Retail Requirements

8/13/2019 Retail Requirements

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Customer service assistant

Customer service assistants are hired by lots ofbusinesses from banks and airports tosupermarkets and it's down to YOU to make surethe customer leaves with a good impression of thecompany you work for. No pressure, then! As anentry-level job, you won't need lots ofqualifications, but if you do well then there should

be lots of chances to be promoted. Fingerscrossed!

Sales assistantSales assistants are at the frontline of this fast-paced industry and no two days are ever thesame. Far away from the world of office desks andboring business meetings, expect to meet lots ofdifferent people every day... if you've got anoutgoing personality, this is a good fit.

So, what will I actually be doing?Is it all days filled with angry customers shouting

at you down the phone? Actually, no! Your daily routine will vary depending on where youwork and you could do anything from arranging shop displays to taking part in customerpromotions and events. Of course, there is an aspect of dealing with customer complaintsbut it's not what this job is all about.

The nitty grittyIf you're after set hours in an office then a customer service assistant job may not be for youas many companies are open at weekends, evenings and even through the night. Ouch. The

plus side to that is there are often part-time and flexible working options available so you canfit it easily into whatever else you have going on in your life.

The good points...The Institute of Customer Service (ICS) says that the best thing about customer service rolesis "Dealing with people and helping them with their needs and their problems."

...and the badHowever, ICS also warns people of the negatives: "Not being provided with the necessaryskills or the freedom with which to use your initiative to meet customers requirements and

solve their problems can be an issue."Sales assistant job description


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Sales assistants can be found in a variety of retail venues and locations, from small retailstores on a High street to large superstores in shopping malls. The job requires a high levelof customer interaction, meaning sales assistants should have good customer facing andcommunication skills.

IMHO I will give you the job description of a sales assistant, including their responsibilities,hours of work and typical workplace environment. The typical role is not as straight forwardas it seems, apart from selling, shop floor assistants are also responsible for the stocking andordering of merchandise and the related administrative duties.

If you are considering a career in this field then bear in mind that some (well most of them)retail outlets require staff to meet sales targets. If these targets are not met then their jobmay be on the line.

A sales assistants job description, including their routine daily duties: Greeting customers who enter the shop. Be involved in stock control and management. Assisting shoppers to find the goods and products they are looking for. Being responsible for processing cash and card payments. Stocking shelves with merchandise. Answering queries from customers. Reporting discrepancies and problems to the supervisor. Giving advice and guidance on product selection to customers. Balancing cash registers with receipts. Dealing with customer refunds. Keeping the store tidy and clean, this includes hovering and mopping. Responsible dealing with customer complaints. Working within established guidelines, particularly with brands. Attaching price tags to merchandise on the shop floor. Responsible for security within the store and being on the look out for shoplifters and

fraudulent credit cards etc.

Receiving and storing the delivery of large amounts of stock Keeping up to date with special promotions and putting up displays.

The personal skills that is required for the job: Having a friendly and engaging personality. Comfortable working with members of the public. Should have a confident manner. Must be helpful and polite. Assistants should be physically fit as they will be on their feet for most of the day and

may be required to lift large amounts of stock.

You should have a comprehensive understanding of your area of sales i.e. retail, FastMoving Consumer Goods, sports equipment etc.


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Able to work as part of a sales team.

Knowledge of inventory techniques. Should be of a smart appearance and articulate.

This retail salesperson sample job description can assist in your creating a job applicationthat will attract job candidates who are qualified for the job. Feel free to revise this jobdescription to meet your specific job duties and job requirements.

Retail managersStart by assisting a manager inrunning a store as a retail assistant

manager and you could soon end uprunning your own store or even anentire area, covering a group of retailoutlets. The pay CAN be good andyou can either enter through atraining scheme with qualifications orwork your way up the career ladderwith retail experience.

This can progress to:- Retail assistant manager Store manager Area manager job description

MerchandiserMerchandising is often seen as the

more glamorous side of retail, be it in supermarkets, fashion stores or even the humbledPoundland! Why? Well, you are the person responsible for deciding which products to buyand how they are displayed. A merchandiser needs to know whats new on the market, whatthe customers will like and which products will make a profit. It's high pressure, sure, but itis also shopping for a living - and how hard can that be?

Merchandiser job descriptionIf you think of customer services as a dull job then think again. Customer service assistantsare hired by lots of retail businesses from banks and airports to supermarkets and it's downtoYOUto make sure the customer leaves with a good impression of the company you workfor.

So, what will I actually be doing?A merchandiser needs to know whats new on the market, what the customers will like andwhich products will make a profit.


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It's not all glamour and shopping as a merchandiser and no two days are ever the same.Your typical daily tasks are likely to include: Visiting suppliers and manufacturers Analysing sales information Negotiating prices with suppliers Ordering goods Talking to other departments Helping with promotions and advertising campaigns Producing sales projections

What skills are Retail employers looking for?Retail is a popular industry, so it's imperative to find out what the in demand skills are,acquire these skills and give yourself a competitive advantage over your fellow applicants.

Some roles will require a very specific set of skills. For instance, Visual Merchandisers willneed to have a creative flair with an eye for three - dimensional design and the ability totranslate design concepts into tangible displays that will woo potential customers.

Buyers and Merchandisers need to be analytical, numerate and commercially astute. WhilstStore Managers need to be good all - rounders sales people, team leaders, target drivenand the ability to juggle a number of different tasks simultaneously.

Luckily, most of the skills that are required for each position will be learnt on the job but, youmay have already acquired some of them during your career or work placements.

Regardless of whether you enter your career via the graduate or non - graduate route, theretail industry recognises a set of four key competencies that anyone serious about carvingout a career for themselves in this sector will need.

Business Focus Personal Effectiveness Relationship Management

Critical Thinking

These competencies include a range of typical skills that employers are looking for inapplicants, such as:

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills Good standard of IT and numeracy Effective influencing and negotiation skills Strong customer focus Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines Analysing and problem-solving skills

Commercial awareness Flexibility


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Strong time-management skills

Attention to detail Demonstrable leadership and management qualities

Above all else, employers are looking for people who can use their initiative to look for waysof improving the way things are done, are committed to their employer and are passionateabout their sector whether it is fashion, food, electrical or cars.

Not all retail jobs are based on the shop floor dealing with large crowds of messy shoppers;in fact some roles dont involve any customer service at all. Sound good? Im talking about

jobs in a warehouse.

Working behind the scenes and hidden awayfrom the hectic shopping environment, theirorganisational skills play a vital part in thesupply process.

So, what will I actually be doing?Helping to co-ordinate everything, from initialstorage to shop dispatches, and managingboth people and the overall process, thewarehouse manager is an organising

machine.

Helping to store a variety of products, yourjob is very hands-on and involves:

Overseeing the receipt and storage ofincoming items

Processing orders and planning the dispatching of products Monitoring space and tracking stock levels Setting aside storage areas for new stock Planning rotas

Meeting productivity targets Maintaining computerised admin (often in spreadsheet form) Maintaining automated storage and retrieval systems Recruiting, disciplining and training staff Ensuring security arrangements are in place Scheduling equipment maintenance and replacing when required Ensuring products are stocked correctly and safely (especially chemicals and food that

could be pretty dangerous)

Youll be present throughout the storage and supply process, working with clients, suppliers,

quality controllers, and transport companies every step of the way to ensure nothing goeswrong.


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Things You Learn At a Retail Job

1. Folding shirts: The job thatnever ends.There is some sort of pheromonepresent in mid-size retail store shirts, onethat is at its most deliciously potentwhen you have just finished perfectlystacking them by size, and finally feel secureenough to walk away for thirty seconds. All of

them, the perfect little flapjack-esque stack of tops, ready to be daintily thumbed through by adiscerning shopper to find their size, are soon to bedestroyed by the rabid horde of semi-human creatures, fleckingthem with their frothy spit as they tear through your pile with the urgency of apirate digging for buried treasure. Retail shoppers areborn with some innate longing to find theseshirt stacks and destroy them with such vigourthat you are left considering suicide thesecond you walk back to your once-perfectdisplay table. They are cruel.

2. People steal anything and no one cares.Though there will always be the facade of training employees to be vigilant and evenaggressive towards shoplifting, it is an inevitable part of the retail world, and you totally stopcaring. Youll walk into a dressing room and see a bunch of plucked off security tags, or gointo an electronics section to see a conspicuously empty video games section, and you justkind of sigh and walk away. The thing is, if you were to actually try to stop people who are inthe process of stealing from your store and a huge amount of them are organized and dothis routinely to resell the stuff, this is their livelihood things are not going to end well foryou. A worker I knew at a clothing store once got a knife pulled on her when she chased

down a guy stealing a bunch of shirts. Her job was not worth a stab to the kidneys, andneither is yours. You are not paid to be a cop, and you quickly come to understand that.

3. Listening to the same song every hour, on the hour, is the cruellest punishmentconceivable.Most of the bigger chain retail stores have enormous music contracts that give them accessto a certain number of poppy, easy-to-enjoy music to rotate at hour-long intervals from opento close, for at least three or so months at a time. Do you enjoy that Katy Perry or TerryTinsel songs? Get ready to enjoy them twenty times a day, every day, until you long to ramyour head into the cash register repeatedly every time you hear the opening notes.


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4. The customer is always right, which is the worst thing ever.Theres going to come a point where someone is going to put an item in front of you thathas clearly been used within an inch of its life and theyre going to insist on trying to return itand pretend like theyve never touched it and that you should take it back and why arentyou taking it back Im sorry Maam but we have a policy Id like to speak to yourmanager where is your manager get your manager right now. You have lost the ability tocare, and just want to give this horrendous lady her stupid refund because its not like itsyour money anyway and you would like her to evacuate the premises as soon as humanlypossible. But heven forbid your manager should walk by at this moment, because regardlessof the verbal abuse thats being slung at you over a 5 pounds refund, youre going to be theone getting torn into and treated like a monkey wearing a nametag. The Customer Is

Always Right: battle cry of the defeated. (Seems that only in the Budget Airline IndustryThe Customer Is NOTAlways Right!)

5. You can never underestimate how cheap people are.If something is marked at a certain price even if it was mistakenly put above that pricemarker by a lazy shopper who didnt want to put their item back in its proper place yourcustomer is going to all but reach over and rip out your oesophagus before they let youcharge them the actual price. People will stand for an hour at your register, screaming backand forth some nonsense about a coupon or I saw this price on the shelf or whatever otherhorrendous reason they have deemed worthy of screaming at you for. And you are usually

powerless, because the price scans the way it scans, and you cant fix it, so you just kind ofstand there like some modern-day Christ figure and absorb their wrath until they eventuallyleave in a huff, talking about how theyll never shop here again. You will then think, Right,thats a tragedy.

6. Inventory is the worst part of being alive.Whatever youre thinking of, its worse than that. Much,much worse.

7. When your store closes, everyone needs to

GTFO.There is going to come that moment when, after staringrelentlessly at the clock for the past hour, you are finallyable to close up and get out of there. But wait, no, there issome useless person meandering around the displays,pretending like they are going to buy something, andbeing wilfully oblivious to the fact that youve already closed the front door to new customersand are standing next to them, staring at them, willing them to leave with your eyeballs. It isnow your job to make them feel as awkward and unwelcome as possible until they get themessage. I recommend following them around and adjusting things behind them until they

cant even make eye contact with you.


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8. People set off small explosives in dressing rooms.

Or, at least, they must, given the state they are in 90 percent of the time upon someoneleaving one. People apparently just try something on, decide its not for them, and thencrumple it up and throw it on the floor like a scrap piece of paper. Hangers are scattered by

the mirror, dresses are thrown over the chair, pants are hanging by their belt loops off ahanger hook its like a war zone. You will come to find that the person who actuallygathers all of their clothes, properly hangs them back up, and gives them back to you with asmall Thank you is essentially a modern-day Gandhi. Otherwise, most people will just treatyou like you are some combination of their mother and an indentured servant, only there topick up after them and relieve them of the pressure of having basic human decency.

9. You will be forced to ask people if they need help, and then punished for doingso.One part of working in retail especially more upscale retail is that youre expected toask everyone at one point or another if they need any help with, I dont know, looking atshirts or something. You are doing your job and gently asking them if you can do somethingto assist them no big deal! The customer could easily just say, No, thank you, and to befair, some of them do. But many of them will take this opportunity to turn on you and hissabout how theyre doing JUST FINE THANK YOU as they shuffle away from you like you wereabout to mace them. People will not hesitate to let you know how much your simple questionis ruining their shopping experience, their day, and their entire life. If youre interested in

quitting, I recommend doing the whole retail world a favour and responding to such rudecustomers with I did not even give a monkeys about helping you anyway you bridge troll.Or something of the like?

10. When you get a call between 06:00 and 07:00 AM on your day off, you throwthe phone across the room.

You throw it across the room, then you go out back and dig a very large hole, then you burythe broken remains of that phone, then you napalm the entire backyard, then you have yourwhole house bulldozed, then you destroy your phone service providers headquarters. Youare not going into work today. They are not going to get you.

Someone once said In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, theyare not.

And in my 40 years plus of working life in various industries I have definitely come to the

conclusion that an ounce of action is worth a ton of theory and theory issplendid - but until theory is put into practice, it is valueless.

Most people have proper nightmares about being chased by monsters or falling out of anairplane or falling overboard on a ship and drowning. I have nightmares about working in

retail. These nightmares make me long for the good old days of my childhood when Idreamed of werewolves, plummeting from a cliff or aliens bursting out of my chest. But in


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my current nightmares, it's always December. There's a framework of twinkling red and

green lights to illuminate the horror.

Just the memory of these nightmares is enough to get my heart pounding and my stomachacid churning. How I managed to get through various years in retail alive and in nearly onepiece, I'll never know. Now, every time I pass by a Sainsburys or Tescos I think, "There, butfor the grace of someone..." I've survived years of being homeless and I can honestly saythat I'd rather be homeless than go back to working retail at Christmastime.

Learning the Hard WayYou can learn incredible skills in retail, whether you are behind the cash register or stockinga shelf. You learn the skills all employers look for -- showing up on time, prioritizing,following a dress code and keeping a fake smile plastered to your face. You also learn to bepolite, to have a tough skin, and to keep your revenge fantasies completely to yourself. Youalso learn how to recognize a shoplifter ... and then realize that retail security personnel arenever armed, unlike a lot of the shoplifters.

I also experienced the priceless moment of a customer threatening to come back with amachine gun or chainsaw and mow everyone in the store down, starting with me. This wasall because we were out of stock of a Managers Special that was on sale. I just blinked,nodded and said, "What an interesting mental picture that would make."

That was already back in the winters of the sixties and today I still wonder if that fellow everdid go postal with a gun or chainsaw on one of the many mall or fast-food restaurant shoot-ups that have happened since.

Trail By FireAdmittedly, I didn't like my various retail years, either behind a cash register or working thegraveyard night replenishment crew. I did not like having to put up with haphazardschedules, rude customers and idiotic supervisors. It was especially hard when I had twocollege degrees, one university merit but still could not find a better job than retail.

In ancient societies, the test of adulthood for a young man or woman of the tribe was to goout in the wilderness alone and do something incredibly dangerous like hit a lion with a stickor get bit by a rattlesnake. When the child returned, they had permanently put away theirchildish ways and were treated as adults from then on. This tradition has never passed. Onlynow, we send our teenagers off to survive the wilderness of Christmas season retail jobs.

If you can survive retail, especially at Christmas, then you can survive almost anything.


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Now I am going to tell you the REALreason why Retail Sucks...

I don't care what you do in retail; you are workingmuch harder and longer for less pay than any otherindustry on this planet. I'm sorry but it's painfully true.

The hard truth is than all Retail related jobs just SUCKwhen it comes to pay. They will burn you out and milk

you dry if you let them.

In retail you will notice right away that you cannoteven SIT DOWN to do work that any normal personwould sit down to do. In retail, they force you to standfor 10 plus hours a day for some insane reason.

In Retail you are expected to work insane hours andyou will very often be asked to work through yourlunch break. If you "move up" in retail and become asupervisor or assistant manager then you will findyourself working 50/60 plus hours a week on a regularbasis and you'll also find that no matter how hard youwork to get ahead on the workload, the workload willbe adjusted higher so you'll never reach a restingpoint.

If you bust your backside and process 50 boxes offreight one day; well; you just set the new STANDARD;they expect you to achieve each and every day afterthat new record you just set. You just shot yourself in

the foot because NOW they will expect 55 boxes aday... If you should reach that level by some miracle,then they expect 60 boxes a day... And so it escalatesuntil you have a heart attack

Let's say you get a busy day and your sales hit UK10,000 a day for the store setting a newsales level for that particular day of the year. Well, from now on they will expect UK10,000on every day afterwards and failure to EXCEED this sales goal means you are NOT doingyour job well enough...

You see where I'm going with this... No matter what you achieve, youre just setting the barhigher and making your life harder and harder. Many smart retail employees realize that the


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Harder you work, the Harder you make your job. Or as I have already mentioned - In

theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.

I have worked in between in various retail jobs over many years, but I got smart and realizedhow I was being USEDby the retail industry.

I found another job and my starting pay was much higher than any retail starting position.

The workload at my new job is 1/10 the workload I had to do in retail and I can actually SITDOWN at my job. Retail forces everyone to STAND all day for some insane reason. Thebiggest difference however is that I am now treated with RESPECT by my managers andeven the customers who frequent our business.

All I can say is GET OUT OF RETAIL NOW (2013 onwards) because working retail is ablack hole that will suck you in and the further in you go; the harder it will be to escapewhile you still have a chance at sanity.

Recently I decided in my need for extra cash to take a side job in retail. I figured the positionwould be a fun one; I would get to work with friends, chat up customers and obtain a heavydiscount at one of my favourite stores.

And for the first few weeks this is exactly what it was. The work wasnt hard, I got to be

social and I eventually even bought discounted goods. What I didnt expect, but quicklyremembered from my college years, was what we all know - Retail Sucks.

But why does it suck?It doesnt just suck because the work is boring, the pay is low or the management arefrequently unpleasant, nasty and ghastly; it sucks because its method is essentially flawed.

Consider the hierarchy for a moment. The majority of retail, the positions we described ascontaining the most suck, are sales. These underlings range from pants folders to customerservice reps but the bottom line is they all have quota and typically, very particular

instructions. Above them are managers. These middlemen and women were chosen for theirability to follow these instructions, and in turn make quota. Above them, and Im hugelyoversimplifying here, are the corporate decision makers. These people are the ones whocome up with the quota, concepts and rules everyone else will follow. Now, take a minute tonote these people either come from backgrounds in these types of decisions or have climbedtheir way from the lower levels of the business for the last twenty plus years.

So, who is actually facing the customer? Well, the most economical option of coursesalesthe lowest paid due to the least amount of training and easy replace-ability. And how doescorporate make up for this lack of knowledge for every customer-facing rep? They give them

tag lines, uniforms and scripts to read from. So each employee looks and sounds the same.


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This is supposed to be a comfort to the customer, like going into every McDonalds and

getting the same Big Mac.

On some level this is a success. People like dependability, but is that really what theyregetting? Lets take a deeper look.

Whenever anyone starts in sales they suck. Overtime, one of two things happens: theyquit/get fired or they get it. They learn how to connect with customers and actually meet andeventually excel past their quota. Then they quit or get moved up. So basically the exactmoment a rep truly understands sales, theyre removed from where the company needsthem most. They get moved to administration or management, where they are told to tellothers what theyve learned while taking directions from upstairs.

There is no room for innovation. Only until youve put a lifetime in with a company are youable to actually change the rules and by then your customer experience is most likelyoutdated.

This model has been around for a few generations for a reason. It made sense for whatresources were available. Our governments and educational institutions were run in the samehierarchal system. Experts led the masses who helped the customer.

This is changing.

During the industrial era many manufacturing jobs became obsolete. The ones that didnt weshipped to China, India, Malaysia, etc. Now were in the middle of doing the same withcustomer service and even occasionally sales. And some people are getting upset about that:they shouldnt be.

We are entering a new digital era where, not unlike the industrial age, more of the process isautomated. Only now it isnt just the production process, its also the selling. And customerservice is selling.

Look at Best Buy, a multinational consumer electronics corporation in the USA. In 2001, Best

Buy was named Speciality Retailer of the Decade by Discount Store News. In 2004, Forbesmagazine named them Company of the Year, and in 2006 even made their List of Most

Admired Companies. This was a company that had the in-store retail experience down. Theyhad massive store fronts that housed hundreds of big screen TVs and electronic devices. Andcustomer service was important to them. They are known for having a greater positioned atthe door of every store to make sure you find everything you need.

In 2011 however, things changed. Best Buy saw its revenue slide to US$651 million onrevenue of US$16.26 billion. The following year they closed at least fifty stores and started toshift to, wait for it, Best Buy Mobile stores.


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This particular business marks a very specific shift in the marketplace. If you were to look at

book sales you would have seen it for the last decade as Borders and Barnes & Nobles wentdown like dominoes. What was happening was customers were coming into Best Buy, testingthe products, gathering knowledge about them and going back home and purchasing themonline at some 30% cheaper.

Heresy! So, youre saying theyd prefer to buy from a website than a person?

Yes.

Lets stop kidding ourselves. You cant indoctrinate someone for National Minimum Wage andexpect them to give a genuine piece of themselves to a job that requires connection. Andcustomers know this. In fact, many times its even uncomfortable to watch someone degradethemselves to this, and by now weve gotten REALcomfortable with the internet.

We trust Amazon, eBay, Wikipedia and Apple more than we probably trust our local grocerystore. The structure that uses in-store people for sales is no longer valued. That isnt to say

that we wont have customer servicebut these people will be highly skilled, well-paid anduse their own creative personality across tools to reach larger audiences. A great example ofone of these positions is a community manager. I know when I tweet a complaint to someUrban Outfitters or Supermarket, Ill get a carefully crafted response from someone thatmatters. Not a replaceable face at a storefront who is working for National Minimum Wagean hour.

Through the internet, connectivity and widely available information has allowed thousands ofjobs to be reduced to hundreds. For some people the question is daunting: Does this meanthere will be layoffs? Yes, but I prefer the word liberations, because less people indoctrinated

means more people creatively thinking, and more people creatively thinking means moreindustry leaders, increased market competition and better careers that dont suck.


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The customer service industry or should I say the retail industry sucks. I totally feel for

everyone that is in that industry. First of all the pay is not much. You barely scrape by. A lotof people are not kind, not caring and definitely fake as make-up. You have to talk in amanner that is pleasing and also reach the goals that your "store" requires. Like whoever theheck is in corporate is dumb as hell you can't reach the same damn goal every damn day.

For instance, your co-workers are mean, the customer is a nasty sod, and your shop floormanager is lazy. Target are required so it is going to be a hard long day. Things go wrongcustomer is unhappy, but you are unable to use your own initiative with the customer, youcannot find the shop floor supervisor to get authorization and the customer get even moreratty.

BUT you can not say all of this, you have to SUCKit up and say thank you and have a niceday. Some of these people don't even hand the cash in your hand they just put the moneyon the table and want YOU to hand their change back in their hand! LIKE WHO ARE YOU?

You are a nobody! And you cannot even advice Don't shop if youre not going to conversant,stay your home and order online and be a Debbie Downer at home...Then you get your manager or supervisor, now depending on how they got the position, thisperson is lazy. They expect something but can not even get it. For instance they wanted toreach a percentage goal of blah blah on blah blah. They EXPECT you to get it, but are dumbfounded on giving you an example on how to get it.

The WHOLE CREDIT CARD or card frenzy is something too. Like NOT EVERYONE IS TRYINGTO CARRY all those store cards and keep track of this phenomena. Its fine if it offers greatbenefits, but all you can do is inform and ask, not WHY YOU DON'T WANT IT, ITS GOOD I

AM JUST GOING TO GO AHEAD AND HELP YOU SAVE. Like no; if they don't want it, theydon't want it.

There is LITTLE to no COMMUNICATION, no game, no encouragement, and no nothing.

Youre going to work looking stupid as hell with a lot of things they EXPECT you to get down.

It is like your Drivers License, when you got it and have been driving for a couple years itdiffer when you was getting your license or being taught. This takes time to perfect. You arenot going to get it down in one day. If it is teamwork, then there should be team players!

How many times have you thought - Not one do all and all do nothing or anything! I am soconfused on what I want to do in life, there is a con to everything... I have been so drainedout that I actually just rather stay home, but have got to pay bills. Hopefully life gets betterand I can find something where I am happy doing it.

DO NOT LET ME GET STARTED ON THE SCHEDULING! Whoever does scheduling for the

hours are truly dumb? Especially for a big store, like the person closing the store and thenopening the following day, they are not going to have the same energy. We don't do the


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exact same thing everyday, and that what bugs me when they expect the same goal; a

ridiculous one at that too. What if you live far from the store? Life issues?...

Many senior executives attended annual Great Place to Work Conference that are stagedaround the world at different locations to focus on the art and science of creating workplaceengagement, job satisfaction, and happy employees. Just reading that sentence causesinvoluntary eye-rolling from plenty of leaders in the retail industry who either don't think it'snecessary or don't think it's possible for a retail environment to be a "great" place to work.

There's plenty of evidence to support the eye-rolling leaders in their belief that happiness,engagement, and satisfaction may not be possible to attain in a retail workplace these days.Not only are retail employees participating in walkouts and mini-strikes in major cities, butalso a 2013 survey conducted by Manpower Group revealed that 74% of the surveyparticipants were occasionally or often using their computer to look for a new job while onthe clock at their current job. That's not exactly a marker for job satisfaction.

Another survey from CareerBliss.com produced a "50 Happiest Companies for 2013" rankinglist, based on more than 500,000 employee-written reviews. Of the 50 companies on that"Happy" list, the only companies that have even a remote connection to the retail industryare companies that have retailing as a significant, but not primary, part of their business like

Apple, Dell, Ford, and Google.

Where are all the companies whose primary business is just retailing? You can find thoseretail companies filling up the Worst Retail Companies to Work For List instead. And notsurprisingly, the retail companies that employees rate as being the "worst" places to workare also some of the retail companies that are floundering in the last few years - RadioShack, Sears/Kmart, Rite Aid, GameStop, HMV, Comet, JJB Sports, Clinton Cards, Game,Borders, Barratts, Alexon, T J Hughes, Jane Norman, Habitat, Focus DIY, Floors-2-Go, theOfficers Club, Oddbins, Ethel Austin, Faith Shoes, Adams Childrenswear, Thirst Quench,Stylo, Mosaic, Principle, Sofa Workshop, Allied Carpets, Viyella, Dewhurst, Woolworth, MFI,Zavvi/Virgin Megastore, just to name a few. Could it be that there is a correlation betweenhappy employees and retail sales performance? That's a cutting edge managerial hypothesis?

Retail experts often get lost in a chicken-egg debate about whether unhappy employees areat the root cause of their struggles, or whether, after the company started struggling andstarted demanding more and caring less that its employees became unhappy. "Both" isalmost always the answer to that discussion. But even if it's one or the other, the importantpoint is that there ISa connection between happy employees and company performance.

The awareness that happy employees produce happy results is not helpful to the retailleaders who have the chronic conditions of low pay and limited advancement working againstthem. Additionally, the retail industry is often viewed as having the "jobs of last resort" for

those who can't find work in their own field. There are plenty of those wrongly-employedpeople working in the retail industry right now.


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Is it possible for employees who are underemployed and uninterested in a long-term retailcareer to still be happy in a retail workplace?

"Especially great question," was the response from Scott Crabtree, a cognitive scientist whostarted the Happy Brain Science consultancy based in Portland, Oregon. "Yes, some in retailmay not be working at their 'calling.' But happiness is largely social. So retail employees canchoose to have more happiness by focusing completely on every social interaction they haveeach day," Crabtree says. "They can go out of their way to be kind to every person they dealwith, spreading happiness and building their own happiness with each interaction."

That may sound like a page out of the Touchy Feely Management 101 book, but animportant premise behind Crabtree's work is the scientifically proven fact that real happinessis a function of the brain and resides with the individual. In other words, there is not a causeand effect relationship between work conditions and happiness. Rather, as Abraham Lincolnhas been quoted as saying, "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Anybody who's been a frontline retail manger for more than a week knows this to be true.

Some employees take their happiness with them wherever they go, and other employees(seemingly a much larger number of them) take their miserable-ness with them whereverthey go.

More than one retail leader is right now mentally crafting an e-mail to store-based employeeswhich opens with that Lincoln quote and concludes with a strongly worded mandate aboutbringing your happy brain along with your name tag and corporate ID when you come towork every day. If only it was that simple.

Unfortunately happiness in the workplace can't be mandated, and it can't be bought either.

Many retail workplaces try to use some kind of incentives or perks to keep employees happy,only to find that workplace bribery only creates temporary results for only as long as thebribery is in force and is still exciting. "Unfortunately incentives usually backfire,"

"The research described in Dan Pink's book 'Drive' shows that, at least in the short-term,if/then incentives usually hurt performance. The perks that will make a lasting difference inemployee happiness are the ones that keep on giving: a fun break room that bringsemployees together, childcare that helps working parents be better parents, etc." (Theseperks refer back to the premise that happiness is largely social.)

My own experience in both frontline and corporate workplaces has repeatedly shown me thatpay, benefits, and perks are definitely not the creators of happiness. Some of the mostprofessionally dissatisfied and personally unhappy people I have ever encountered were also

voluntarily wearing the biggest, shiniest pair of golden handcuffs issued with every salarycheck, bonus, and 401k contribution.


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other companies are usually the best ones, and the employees that stick around the longest

are the ones who can't get hired into a better position.

This is unfortunately the way things go unless, of course, you have a happy workplace -which seems to be both the first cause and last word for most challenges in the retailworkplace today.

Where a growing number of retail workers stand on the National Minimum Wage hike is notcomplacently behind a cash register wearing their company-issued polyester garb. Instead,where retail and restaurant workers are standing on the issue of increased National MinimumWages is on the sidewalks of all cities and towns - outside of the front door of their retailemployer, with matching t-shirts and ponchos, holding protest signs. Unfortunately, wherefrontline workers have chosen to take a stand is on a picket line far beyond any President orPrime Ministers proposed National Minimum Wage line in the sand that lawmakers areunwilling to approach.

Retail workers who want to make sure that lawmakers know exactly where they stand on theNational Minimum Wage issue are not waiting for a Gallup Poll or Harris Survey to ask them.

The sad truth what really sucks in the Retail Business today is the introduction of NationalMinimum Wage (UK6.31), and I am not talking about a living wage (UK7.65)!

Unfortunately most companies today pay new entremets only a National MinimumWage, the price structure rate for 2013 being:-

a) Adults get UK6.31 an hourb) 18-20 year olds get UK5.03 an hourc) 16-17 year olds get UK3.72 an hourd) Apprentices get UK2.68 an hour

Now a question I have asked many times and no onehas been able give me a satisfactoryanswer: - When does the cost of living (food, rent, vehicle cost, poll tax, council tax, clothingetc.) for a Apprentice, 16-17 year old, 18-20 year old, an adult from 21 onwards, or even an

OAP (over 65 years old) differ in cost? So why is there a variation of National MinimumWages?

And the argument I have been told so many times The younger people are most likelyliving at home (with their parents) is in my book a load of codswallop. I have knowncolleagues, associates and acquaintances verging 60 plus still living at home, as I do a fewOAPs that still live with their parents!

Now the next time you walk around your megastore (all of them) take a good hard look atwho is working the shop floor?.... Why is the customer service (asking for advice) so poor?...


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If you request a product and/or a question about a product or service, usually it is

unanswered; why is it necessary for the person you asked to pass you onto someone inauthority?..... You guessed it. The majority of these people on the shop floor are the under20 year olds, school leavers, work placement etc.

The sad truth is, the budgets set by these mega companies are all based on profit and greed,so they employ the majority of employees on the lowest wage rates, and short contract forpeak moments anyone with experience getting the National Minimum Wage.

Not much motivation for an experienced worker knowing he will not be getting much extrawork, because they give this to someone who is at the lowest wage scale.

Following an organized retail and restaurant worker walkout staged in New York City,employees from an estimated 30 different retail companies in more than 100 locations inChicago staged their own wages walkout week. It is only a short matter of time, this willhappen in the U.K.

Chicago Macy's hourly employees joined forces with Chicago Sears and Victoria's Secretemployees. Chicago McDonald's employees walked shoulder-to-shoulder with ChicagoDunkin' Donuts and Subway employees. Altogether it's estimated that employees from 100different locations of 30 different retail and restaurant companies participated in Chicagoretail wages walkout and mini-strike event. Retail employees were not shy about expressing

their job dissatisfaction in Chi-town.

What the retail and restaurant protesters want is a LIVING wage, which is more thandouble what the current National Minimum Wage is. So it's unlikely that retail and restaurantworkers are going to get the pay that they want any time soon, and it's equally unlikely thatthey're going to be satisfied with anything less.

What's a manager to do in a retail or restaurant environment where employees feelchronically overworked and significantly underpaid?

My own experience had taught me to be true as well. That is, that one leader has the powerto greatly affect many employees either positively or negatively, depending on how thatmanagerial power is used or abused.

Remember back in the 60s and 70s retail stores issued their employees FULLcompanyuniforms, which included more shirts/blouses, trousers/skirt, shoes and even stockings fortheir females. M&S (among a few other companies) even offered their female staff abimonthly hair-do!

Look at the retail business today; they only give a National Minimum Wage, issue ONElogo

labelled sweater, if one is lucky maybe a sweater or fleece, because they save on heating the


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store, but expect you to provide (in company brand colours) your own trousers/skirt, shoes

etc.

To make things worse, they contract you on a four or five days, with three to four hour shiftper day pattern and expect employees to be smart?

Then the managers are annoyed when employees are ill. Okay, I see many employees arescroungers and/or play truant because their moral on the company tactics are rated zero.But where the whole media impregnate the population of the increase of illnesses due tovarious indescribable named virus! And what do these companies do? Only give sharedPPE!..... My only analysis is - if a virus can be spread by a sneeze or a hand shake, thenSHAREDPPE is full of spreadable viruses etc. So IMHO before management start to calltheir employees Wimps try looking at the cause which causes so many sick days?.....

Do I believe The Power of One can make a difference in a retail environment whereemployees feel chronically overworked and underpaid?

Unquestionably! In addition to feeling overworked and underpaid, these employees willalmost certainly feel underappreciated and under respected. Changing these last two thingsand listening to employee complaints and suggestions can make a huge difference. Retailemployees recognize these efforts, and it can make a huge difference in their satisfactionand motivation.


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What are the motivation strategies that I have found to be effective for managers in a retail

environment?

In order to motivate employees the first thing you need to do is to eliminate the de-motivators. Most of these come in the form of bad boss behaviours - the unappreciative,dishonest, lousy-listening, crummy-communicating type of behaviours.

As an example lets take a bakery manager named Victor. Victor was unable to control hisanger. He was known to impulsively snap at individual employees over a trivial offense, likeforgetting to place the company's sticker on a box of pastries to go. When Victor was advisedthat his communications were too abrasive, he said he had no time for sensitive employeeswho couldn't handle a little man-to-man feedback. The damage Victor could do in oneminute of fuming could cause his entire staff to huddle in the back room in fear while bakeryguests were waiting to be served at the counter.

For change to occur with de-motivating managers there has to be an acknowledgement thata quirky and damaging behaviour exists. For some this can be as painful as a twelve-step

Alcoholics Anonymous program, where the first step is admitting that you have a problem, orin this case, admitting that you The bakery manager) ARE the problem.

After the workplace de-motivators are removed, then what?

A Power of One boss appeals to intrinsic motivators. Some employees are motivated

by contests because they like winning. Some employees like participating in importantprojects because they find it motivating to achieve. Some employees are motivatedwhen they work with people they enjoy or admire.

How do you know which employee will respond to different types of motivation?

That's easy. Try things out like: run a contest and see who is trying to win. Ask whowants to participate on an important project. Ask if anyone wants to work the registerwith Sarah, or switch to the night shift with Sam.

Bosses can also take the time to acknowledge little things. For example; delaying a break to

take care of a customer; giving extra good service; tidying up without being asked, etc. Mostemployees have told me that their boss has never thanked them or acknowledged anythingthey have done that they thought deserved a little thank you.

Beyond just the daily needs for their team to do a good job, how can a retailmanager use motivation to prevent a mutiny like the New York and Chicagowalkouts?

To avoid a mutiny, retail managers need to create a work environment that is superiorto others. This is an easy thing - just by treating employees like they would like to betreated - with respect. Managers can address little things that irritate employees. It is

very flattering and motivating to employees when the boss listens to them. I can


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guarantee that in a retail environment there are plenty of opportunities to remove

irritations and show the employees that the boss is listening.

What can managers in other cities learn from the Chicago and New York retailemployee walkouts, and what can they do if they see signs of mutiny in their ownretail environment?

When a manager sees that something is wrong in the workplace, the first thing theyshould do is look in the mirror. Most problems in the workplace are caused by conflictthat has occurred due to a manger's inattention to details, including not being in tuneto employees who are dissatisfied for any number of reasons.

Instead of seeking an answer by pointing the finger at a troublesome or non-productiveemployee, managers should ask themselves, 'What is the cause of these troubles?' If weleave aside the low pay issue, the causes of employee dissatisfaction almost certainly will bethings that a Power of One boss can change and remedy.

The above three examples are held true, I once worked at a World Resort where theexpectations of the frontline worker were high and the pay in exchange was low. Eventhough tens of thousands of employees were working for the same low wages, themotivation, performance, and morale levels in their work environments were definitely notthe same. What made the difference every time was the quality of frontline managers andteam leaders who either used their "power of one" for elevation or destruction of workplace

engagement.

Not all employees can be motivated in the absence of the pay that they consider to be their"minimum." But not all employee dissatisfaction can be eliminated with an increase in payeither. The best that frontline retail managers can do is to create the highest level ofemployee satisfaction possible and support their employees on the frontline in achievingsome kind of daily successes.

Workplace engagement may not completely mitigate the National Minimum Wage issue, butit will keep the best frontline workers reporting to your workplace. When you've got the best

retail or restaurant workplace in town and your employees know it, they won't want to dealwith the alternatives waiting for them if they walkout for good.

This is about common sense. People should be nice to each other, be honest, be restrained,be professional. And yet............

And yet.. the behaviour of many retail managers is atrocious. The section that nowfollows come from personal experience or from the experience from associates,acquaintances and colleagues


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I can try to come up with reasons for these behaviours. Most retail managers learn their

trade on the job without formal leadership training. Most retail managers are notappropriately compensated for the time they put in and stress they endure.

Okay, let's stop making excuses. A manager must have credibility to do a competent job.

Credibility extends beyond product information or the ability to build an end cap in 10minutes or less. It is hinged upon how a manager is judged (yes, judged) as a person andleader by the people he or she is charged with leading.

The goal here is to shed some light on behaviours and traits that will destroy credibility.

LiesLying reduces morale, looses credibility, and creates a toxic system of communication. Amanager that lies frequently will end up with a staff of liars. I've noticed that managers uselying to motivate through fear or put off their responsibilities.

One poor technique I've encountered in several retail environments is the "visit" lie. In orderto motivate employees, managers will tell them that an executive visit is eminent. Ifeverything on the work list is not done, trouble will result! This is a trick used to create amanagement style of fear.

Another trick I've seen is during job interviews. Managers will lie about a policy, like themandatory background check that will tell them everything about the candidate's past. Thisis used to discover dirty secrets. Some candidates will see this technique for what it is. Ifhired, the manager will have an employee that already has no trust.

BlameThere is a difference to attributing a problem to the cause and shifting blame. A retailmanager is responsible for everything under his/her roof. Usually blame can be placedsquarely on the manager for poor communication, lack of discipline, no motivation (otherthan toxic motivations), and poor follow-up.

To dodge this responsibility, the manager creates a false trail of warnings andcommunication. I've heard this a hundred times: "I don't know why he screwed this up, I'vetold him a hundred times how to do it." Odds are the manager didn't. Instead, he or shegriped and complained and got the result for which he or she must take responsibility.

One big-box retailer for which I worked had a team of department supervisors thatconsistently blamed a night-shift supervisor for their woes. This late-night supervisor wasn'taround for impromptu management meetings and therefore couldn't defend himself.


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The general manager fell for this blame. When the blame became to much the GM felt it was

time to confront the night-shift supervisor. The conversation quickly became hostile becausethe supervisor was insulted by charges against him.

After the GM saw for himself what the night-shift crew was actually doing (working veryhard, working very competently) he made sure to include the night-shift supervisor in allmeetings. He also put all of the other supervisors under a magnifying lens. They had lostcredibility with the GM and their jobs got harder.

The associates found out what happened and the supervisors lost the respect of the peoplethey needed most.

GossipGossiping can be a fun way to share information about others and while away some time.

But more often, "it is used as a form of passive aggression, as a tool to isolate and harmothers" This is particularly true when managers partake of gossiping.

I've been devastated when I heard a manager launch into a gossip session about anassociate. If the manager is talking so harshly about that other person, what is he/she sayingabout me? I've heard managers call associates names like "slut" and "fag" while telling sometasteless story about an associate.

Retail managers are supposed to be leaders. How can they maintain credibility if they meantheir wards harm?

I've seen associates forced out of their jobs because of gossip. I've also witness straight-outhostility because of gossip. Both because of what the manager had said.

Managers should never stoop to inappropriate behaviours.

Suggestive Language

This is the new millennium. Everyone should know by now what inappropriate behaviour is.

So I won't belabour this point much. I will say that managers should never have such lowcharacter as to use suggestive language or other suggestive communication.

Some managers still do. Stop it.

MartyrThis is one of the most annoying behaviour traits that I see in retail managers. It annoyedme 40 years ago; it annoys me now. I even annoy myself because I've done it.


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Martyring oneself emotionally is to take on a "poor me" attitude. A manager who martyrs his

or herself constantly tells the associates how horrible the job is, how long the hours are, howlow the pay is, and how mean the executives are.

Martyr managers don't stop at business. They have to tell everyone how awful their spouseis, how bratty the kids are, how the parents are so mad because they have to work anotherholiday and can't go to a family function.

Yes, I've done this in mid-career. Retail management can suck. I was told it could suck. Iwas told that I would work awful hours and every holiday. But for a half-decade I felt sorryfor myself and wanted others to feel sorry for me.

Now when a manager starts to complain about long hours or bad treatment by executives Irespond, "You should quit."

Being Either an Office or Hands-On ManagerThere are two kinds of managers: office and hands-on. This comes from managers wantingto stick with what they enjoy and avoid what they hate. This can come from a lack ofconfidence in certain aspects of management.

For managers of small stores, it's important to get on the floor and get work done. Usually,managers of drug stores or small mall shops have to roll up their sleeves and work. Some

enjoy this too much or use it to avoid responsibility.

It is hard to plan, go over sales figures, track associate performance, and come up with well-thought-out ideas to increase sales and decrease expenses. A manager who avoids his or heroffice (usually a bench in the back room) will never achieve excellence.

Conversely, a manager who concentrates on office work will not have a strong picture of hisor her staff. Things won't get done. They won't connect socially with associates. Again, theywill not achieve excellence.

It's okay to be a great stocker or salesman. It's also okay to have a head for numbers andtrends. But to concentrate on one aspect at the expense of the other will unbalance thestore.

Balancing paperwork and floor work can also give the manager a better, clearer picture ofthe store. Like the example below. If the manager did his job of tracking performanceinstead of blindly stocking shelves he could have prevented theft and fraud.

Relying on Personal BiasPersonal biases are formed by our families, friends, and experiences. In its mundane form

personal bias provides our personal taste and preference. In more dangerous form, personalbias leads to blindness and ignorance.


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Here's an example: I knew a manager who had a preference for one cashier. His perceptionwas his favourite cashier was fast, took responsibility for her job, and was overall his staremployee. He even nicknamed her "The Final Solution" because she seemed to fixeverything.

When I first started working for this manager, I noticed he was not tracking employeeperformance. He had no logs on things like tardiness, register transactions, and up-sales. Hisperception was based on what he personally saw.

Turns out, his "Final Solution" was the worst employee in the store. She had the worstattendance record, the most requested days off, the most restrictions on her schedule, andwas loosing hundreds of pounds a week in poor till balancing.

After I put a security program into place we caught her doing coupon fraud. She admitted tostealing cigarettes for months when Asset Protection fired her.

Inadequate RewardsOr right-out insulting.Here's a list of the worst performance or morale building rewards I've encountered. Pushingthem as a manager will result in loss of morale and credibility. Please, for the love of all thatis good and holy, avoid them.

Employee of the Month:A social taboo for teens and young adults. Veteran retailassociates see it as a popularity contest. It's time to put the antiquated idea in the grave.

Lunch with the Manager:WTF? Are you kidding me? Most people don't want to havelunch with their manager. It's awkward at best.

Inadequate Monetary Rewards:Hard-sell UK2,000 in videos and you'll get UK5 incold, hard cash! Here's a tip: if an employee would willingly pay you the amount of thereward to not participate, you should think about it some more.

Just Kidding!Using humour to harass, belittle, and dominate.Having a sense of humour and knowing when levity will increase morale are importantleadership qualities. Using "humour" to establish dominance or belittle others are notleadership qualities.

Saying, "Just kidding!" or laughing does not transform toxic communication into somethinggood. Here are some topics that managers shouldn't joke about:

An associate's appearance

Calling in sick Personal relationships


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Inability to perform well

An embarrassing circumstance Anything to do with sex, ethnicity, politics, or religion Once again, saying "Just kidding!" does not make it all better

Using humour to establish dominance puts a manager on the same level as a dog trying toclimb to the top of a pack. Comments such as "So... ha, ha... I guess you don't want to workhere anymore because you're always late! Ha, ha!" are put-downs, demoralizing, and willresult in an immediate loss of credibility.

Sarcasm is awesome. It allows witty, intelligent people to express themselves at the expense

of the unimaginative and self-important. Managers should never be sarcastic towards theiremployees. Sarcasm should be saved for the manager's boss, such as the district manager. Ican respect that. But never, ever, should manager use sarcasm on an associate under hercharge.

How does a manager know that he's gone too far with humour? That's easy: If you can tellthe "joke" to an eight-year-old without hurting his feelings, then it's probably okay.

How does a manager know he's using "humour" to establish dominance? That's easy, too. Icall it the "f*** off" test. If you make a joke and the employee tells you to f*** off, thenyou've gone too far. Since most employees won't tell a boss to f*** off, here's some other

ways they say it: Silence Breaking eye contact Leaving Refusing to converse other than necessary communication Stapling a two-week's notice to your forehead Just kidding

Performance Punishing BehaviourI saved the best for last. Almost all retail managers have done this. In another line of

profession, I have done this, knowingly. I now regret it.

Performance punishing behaviour is when you treat your best people like dirt. Managers puttheir fastest, most reliable, most competent people on the worst jobs.

Reliable associates get the worst shifts. Competent associates get the worst tasks. Fastemployees get the most tedious jobs. After a while, these associates have to be rewardedand recognized. Definitely promoted (if they want).

Most managers I've witnessed in performance punishing behaviour use the rest of this page's

headers as excuses to keep going: lies, bias, poor rewards.


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Conversely, the same managers will let poor performers slide. They will make excuses for

Suzy Comes Late or Johnny Does Meth in the Bathroom. But if Kristin the Superstar comes inthree minutes late, then the manager goes into full lecture mode. This is unfair. As amanager, you will loose whatever credibility you have with either set of employees as beingboth a cold-hearted bastard and an easy push-over.

As Im still connected to the retail environment and I have experienced many things, positiveand negative on both HR and at operations level so I pick up new ideas all the time and hereare a few more examples of IMHO bad administration tactics.

SpyingIn the break room, a group of employees were venting about several stressful occurrencesthat had just happened. They were getting nasty about it. Already agitated, one discoveredan assistant manager crouched just outside the door, listening.

Threats to TerminateA new manager comes into a store full of fire and enthusiasm. She dislikes the way one ofthe shifts handled safety concerns and threatens to fire the next person who breaks SOP.She looks impotent when the entire shift ignores her.

Punishment through Third PartiesNot wanting to confront employees directly, a manager uses his supervisors to dole out

discipline. They don't do a very good job of it because they don't like the confrontationsthemselves. So essentially the sad fact is nobody is getting coached, feedback, or warnings.

The "Retail Promise":A young clerk wants to move up in the ranks. He is told that if he works real hard, takes onresponsibilities that are way above his experience and position, and shows he's totallyawesome, he'll get a promotion. He becomes less enthusiastic as time goes on and realizeshe's being taken advantage of by the managers.

Dealing with an A55ho l3 Manager

I once did a period of training reps that had to work with scores of various managers; also inthe retail trade; a week. Some hit a wall when dealing with a manager that is not onlyunhelpful but outright hostile even if the rep is there to help them out. When a rep becomesfrustrated, I tell and ask them the following:-

Do they know how they choose people for management in retail? It's not because ofmanagement skills or charisma or business sense. They pick people who can worklong hours with low pay under stressful conditions in no-win situations.

I tell them that a jerk manager will eventually come around. One day, if the repkeeps being friendly and helpful, the manager will mention a vacation coming up, or akid's birthday, or divulge a career milestone. That sharing will be the rep's "in"

because it will personalize the manager and the rep.


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Now if you're not lucky enough to be a field rep but instead have to work with a bad

manager, I can suggest two things. Wait for a moment like the one above and get yourrsum polished off and start looking for a new job.

Remember an official title may be store manager, but that's only because your employeename tag is too small to include all the other jobs you do -- including salesperson, stockclerk, cashier, accountant, in-house psychologist and employee-conflict mediator.

Tips for Management SuccessAn effective manager pays attention to many facets of management, leadership and learningwithin organizations. So, it's difficult to take the topic of 'management success' and say thatthe following ten items are the most important for management success."Thumbs up for making managers better leaders!

Bad Retail Management - 101For the genuinely determined, there are a number of creative ways to be a downright awfulretail manager. Some ideas I have observed include:

Whenever you give employees a pat on the back, affix a "kick me" sign. Post a notice suggesting that employees interested in making scheduling requests

should first look over the choice of Amway products for sale in the break room. Replace the music currently played over the store's sound system with selections

you've recorded on your home karaoke machine.

Unfortunately, most lousy store managers follow more tried-and-true paths to mediocrity.

Retail experts say the following five bad practices are among the most common. Read, learnand avoid.

1. Assume Staff Members Have No Outside LivesSince they tend to view their employees as little more than working automatons, badmanagers think their staff should focus 100 percent of their attention on their jobs.

These managers don't take associates time away from work into consideration, But a lot ofretail associates are going to school, for example. They need time for classes and homework.If you act like your store is the only thing that should be important to them, they'll see thatas a lack of respect, and performance will suffer."

2. Treat Everyone the SameOn the surface, it might seem like a good idea to treat all your employees alike. That wayyou're not showing favouritism, right? Wrong, what you're really doing is failing toacknowledge them as individuals.

Every employee has unique needs and desires, and they want to feel valued, treatingemployees without regard for these personal needs sends a clear message that they are not


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special to you. If you want the labour of a person's heart and not just his hands, you must

treat people with respect."

3. Don't Say Anything NiceI use the term "seagull management" to describe managers who fly around the storesquawking loudly, stopping only long enough to dump on any employees within earshotbefore swooping off to another department. Seagulls deliver only bad news, never offeringanything positive.

One of the most common mistakes managers make is to combine too little positive feedbackand recognition with poorly delivered negative feedback or discipline. You get the behaviouryou reward. If you don't like the behaviour you are getting, don't just look at youremployees; [look] at your management style, corporate culture and communications patternsto find the problem.

4. Don't Share ExpectationsAlmost everyone has had the unpleasant experience of being reprimanded by a supervisorwith no warning and no prior indication that anything was wrong.

Employees often won't live up to expectations if you never tell them what you're looking for;Take the employee who shows up a few minutes late for work every day. The store managerkeeps letting it slide but inside is getting frustrated until one day it boils over, and he brings

the associate into the back and chews him out. But the associate never knew he was doinganything wrong. To avoid this, managers need to be consistently setting and resettingexpectations.

5. Be a Bad Role Model"Do as I say, not as I do" is a favourite motto of bad managers. Expecting a certainbehaviour from staff members that you can't be bothered to exhibit yourself is a terrific wayto turn employees against you.

If you tell associates to smile and say hi' to every customer who walks in, but you don't do

it, you're going to get pushback. Good leaders are good role models. This doesn't mean youhave to be able to do everything associates do. But when it comes to basics like showing upfor work on time, being friendly to the customer and staying productive, as a manager, youhave a responsibility to be a proper role model."

IMHO Managers of these megastores should not get frustrated when they dont get therequired actions, loyalty from employees when they are only giving extra work toinexperienced employees thus helping them (the managers) to reach the targets andbudgets and their bonuses set out by theoretical demands from Head Office. Theory andPractice are never the same.


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Remember when the store and/or the Megastore opened?

Various media outlets, harped on and constantly mentioned work places for many localpeople?

On the opening day, not only were the mayor, council dignitaries, the media, politicalpersonalities, maybe even the prime minister at the inauguration.

There were three employees (team members) at the ten cashier tills one cashier, onepacker and maybe a third to carry your wares to your vehicle?

Did you notice that there were team members all over the shop floor, a few places at thecorner of each aisle? In fact one could say a staff member for nearly every five customers!

Visit the store two weeks after its Grand Opening and the chances are only one cashier ateach till, a limited contingence of shop floor staff members. Then visit the store again afterfour weeks, what a surprise, only two till (out of ten) are open for the customer, as for shopfloor member, it takes half an hour to find anyone to help the customer?

The only time one will see the store full of staff members and all cahier tills open are acouple of weeks before Christmas and Easter.

So if you want to know if your job in retail is a secure one The simple answer is No anddont let any manager try to convince you otherwise at the initial interview foremployment.

Saying all this, then every profession has its pluses and negatives. The Pop Star who worriesabout the next gig being a sell-out; will he still be selling hits in ten years time, will his recordcompany sign him up or another batch of music?

The footballer, will he still be able to kick a leather ball around a pitch for 90 minutes and willhis sponsors sponsor his club in five years time? Same thoughts will no doubt go through the

minds of tennis players of Formula I drivers, etc.?

So the retail manager wonders how his bonus will look at the end of the year. As for hisemployee, will they be able to survive another year paying the rent, food, fees etc., for thenext year.

THATS LIFE.


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So now you know and you still want to get into Retail, then Iwish you all the best for the future.


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My advice to everyone is:-

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many.Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religiousbooks.Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many

generations.But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees withreason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept itand live up to it.Believe nothing merely because you have been told it.Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for theteacher.

But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind,conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings -- that doctrinebelieve and cling to, and take it as your guide through life.

If it is not truthful and not helpful, dont say it.

If it is truthful and not helpful, dont say it.

If it is not truthful and helpful, dont say it

If it is truthful and helpful, wait for the right time to say it.

The traveller sees what he sees; the tourist sees what he has come to see.


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You might like to also read the following:-

A LEADER BY EXAMPLE A THOUGHT FOR THE NIGHT RECEPTION

AFRICA LOST CAUSE

AGAINST CHARITY

BAD ATTITUDE

BLAME CULTURE

BOEING STRATACRUISER

CAN WE SURVIVE GIVEN THE FOLLOWING

COMMON TRAITS OF BAD LEADERS

COMMUNICATE THEN DELEGATE

CONCEPT OF TRUST

DEALING WITH POOR PERFORMANCE

DER TODESFLUG DER MOZART

DO AS I SAY NOT AS I DO!

DO DONT BOSS

DO WE NEED CHRISTMAS

DONT INVEST DONT EXPECT

EFFECTIVE TEAM LEADER

EFFICIENCY HOSPITALITY

EVALUATION WHY WHAT HOW WHO AND WHEN

GOOD TEACHER

GOSSIP

HARARE IS IT THE WORST CITY ON EARTH

HOTEL FAILURE

HOTEL or INN

HOTEL SECURITY

HOTELS FAIL ON REALITY

HOUSEKEEPING IN HOTELS HOUSEKEEPING IN HOTELS

I DONT DO FRIENDS

JANITOR PORTER RECEPTION

JUST KENYA

KENYA REGIMENT

LAST MINUTE SALES IN HOSPITALITY

LAUDA AIR B767 ACCIDENT REPORT

LOW MORAL

LYING BOSS

MANAGEMENT CHANGE

MANAGERS LOVE EM OR HATE EM

METHALI ZA KISWAHILI

MOMBASA RARA SASA MONEY WASTED ON CHARITY

MOTIVATION

NEGATIVITY OF KENYA

NO CHARITY FROM ME

PROBLEMS WITH GENERAL MANAGERS

RELIGION

RELIGION STEALS

SURVIVE A BAD TEAM LEADER

TEAM LEADERSHIP

THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY

THE LUNATIC EXPRESS

THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO

THE WHISPERING GIANT

THIS IS NOT IN MY JOB DESCRITION

UNLIKE WE IN THE WEST


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WANT TO BE A BAD TEAM LEADER

WHAT SHOULD A TEAM LEADER DO

WHEN TRAVELLING WAS A PLEASURE WHEN TRAVELLING WAS A PLEASURE INDIAN

WHY ARE AFRICAN COUNTRIES POOR BUT RICH RESOURCES

WHY PEOPLE LEAVE

WHY WORK

YOU SHOULD NEVER PUT YOURSELF ABOVE YOUR TEAM

ZEPPELIN A WAY TO TRAVEL

If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread intoyour work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not

stay there, you must go beyond them.Empty your mind; be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, itbecomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot,and it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water and adapt to thesituation. [Find the path of least resistance.]

Retail Requirements

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Transcript of Retail Requirements