenance may fix the coffee machine if it’s not working anymore or fix the printer.

Customer service at BP deals with customers before, during or after a purchase; they may provide information, answer questions, and contact with other departments to sort customer’s items like repairs, get feedback and to sort any complaints that the customer may have.

Lastly, Human resources in BP will help the business meet its objectives through its people. This is done through performance management, training, reward and recognition and implementation of polices. HR work with managers and employees providing advice and support to strengthen performance.

At Xercise4Less the Membership Consultant team will be accountable for high volume sales, selling gym memberships and fitness products. People in sales will have work vigorously to generate leads and referrals. Xersixe4Less Sales team are more focused on gaining new members for their gym compared to BP sales who are more concerned about selling their products and buying new products.

Xercise4less also have Housekeeping will be accountable for cleaning all areas public and work areas in the club. They will play a part in helping to enhance the customer experience. BP do not have housekeeping but they have cleaners although they do similar jobs. They both clean and cleaners in BP

Xercise4less also have Personal trainers that will support members of the gym by providing personalised work out routines and sessions for their customers. BP will not have this because they work in a different sector and do not need to have personal trainers whereas having personal trainers at Xercise4less is how they make business.

Maintenance at Xercise4less gyms will be accountable for looking after multi-site large facilities where planned maintenance schedules are delivered and executed. They will be expected to deal with fault diagnosis and arrange repairs. BP do don’t have maintenance but will have different departments that will make sure equipment is maintained.

Similar to BP, Xercise4less have a finance department known as Purchase Lodger Clerk. They process invoices and will assist the wider finance team at the head offices in the day to day running of the department. BP’s finance team will be much bigger and will deal with much larger enquires than finance at Xercise4less.

Xercise4less have HR like BP. HR are the personnel of xercise4less. They are involved of all there staff making sure that all staff have sufficient training, reward and recognition and make sure the company has implementation of their polices. HR at both companies are very similar but BP will have more employees.

Customer services at Xercise4less give assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services. It will be similar at BP however the products they will be enquiring about will be different.

Lastly, something that Xercise4less have that BP don’t is a Social Media Evening Assistant. They will be accountable for leading social media accounts including Xercise4Less’ Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat as well as our email marketing. BP may have similar jobs but may be included in the marketing department.

In conclusion, BP and Xercise4less are very different in terms of size. However, they do have similar departments that will complete the same jobs regardless the company. Yet BP will have more employees in each department compared to Xercise4less.