Personal experience: how I became a store director at 25 and what mistakes I made

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

From doing work for employees to avoiding responsibility, the aspiring leader can make serious mistakes.

During my studies at the university, at the Faculty of World Economy, I did not work. After graduation, he got a job as a manager in a consulting firm. After working for two years, I realized that there were no opportunities for professional development and career growth, so I decided to quit.

My father at that time was the CEO of an organization that deals with wholesale trade. The company planned to open a chain of retail grocery stores in order to increase its distribution channels. The core team had already been formed, and the search for outlets' directors was under way.

I decided to propose my candidacy for the role of head of one of the stores, which was supposed to open in the center of Yekaterinburg. Area - 300 square meters, a team of eight people. The hiring was handled by the executive director. I turned to him, told him about my intentions and about my willingness to put in as much effort as required. The executive director made it clear that this position is key for the store and I need to be prepared for the fact that if I do not cope with it, I will have to be replaced. I agreed. After this conversation, we met with my father, discussed again my responsibilities and working conditions.

So, having only theoretical knowledge of running a retail grocery store, I became a director. At that time I was 25 years old.

During this work, I gained useful experience and, of course, made many mistakes. I will name the main ones and talk about the key difficulties that I faced in acquiring leadership skills. Hope this helps those who are at the beginning of their journey.

1. Performing work for employees

My primary goal was to understand all the processes in the shop. I decided to start by studying one of the key positions - the cashier. We hired one employee for this position, and while we were looking for a second, I stood behind the cash register. It was also a good way to learn about buyers and their preferences.

Everything turned out as planned. I learned to confidently work at the checkout, at the same time punch through the goods and conduct a dialogue with customers - I already knew regular visitors by sight. I found out what products they often buy and what would be in demand if we had them on sale. I changed the location of the cameras in the trading floor so that it could be seen on the recording exactly which bills the cashier was receiving: there was a case when a buyer accidentally gave a bill with a denomination of less than he expected.

In the same way, he replaced the merchandiser for some time. I figured out the principles of forming orders, studied in detail the platforms on which the goods were recorded.

Six months later, the staff was fully formed, which means that I should have had more time for strategic tasks - for example, for working with analytics.

But this did not happen: I did not have the strength and desire to deal with the key indicators of the store, I returned home like a squeezed lemon.

The point was that even when the team was already formed, I continued to perform work for line employees. I replaced them at the checkout, laid out the goods, formed orders.

Of course, at the grocery store, an extra pair of hands never hurts. Moreover, the work at each site can be constantly improved - this is what I have always strived for. And in the end I caught myself thinking that I was performing tasks for my employees precisely because I thought: "No one can do better than me." And he was wrong. When I stopped taking on the responsibilities of subordinates, the store did not stop working. On the contrary, many processes have become more efficient, because now each of us was busy with his own business.

The task of the manager is to organize the work of the employees, not to carry out tasks in their place. You can take on everything on your own at first, in order to thoroughly understand how the enterprise works, but the main thing is to understand that this is temporary. Otherwise, you can quickly reach burnout.

As soon as I realized this, I began, as befits a manager, to assign tasks to employees and monitor the quality of their implementation.

2. Lack of criteria for evaluating candidates when hiring

At first, I was self-confident and relied on intuition: I thought that I understood the psychology of people and at the interview stage I could understand exactly which of the candidates was suitable for the job and which was not. Which, of course, was a mistake.

Once a girl with great experience, well-delivered speech and excellent understanding of tasks came to an interview for a cashier's vacancy. Speaking about the previous place of work, she casually noticed that she quit because the employer reacted negatively to the fact that she got sick. Then I took the girl's side: how is this possible at all, because sick leaves exist for this. As a result, she worked with us for only six months. We parted with the employee for the same reason that she named at the interview: from time to time she did not go out for shift after the weekend, citing poor health. In the position of a cashier, such indiscipline is unacceptable.

Also in my first year of operation, one of the key hiring points for me was experience with food. Over time, I stopped paying such close attention to this. We even hired an employee who had never worked in retail before. During the interview, at the stage of the store demonstration, she examined everything with genuine interest, asked specific questions related to the trading processes. And the choice of this candidate was one of the most correct ones that I did in my position. The employee climbed the career ladder and became one of those colleagues who, along with me, made key decisions in the life of the store.

Gradually, based on experience, I developed a specific list of criteria for evaluating candidates. The metrics varied depending on the position, but mainly I paid attention to the following:

• punctuality (did you come for an interview on time);
• neatness (all employees are in contact with customers, so the appearance affects the store's reputation);
• motivation (reasons for being interested in this vacancy: for example, if this is a cashier, then he likes to communicate with customers, and if an administrator, he prefers to clearly structure not only his work, but also the work of his subordinates);
• personal qualities (ability to express thoughts, sociability);
• reasons for leaving the previous job (whether the candidate broke up with the former employer peacefully or there were conflicts);
• experience in the position or the desire to get it (if on all other points the candidate was suitable and we saw a desire to work with us, then they gave a chance);
• compliance with the requirements of the security service (checked after the interview).

This has led to better recruiting, staff turnover has practically disappeared. Over the past three years, only one administrator has changed - because the employee went on maternity leave.

3. Failure to take responsibility

Initially, we had a cleaning lady on staff. She came twice a day by the clock, since there was no point in being in the store all the time. However, in cases where a bag of milk broke or the buyer broke a jar of pickles, the cashiers had to do the cleaning. This was not part of their direct responsibilities, but at the same time they were responsible for ordering the trading floor. And in the autumn-winter period, for example, it was required to clean up even more often.

It was obvious to me that the duties of the cleaner must be transferred to the cashiers. Their working day was organized in such a way that cleaning of the premises could be easily added to the schedule. However, I doubted: I thought that if such changes were made, the established processes would go wrong and this would affect the efficiency of the store.

I decided to consult with the staff - and that was a mistake.

The team was in favor of leaving a separate position of the cleaner. Administrators emphasized that during hiring, the position of a cashier did not imply the obligation to clean up. Therefore, there is a risk that employees will not agree with such conditions and we will lose valuable personnel. There were also fears that cashiers would not keep up with their main tasks. The cashiers themselves did not want to take on additional responsibilities.

I was sure that these changes were needed, and could not understand why the employees did not see this. The answer was pretty simple: they shouldn't. I didn't have enough experience to realize: this is my area of responsibility. Having decided to consult with the team, I wanted to share my responsibility with the employees, and this, you see, is not very expedient.

In the end, I held a new meeting and explained that the decision had already been made. We said goodbye to the cleaner. At first, the cashiers were not very happy about their new responsibilities, but, of course, their wages rose, so they continued to work. After a couple of weeks, all employees agreed that this option was much more logical. Now cashiers were more willing to clean up after a broken jam jar, because it was part of their duties and paid.

4. Ignoring the advice of subordinates

Three years after the start of work, the merchandiser and administrator proposed to convert part of the warehouse into a sales area and use it as a healthy food department. It was feasible, but it seemed to me impractical. The financial indicators were pleasing, the work with the goods was perfectly organized. It was not clear to me why such a reshuffle, requiring cash infusions, should be carried out. I gave up the idea.

About a year later, we decided to freshen up the interior of the store and make some minor repairs. We have hired an organization that is engaged in the design of sales areas. And one of the first proposals was the expansion of the main hall at the expense of a part of the warehouse.

After the renovation, thanks to the increased area, we were able to add a new department - "Useful Products", which gave us an influx of new customers and increased the loyalty of existing ones. In the first month after the changes, we exceeded the revenue target by 25%. I realized that delaying these changes for a whole year was the wrong decision - it was worth listening to the employees.

For some reason, I believed that such large-scale ideas as organizing an entire department should come from the leadership. No.

Every idea aimed at improving performance must be thoroughly studied.

I suppose you can make the opposite mistake here, if you follow all the advice and implement all the ideas that are voiced by your employees. For example, if a store is open from 8:00, and the cashiers tell you that there are practically no customers in the morning, and offer to open the store an hour later, this is a bad idea. Such an innovation will give employees more time to sleep, but will not benefit the point of sale. After all, early buyers, even if they are few, know that they can run into your store before work. And if they received good service, they will come to you both day and evening. So, with the help of a morning purchase, we can increase the number of loyal customers.

There is probably no universal formula for distinguishing good advice from bad. You need to listen to all ideas, but carefully analyze them in terms of what purpose they pursue. And implement only those that are aimed at developing your business.

I held the position of director for six years. Six months ago, I realized that I had done everything I could for the store, there was a desire to move on and try myself in a new field. The store continues to work with a permanent team of employees - and regular customers also come to it, whose loyalty we have earned over the years.