Store Leader Review

Store manager/leader. Running of store performance on the shop floor. Back of house admin and maintenance of compliance. Coaching and feedback. Regular training of new and existing staff members. Training via in person and virtual classrooms as well as meetings with other managers to learn through collaboration with peers.

Many new skills have been acquired in this roles since I started the training course and subsequently found a role within a new store. These include; people management, performance management, coaching and feedback, maintaining store compliance, using and effieciently managing the rota as well as collaborating with the wider region to maximise performance.

The programme has been enjoyable for the most part, with my training guide being very supportive and present throughout the experience. It has been fairly difficult to manage the programme amongst my current work load which dominates much of my time. It has also been beneficial for learning certain new skills.

The programme is pretty well structured and organised but it could be made better. Whether this is through Realise or through my company I’m not too sure but at times the programme conflicts with current working hours and makes it hard to get the most out of the programme.

My employer is very supportive of the programme and try’s to allocate 20% of contracted hours towards training hours to be used completing the programme. However this can be very difficult given working in a sales environment. This means that nowhere near 20% of contracted hours are spent completing the training.

I receive a decent level of support from the training provider with a designated training guide that maintains contacts and does site visits to ensure that the programme is manageable and the work load is being complete. I have a minimum of one site visit per month in which the training is reflected upon.

I don’t believe that the training has helped me with performance. To make the statement that the training has bettered my performance in role would be incorrect and I would instead say it has allowed me to reflect on what I have been successful with and what needs work.

There a lots of extra curricular activities that I can get involved in. Being part of such a large company allows for access to many different networking schemes and social activities. Many of these can be hard to utilise due to time constraints but they are present non the less.

Yes

As a whole it’s been a very good company to work for with management progression being easily obtainable with hard work. There are also a multitude of benefits from discounts to health. There is also the option to look into progression into different parts of the business that can be very appealing.

The most important things are to be clear that this is the line of work you want to be in. It is very difficult to succeed without 100% commitment, but with that commitment is the reward of a great career. The job requires a dedicated individual with drive and tenacity.