Store manager: duties, job description, functions, responsibility

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The key figure in the operation of any retail or wholesale outlet is the store manager. The duties, functions, powers and rights of the person holding this position are carefully spelled out in his job description, as well as in some regulatory legal acts of the current legislation.

Important points

First of all, it is worth noting that the position of "store director" belongs to the category of leaders. As a rule, it is directly subordinate to the owners or top management, such as network managers. From the point of view of legislation, it is the store manager who is responsible for meeting the requirements of regulatory legal acts, norms and standards. The duties of such an employee include interaction with representatives of authorities, various authorities, services and departments in order to ensure the functioning of the point of sale without violations and deviations. It is this official who puts his signatures and endorsesreporting documents, including strict ones, and is also responsible for compliance with fire, sanitary safety measures, and so on. It follows from this that such a leader bears responsibility for the quality of his work not only to the owner or top management, but also to the law.

Job Description Highlights

What is the main document on which the manager (manager) of the store works? A job description usually consists of several items: functions or duties, rights, requirements. Below are the main general theses of these sections. This document is approved by the owner-entrepreneur alone or by a meeting of founders, owners or shareholders, depending on the legal form of the legal entity. After being hired, the director of the outlet confirms with his signature that he has read the job description and undertakes to fulfill it in full.

Job Responsibilities

Since the main employee of the outlet is the store manager, the duties of this person are quite wide. As a rule, they come down to the following:

• Organization of the work of the point of sale, including setting a schedule, drawing up and standardizing the work schedule, determining weekends and holidays.
• Compliance with legal requirements for the functioning of the store, depending on the specifics of its activities.
• Submission of documents, execution and receipt of all necessarypermits in accordance with applicable law, taking into account the profile of the store (licenses, conclusions, certificates, etc.).
• Ensuring the availability and operation of all necessary commercial equipment, measuring instruments, cash registers, terminals, etc., as well as monitoring their timely maintenance, metrological verification, and, if necessary, registration with state bodies and authorities.
• Drawing up work plans, bringing them to the attention of employees and monitoring their implementation.
• Distribution of duties among employees, issuance and execution of individual assignments, instructions, orders.
• Providing employees with everything they need to fulfill their job descriptions, as well as monitoring the rational use of consumables, financial and material resources.
• Negotiating with suppliers and customers, organizing and conducting business meetings, presentations.
• Conclusion of sales contracts, commissions, leases within the amounts set by the higher management or the owner of the store.
• Preparation and submission of reports to government agencies, management bodies or founders of the outlet.

Other functions of the store manager may be added to this list at the discretion of the owners or top management of the chain.

Rights

The store director has not only duties, but also a number of opportunities, which are also indicated in the job descriptioninstructions. So, the manager of the point of sale has the right:

• Submit proposals to senior management or the store owner to improve operations, change working hours, expand or reduce the product range, conduct promotions or advertising campaigns, etc.
• Employ and fire store employees at your own discretion.
• Take disciplinary measures against employees who violate the work schedule or dishonestly perform their duties, including in the form of reprimands, with or without entry in personal files and work books, as well as bringing to material liability (imposition of fines).
• To reward employees who excel in their work, within the limits set by the higher management/owner of the store or the budget.
• Require the employer to provide all the necessary conditions for the performance of their immediate duties, including the provision of a workplace that meets the requirements of labor legislation, the means and opportunities to implement the norms and requirements of regulatory legal acts or eliminate existing violations.
• Transfer part of their functions or responsibilities, as well as the right to sign on individual documents to another official with prior (or without it) approval from higher management or the owner. Such a person, for example, could be a deputy store manager or a chief accountant.

This is also not a complete list, but onlybasic provisions. As in the case of duties, the rights of the manager can be much broader depending on the specifics of the activity and the level of confidence of the employer.

Requirements

Because such a position implies a certain level of knowledge, skills and abilities that a store manager must have, duties are not the only important item in the job description. Often, the employer also prescribes requirements for the store director. For example:

• Continuously improve your skills by attending special training courses, trainings, attending conferences and round tables for managers.
• Not be a regular customer of a competing retail chain or store.
• Always have a well-groomed and neat appearance in accordance with the corporate policy of the network.

Sometimes the employer also prescribes a requirement to answer calls from higher management at any time, even at night or on a weekend, as well as other specific items related to the specifics of the activity.

Responsibility

As noted above, the store manager is responsible not only to the owners or top management of the network, but also to the law. It basically boils down to a few items in the job description:

• For damage caused as a result of non-performance or improper performance of their official duties, the head is liable in the amount established by internalstore (or chain) documents, as well as applicable law.
• For the use of financial, material and technical resources of the outlet in their own interests or in the interests of third parties, the manager is liable depending on the amount of damage caused.
• For non-compliance with the requirements of regulatory legal acts, as well as for the submission of false reports to state administration and control authorities, the store manager is liable in the amount established by law.

Working hours

How this work is standardized is also a difficult question. The store manager, like any other employee, can work no more than the number of hours per week that is established by applicable law. But, as a rule, this is only in theory. In practice, the store manager has an irregular working day and often works without days off and holidays. This is due to the great responsibility and volume of work. But with the right selection of staff and a competent distribution of responsibilities, the store manager can organize his working time productively and have a completely normal schedule. The main requirement of all owners usually boils down to the following: the business must work and generate income not lower than a certain level, and the rest is the task of the head of the outlet, and he will do it on his own, working at night, or will meet the deadlines without overworking the founders in mostly interested last.

Wages

The salary of a store manager depends on many factors: the region in which the outlet is located, the focus and specifics of work, the need or lack thereof on business trips and business trips, the volume of trade, the need for specific knowledge. The level of earnings of the director is almost always influenced by the profitability of the enterprise, as well as the fulfillment by the employees of the point of trading plans and schedules. In other words, the salary of the director of a small grocery store in a residential area of the city will certainly be significantly lower than the income of the manager of an expensive car salon. Moreover, this difference may not be several thousand, but vary in the range of several orders of magnitude.

Features of the food trade

A grocery store has its own specifics of activity associated with very strict requirements of legal documents for its activities. Since such a product can have an impact on human he alth or even life, the law is very strict about sanitary and hygienic standards for sales, as well as product quality. That is why the head of a retail outlet for the sale of food products (whether it be a wholesale warehouse or a regular grocery store) bears great responsibility and is obliged, among other things, to carefully monitor the availability of all necessary certificates for products, the conditions of their transportation and storage, as well as the he alth and physical condition of its employees.

Resumes and candidates

A store manager's resume mustcontain information about education and work experience. Such a position, as a rule, cannot be taken without having certain skills and knowledge in the field of trade. Please list all previous jobs. Most likely, the employer will be interested in the candidate who has gone through the entire career path from an ordinary salesperson to top management. In this case, the applicant for the position will most likely have the most complete picture of the work process, possible difficulties and features.

Higher rank

Manager of a chain of stores - a position that, in essence, is very similar to the position of a store director, but the distinguishing feature is the management of not one outlet, but several. As a rule, a manager of this level does not interact directly with all employees of the chain stores, but most often only with directors or their deputies. The duties and rights of such an official are practically the same as those of a store manager. The responsibility of the network director is, as a rule, to the owners or founders.

Out of the box

Today, a non-standard approach to such a position as a store manager is becoming more and more popular. Responsibilities of the director of a retail outlet have recently been supplemented with new items, including making non-standard decisions and introducing creative ideas for business development. It all depends on the corporate policy of the network and the views of the owners ondoing business.