what is a team leader?
As a team leader, you ensure that your team delivers top performance. You manage a group of employees in your chosen industry. This includes training your staff, setting and checking standards, improving processes, and supporting your team members with any issues. Additionally, you plan the deployment of your team. In your role as a team leader, you act as the link between your team, the department management, or the executive board. Depending on the company you work for, you may focus entirely on leadership tasks or also work hands-on within the team. Team leaders are in demand because almost every company has this level of hierarchy. You can find a position in nearly every sector, such as education, healthcare, logistics, or technology. Wondering if being a team leader might be right for you? Then keep reading!
team leader jobsworking as a team leader.
As a team leader, you oversee a group of employees, essentially a small unit within the organisation. You ensure that everyone comes to work motivated every day. Team leaders therefore carry a lot of responsibility. What can you expect as a team leader? Take a look at your range of responsibilities.
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your area of responsibility
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Leading employees: Your most important task as a team leader is to guide your team members. You support them in their work and help them when something is unclear. Additionally, you ensure that your staff stay motivated. Your energy and passion are contagious and contribute to a positive working environment.
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Project planning: As a team leader, you are responsible for executing projects on time and with the necessary resources. You do this by planning personnel deployment, assigning tasks, and establishing processes. Sometimes, it’s also necessary to coordinate tasks with other teams. If, during your resource review, you find that some team members do not meet the requirements, you organise further training.
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Quality of work review: As a team leader, you have the quality of your team's work fully under control. You check whether the guidelines have been followed. If the quality doesn't meet your standards, you provide targeted guidance to individual team members to improve.
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Achieving goals: Usually, the management or department heads set the objectives. As a team leader, you contribute to strategic planning and advise the management. You know how to motivate your team members so that they are eager to reach the shared goals. With your leadership skills, you ensure they succeed. If adjustments are needed along the way, you take care of them.
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Solve problems: As a team leader, you are the first point of contact when issues arise. Is an employee suddenly ill? Are there bottlenecks at work? Are promised deadlines at risk? You know what needs to be done and take care of the communication with management and clients.
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Ensuring a safe and pleasant working environment: As a team leader, it’s your responsibility to create a safe and enjoyable workplace. No matter which industry you're in, you’re accountable for ensuring all safety regulations are followed and that every team member feels valued. When that’s the case, working together becomes twice as enjoyable, and team members motivate each other to perform at their best.
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who are your colleagues?
As a team leader, you manage your staff. Depending on the size of the company, you have the same responsibilities and also perform similar tasks. In large corporations, your focus is on your leadership role. Who your colleagues are depends on the industry and the size of the business. Usually, you work closely with the executive management and your department colleagues. One thing is certain: you are in contact with people all day long.
types of team leaders.
Team leaders are in demand across various industries. You can choose where you'd like to work best.
- Team leader healthcare: With your passion for everything related to health, you provide your team with structure. This allows them to fulfill their role and deliver the best possible care to patients.
- Team leader retail: As a team leader in retail, you ensure that your team is well coordinated. When the team works well together, all processes run smoothly and the store operates seamlessly.
- Team leader logistics: Logistics is your world, and you want to oversee complex supply chains as a team leader? You always keep the overview and support your colleagues in logistics each their destination.
- Production team leader: Kick off your career as a Production Team leader and lead your team. You’ll need to work closely with your staff, including production workers, to ensure the production process runs smoothly. Any disruptions are there for you to resolve.
- Team leader education system: As a team leader in the education system, you are committed to providing quality education: you support teachers and advise school principals on strategic decisions.
- Team leader technology: Are you always fascinated by technologies and engineering? Then you're the perfect fit for the role of team leader Technology. Share your enthusiasm for tech and cutting-edge working methods with your team.
salary as a team leader.
What you earn as a team leader exactly depends on the industry you'll be working in. The larger the company and the more professional experience you have, the higher your monthly salary will be. Of course, your pay also depends on how extensive your responsibilities are. Find out more about your average gross salary and in which industry you earn the most.
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how much do I earn as a team leader in a permanent position?
As a team leader, your gross annual salary ranges between 82,000 and 148,000 CHF. This translates to a monthly salary of between 6,800 and 12,300 CHF. Keep in mind that the working hours for a team leader are slightly over 42 hours per week. Your starting salary is typically around 71,000 CHF per year, which corresponds to about 5,900 CHF per month. Your level of professional experience and the canton where you work also play a role. The highest earnings are usually found in Basel and Appenzell. Salaries are notably lower in Schwyz. Glarus ranks at the bottom.
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in which industry do I earn the most as a team leader?
Top earners as team leaders in the industries of manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and retail have average salaries ranging from CHF 71,000 to CHF 98,000, which amounts to roughly CHF 6,800 to CHF 8,200 per month. As an IT specialist, you can expect an annual income of over CHF 115,000, or about CHF 9,600 per month. Additional benefits are not included in these figures.
training and further education as a team leader.
There is no specific training required for team leaders. You develop into your leadership role through the right motivation and above-average commitment. To acquire essential skills such as social competence and team management, you typically attend courses, in-house training sessions, or coaching. Depending on the industry you work in, having a tertiary-level qualification (such as a federal professional examination, a university of applied sciences degree, or a university degree) can be advantageous. If you hold the professional qualification “Leadership Specialist with a Federal Certificate,” your chances of securing a position in lower or middle management increase. Some companies even require several years of professional experience to qualify as a team leader. Large corporations often offer internal trainee programmes to develop future managers.
positions as team leader.
Team leaders are in demand across all industries. The biggest opportunities are with companies and corporations. Smaller and medium-sized businesses tend to favour flatter hierarchies. As a team leader, you play a crucial role in all sectors. You are responsible for equipping employees with the skills they'll need in the future. Complexity is increasing in all areas. As a team leader, you need to be willing to take risks and be able to rally your team around shared responsibility for success. When competition heats up, you and your team can always step up a gear. A well-trained and tightly coordinated team is the key to success. That’s where your leadership skills come into play. Are you looking for a position where you can apply your expertise? Open positions for team leaders can be found on this page.
positions for career changers as team leader.
As a team leader, you oversee a group of employees. The most important thing is that your team members accept you as their boss. Therefore, you should possess the necessary skills for a management position. You can best meet the high demands if you have completed a professional qualification and have relevant work experience. Companies prefer candidates with a tertiary-level degree for team leader roles. Equally important as your expertise is your motivation to fill the position. If you don't quite meet all the requirements yet, you can improve your chances through targeted further training.
career opportunities and development potential as a team leader.
You've been working as a team leader for quite some time and are looking for more responsibility? Then it makes sense to aim for a position in middle or upper management. In these roles, you'll oversee several smaller specialist departments both operationally and personnel-wise. You’ll have budget responsibility and contribute to strategic decisions. Together with the executive management, you'll set goals. Your focus will shift more towards leadership tasks. If you're exceptionally committed and achieve outstanding results, there's even the possibility to advance into executive management.
skills as a team leader.
A good team leader stands out through their leadership skills. You are confident in everything you do, motivate your colleagues, and always keep an overview. That’s how everything runs smoothly in your team. Additionally, the following qualities are also valuable:
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Expertise: You need to know what your employees are doing in order to steer the work in the right direction. That’s why you possess specific professional knowledge and communicate on an equal footing with your team.
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Strong communication skills: Whether in conversations with employees, in emails, or as a translator of management goals, you know exactly how to get your messages across.
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Cooperative: As a team leader, you play a central role in the organisation. Therefore, it’s important that you work well with everyone and resolve any differences immediately.
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Stress-resistant: Some days everything goes smoothly, while other days things just don’t seem to work. Luckily, that doesn’t stress you out at all. You stay calm and always know which decisions to make.
benefits of being a team leader at randstad.
There are many good reasons to work at Randstad as a team leader:
✓ exciting jobs with well-known companies
✓ a reliable contact person whenever you need one, personal advice really matters
✓ attractive employment conditions and good social benefits
✓ continuing education courses and personal development opportunities
✓ clear information in the myrandstad app
✓ do you have a fixed-term contract? often, there’s the possibility of securing a permanent position afterwards. Many well-known companies also recruit their staff directly through Randstad
your professional development budget as a team leader at randstad.
If you work as a team leader for Randstad, you have access to further training courses. As part of the TempTraining program from swissstaffing, you can attend training sessions. You will get the course fees reimbursed later, provided you pass the course exam. Your Randstad advisor is there to support you if you have any questions. This way, you can acquire additional language skills or job-specific knowledge, all during your working hours as a team leader.
application tips for data analysts at randstad.
Have you found your dream job as a team leader? It’s not just qualifications and certificates that determine the success of your applications. Careful, error-free, and personalized documents will definitely help you in your job search. Here are a few useful tips to improve your chances:
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1. find a position as team leader
Search through the Randstad job offers. If you don’t find a position that’s a perfect fit, you’re still welcome to get in touch with us personally without any obligation or to create a Randstad profile.
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2. applying as a team leader
The job ad continues right away: apply online, give us a call, or send us an email.
Make sure your documents are complete:✓ CV with photo
✓ work references & diplomasYou don't have a CV yet or only an outdated version? Create a new layout using a free online template.
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3. preparing for a job interview as a team leader
A good preparation helps you stay calm during the interview for a team leader position. Here are some tips for your job interview.
frequently asked questions.
Here you'll find answers to frequently asked questions about the role of a team leader.
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what does a team leader do?
As a team leader, you manage a team of employees and act as the link between colleagues and management. You train your team members, set and review standards, improve processes, and support your staff with any issues. Additionally, you plan your team's deployment. In short, you ensure top performance within your team. Read more here about your role as a team leader.
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how much do I earn as a team leader?
As a permanently employed team leader, you typically earn between CHF 82,000 and CHF 148,000 annually. That amounts to roughly CHF 6,800 to CHF 12,300 gross per month. In managerial roles, you usually work more than 42 hours a week. Your gross salary heavily depends on the industry you work in. For example, the highest earnings are found in the manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and retail sectors, with an average between CHF 71,000 and CHF 98,000, which translates to about CHF 6,800 to CHF 8,200 per month. Read more on this page about the gross salary for team leaders.
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is being a team leader a good profession?
If you enjoy guiding employees, aren’t afraid of responsibility, and like solving problems, you’ll feel at home as a team leader. With your close-knit team, you’ll achieve the set goals and celebrate the success together. Without you, the management would lack the link to the staff. Do you feel called to be a team leader and want to learn more? Just keep reading here.
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is it difficult to be a team leader?
In your role as a team leader, you work with people. They want guidance, motivation, and appreciation. So, being a team leader is a demanding, but not a difficult job. It’s important that you bring social skills to the table. Then, exciting tasks await you that you can handle with expertise and empathy. Find out here what makes the role of a team leader special.
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do you need experience to become a team leader?
For starting as a team leader, you don't need any special training. Usually, you move into the management role from another position within the company. Therefore, you already bring the professional knowledge required in the industry. What you still need as a team leader, you can acquire through further training. Read more here about the qualifications you need to become a team leader.
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what requirements do I need to meet to become a team leader?
Team leaders need strong leadership skills and a completed professional qualification. Additionally, qualities such as good communication skills and resilience under stress are helpful. If you possess the required competencies, you'll find a suitable position. Discover our current job openings here.
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how do I apply for a vacant position as a team leader?
Your application for the team leader position is straightforward. Create a Randstad profile and browse our job portal for open positions in your area. Found an interesting offer? Then send us your cover letter, CV, and certificates right away. Need help with your application? Our application tips will guide you to put together a compelling application.