7 Traits to Look for in a Retail Store Manager
Finding a great retail store manager can be tricky. After all, the candidate may be faced with tricky customers, hard sales and complex admin all in a typical day.
Only a multi-tasker with resilient personality will survive and thrive in your store.
So, what should be on your retail recruitment checklist?
- GOAL ORIENTATED
The best retail managers love meeting goals. As well as being personally goal driven, however, the candidate must be able to set realistic goals for staff.
They should know how to motivate staff to achieve their best. This means helping them work as effective team players while keeping an eye on the bigger picture.
- HIGHLY ORGANISED
A retail manager’s average day is packed with often unexpected events. Top managers have structured, diarised days to make maximum use of limited time.
Poor time management creates a sloppy, inefficient workplace where mistakes are more likely to happen.
- CALM UNDER PRESSURE
Your retail manager should ideally be unflappable. The ability to be calm under pressure will be a great bonus in your retail store.
No matter what happens, a calm manager will be able to find their way through with a clear head and stress-free approach.
- GREAT COMMUNICATOR
Retail managers are expected to deal with many different people in a typical day. This includes customers, suppliers, staff and executives.
Strong communication skills are essential, along with ability to build staff relationships and identify with customer problems.
Retail managers should be comfortable dealing with people from every walk of life. Adapting seamlessly, they are capable of talking on a number of different levels.
- FIRM UNDER FIRE
While managers must be good with people, they can’t be ‘people pleasers’. They will often be called on to discipline staff, be firm with difficult customers and bring wayward suppliers into line.
The manager may go straight from looking after a frail customer to giving a staff member an official warning. This requires a certain kind of resilience that not everyone has.
- TEAM BUILDER
A retail manager must understand the importance of teams and know how to build one.
This means identifying staff members who need help as well as those who are driven to excel. Once identified, these workers must be nurtured to help them meet their full potential.
Top retail managers know how to pick the leaders of tomorrow and encourage them to give their best.
- PROBLEM SOLVER
All sorts of problems will be encountered in a normal day. That’s why your retail manager needs to be a natural problem solver who always rises to the challenge.
Conflict resolution is also an essential managerial skill. Retail environments can be fast paced and full of stresses, so your manager must be comfortable hosing down a variety of situations.
A specialist recruitment agency can help you source retail store managers to fill your retail jobs.
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