Career profile for Funeral Home Manager

What does a Funeral Home Manager do?

Funeral Home Managers plan, direct, or coordinate the services or resources of funeral homes.

In addition, Funeral Home Managers includes activities such as determining prices for services or merchandise and managing the facilities of funeral homes.

What kind of tasks does a Funeral Home Manager perform regularly?

Funeral Home Managers are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Consult with families or friends of the deceased to arrange funeral details, such as obituary notice wording, casket selection, or plans for services.
Direct and supervise work of embalmers, funeral attendants, death certificate clerks, cosmetologists, or other staff.
Schedule funerals, burials, or cremations.
Sell funeral services, products, or merchandise to clients.
Monitor funeral service operations to ensure that they comply with applicable policies, regulations, and laws.
Offer counsel and comfort to families and friends of the deceased.
Negotiate contracts for prearranged funeral services.
Respond to customer complaints, legal inquiries, payment negotiations, or other post-service matters.
Plan and implement changes to service offerings to meet community needs or increase funeral home revenues.
Direct or monitor administrative, support, repair, or maintenance services for funeral homes.
Schedule work hours for funeral home or contract employees.
Set marketing, sales, or other financial goals for funeral service establishments and monitor progress toward these goals.
Explain goals, policies, or procedures to staff members.
Complete and maintain records, such as state-required documents, tracking documents, or product inventories.
Evaluate the performance of vendors, contract employees, or other service providers to ensure quality and cost-efficiency.
Set prices or credit terms for funeral products or services.
Identify skill development needs for funeral home staff.
Review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to identify opportunities for cost reductions or service improvements.
Attend or make presentations at community events to promote funeral home services or build community relationships.
Plan and implement sales promotions or other marketing strategies and activities for funeral home operations.

The above responsibilities are specific to Funeral Home Managers. More generally, Funeral Home Managers are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Assisting and Caring for Others		Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public		Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Communicating with People Outside the Organization		Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
Documenting/Recording Information		Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

Assisting and Caring for Others

Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.

Performing for or Working Directly with the Public

Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.

Getting Information

Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Communicating with People Outside the Organization

Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.

Documenting/Recording Information

Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

What is a Funeral Home Manager salary?

The median salary for a Funeral Home Manager is $74,200, and the average salary is $91,530. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Funeral Home Manager salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Funeral Home Managers earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Funeral Home Managers earn less than $42,990 per year, 25% earn less than $55,400, 75% earn less than $106,260, and 90% earn less than $156,940.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Funeral Home Managers is expected to change by 3.2%, and there should be roughly 1,000 open positions for Funeral Home Managers every year.

Median annual salary: $74,200
Typical salary range: $42,990 - $156,940
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 3.2%

What personality traits are common among Funeral Home Managers?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Funeral Home Manager are usually higher in their Enterprising, Conventional, and Social interests.

Funeral Home Managers typically have very strong Enterprising interests. Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Also, Funeral Home Managers typically have moderate Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Lastly, Funeral Home Managers typically have moderate Social interests. Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Funeral Home Manager tend to value Relationships, Achievement, and Independence.

Most importantly, Funeral Home Managers very strongly value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Second, Funeral Home Managers strongly value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

Lastly, Funeral Home Managers strongly value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Funeral Home Managers must consistently demonstrate qualities such as attention to detail, integrity, and dependability.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Funeral Home Managers, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Attention to Detail		Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Integrity		Job requires being honest and ethical.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Self-Control		Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Stress Tolerance		Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.

Attention to Detail

Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Integrity

Job requires being honest and ethical.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Self-Control

Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

Stress Tolerance

Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.

What education and training do Funeral Home Managers need?

Funeral Home Managers often have training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Funeral Home Managers usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Funeral Home Managers

3.3% did not complete high school or secondary school
15.3% completed high school or secondary school
18.2% completed some college coursework
7.7% earned a Associate's degree
34.5% earned a Bachelor's degree
17.3% earned a Master's degree
3.7% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Funeral Home Managers

Funeral Home Managers may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as customer and personal service, administration and management, or administrative knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Funeral Home Managers might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Customer and Personal Service		Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Administration and Management		Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Administrative		Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Computers and Electronics		Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Psychology		Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Administration and Management

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Administrative

Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

Computers and Electronics

Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Psychology

Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Important Abilities needed by Funeral Home Managers

Funeral Home Managers must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Funeral Home Managers need abilities such as oral comprehension, oral expression, and written comprehension in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Funeral Home Managers, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Oral Comprehension		The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Comprehension		The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Written Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Problem Sensitivity		The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Written Comprehension

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Written Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Problem Sensitivity

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Critical Skills needed by Funeral Home Managers

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Funeral Home Managers frequently use skills like service orientation, active listening, and speaking to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Funeral Home Managers, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Service Orientation		Actively looking for ways to help people.
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Social Perceptiveness		Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Reading Comprehension		Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

Service Orientation

Actively looking for ways to help people.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Social Perceptiveness

Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

Career profile Funeral Home Manager

Funeral Home Manager

Table of Contents

Would Funeral Home Manager be a good fit for you?