Commercial Manager Review

My current job title is a Commercial Manager of the customer service desk. I started in September 2017 and 6 months down the line I have moved throughout the store, shadowed different job roles and been involved with corporate meetings and decisions and now have manager responsibilities. Also, in this time been involved in different projects across the store and business involving stock loss compliance, long service recognition, random acts of kindness and lots of trust and small responsibilities. Daily routine involves catching up with team, motivating/updating them, ensuring your business unit is ready to trade and depending on your area of store checking communications from business and policy.

Training I have learned involves People Policy and other courses such as leadership workshop and duty management courses that are organised by M&S. Due to my program being a school leaver, I also have workbooks to complete which allow you to apply theory to your day today work. Also, personal skills have been developed such as confidence (when speaking at store team briefs), corporate mind, managing and leadership and communication with my team.

I massively enjoy the business, store and team I work in. I was actually placed in London, relocated from Newcastle for this program so the learning curve has involved a new job and living independently which is harder but more rewarding. My job is very satisfying as I enjoy customer interaction and teamwork but there is a large area for progression allowing you to develop yourself and grow. The scheme itself allows for fast progression, training and learning opportunities and the chance to mix theory and on the job experience. Better than expected and with a personal learning ad visor you feel constantly supported with added structure.

I feel very appreciated by M&S, as my scheme involves coming straight into commercial team, my line manager is the store manager and therefore you feel very close to the 'action' and business. I feel constantly recognised for my achievements and get to improve and listen to top tips from very experienced managers. Any chance at new opportunities and my line manager approaches me to help me get involved.

My program is rather structured with a visual guidebook on the road ahead with what modules you will complete, when and information on the final assessment before you can be signed off into the role. Initially my program was being written meaning it felt very unstructured, but now I feel more structured and supported with deadlines and targets to complete workbooks/tasks.

I have only had 1 visit and 1 call from my ad visor so far, they are a support system but I feel closer and more supported by the team I work with everyday than the outsourced ad visor who's main role is to ensure work is completed and I understand what I have wrote. However, they do provide workshops alongside the module you are working on to help develop your learning and context.

My employer is very supportive, M&S and my line manager I feel are always there to help me should I have questions. M&S have a great system set up with head office as well as live well work well number and people policy specialists are there to assist in any questions you might have.

Due to the relocation from North East England to London, the costs are very large. However, the salary and extra perks are more than expected considering I am learning. This means I didn't have the debt of university and got to learn a specific trade and industry. I live nearby which means I don't have travel costs but Employees Cafe is very cheap allowing for staff to have good meals throughout the day.

Yes head office and M&S organise many events that go alongside current trends and changes to the business.

Yes

M&S is a great place to work with a friendly and supportive network. The team's within store support each other but also the head office network helps stores within the business stay connected and this means people can support each other. Also, they provide great chances for internal and external development with the chance to grow within the business and move throughout area's and stores.

Be yourself when applying, the M&S values are very easy to follow and I suggest studying these values and linking them to your personal life to ensure you are confident in what they mean. They focus a lot on values and how they link to the future of M&S and how they affect the purpose of the business. The process for me involved an online application, numerical and situational tests and then an assessment day. This process was very involved in business and made my feel like I had learned a lot from this experience.