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A Highly motivated inspirational leader who leads with energy and passion, with over 11 Years experience in

Retail.

An individual with a drive and determination to be the best. Constantly striving for a clean sheet of KPIs and
pushing bottom line profit, through great leadership, standards and a constant focus on sales people and
service. A role model to others with a great coaching style and strong values.
Able to communicate across all levels combined with a determination to deliver a memorable customer
experience, personally role modelling excellent levels of service.

Demonstrates tenacity and a will to win, takes ownership and delivers to a high standard, through recognising
and stretching the capabilities and potential of others. Consistently striving to drive personal development,
whilst supporting the development and implementation of key business initiatives
Successful in both startup and turnaround management roles have propelled multiple stores to
#1 in sales and customer satisfaction nation-wide while simultaneously lowering shrink and staff turnover
to all-time lows.
Comprehensive background leading all aspects of retail operations (e.g., P&L, merchandising,
sales, customer service, inventory, personnel and payroll management) reinforced by extensive retail
management training.
I am very active in charities
More than 30% colleagues have more than 15 years service.
Every day, Store Managers have six key responsibilities. Here's a glimpse into a typical day:

I am a great coach
I work with the Colleague Council to make sure the Talkback action plan delivers the right result.
I coach Line Managers to spot colleagues living our values and to give them positive feedback.
I am a role model for our values and leadership behaviours
I encourage colleagues to get involved with the local community as much as possible.
I always recognise when a colleague has gone above and beyond the call of duty.
I make decisions that put the customer at the heart of what we do
I spend time every week with customers listening and talking to them about their shopping
experience with us.
Every two weeks I analyse the Making Customers Matter report looking for trends and where we've
lost marks.
I deliver great results by role modelling a sales culture
I coach my team so that they are confident to make the right decisions about driving sales whether I
am in store or not.
I always make sure I communicate with colleagues in the right way to drive sales, especially around
seasonal events.
I ensure my store is legal, safe and secure for all
I am accountable for making sure that all procedures are in place and effective, so it's important that
I spend time with my team reviewing our progress.
I walk the shop floor with the security guard to understand what they are seeing and how we can
work together to make sure our store is legal, safe and secure.
I deliver and sustain change
I spend time listening to colleagues when something new is being implemented so that I understand
how they are feeling about it.
I spend time planning with the team so that change is delivered effectively and in a way that is
sustainable.

key abilities we look for in a good Store Manager
I challenge unacceptable behaviour and performance, review what's gone wrong, put things right
and move on positively.
I make decisions and follow up on them until the desired outcome is reached.
I exercise judgement effectively even when under pressure.
I always make sure accountabilities are clear within my team.
I create opportunities through new approaches whilst being realistic about the business needs.
What they Look in Store Manager
"Really great Store Managers set high standards for themselves and their team. They constantly role
model the values and leadership behaviours.
They need to be customer focused and understand the many benefits of reaching out to the wider
community.
A good Store Manager also needs to be able to spot talent and coach and develop colleagues to
achieve their full potential. They need to have a good head for business and be able to create and
deliver a strategic business plan for their store as well as identify growth opportunities.
Most importantly their store needs to be somewhere colleagues enjoy working and customers enjoy
shopping. They need to engage their colleagues and keep them inspired and motivated to deliver
fantastic results every day!"
Question: Tell me about a difficult project you managed and describe the obstacles you
encountered and how you overcame them.
Sample Competency Answer:
i = I have just introduced a system of monitoring and assessing electronic customer feedback which has
reduced the time it takes to deal with customer service complaints from 9 days to 48 hours.
P = I saw that we were getting a lot of customer communications, feedback and complaints via email, but we
had not developed any structured method to handle these. In addition we were not using them as an
opportunity to learn about our customer or to drive process improvement initiatives. I realised very quickly
that not only was this an issue for us which I knew I could solve quickly but also I saw the potential to
enhance our relationship with our customers.
A = I completed a business case clearly outlining the benefits of this action. I then set up a project group with
the goal to deliver a system of processing and managing these emails. I recruited internally as I wanted to
give my team exposure to working on such a project. I put regular reporting in place, ensured that all
stakeholders were involved and communicated with. Three weeks after starting the project I lost two team
members due to sickness - we were on a very tight deadline and I knew that the success of this project lay in
my ability to motivate and manage the team I had. I identified key replacements and revised the plan
accordingly so that work would not fall behind. I ensured the team knew what had to be delivered and by
when and I got staff buy-in from very early on. During the course of the project I managed the team,
rescheduled tasks as required, communicated regularly with all interested parties and ultimately delivered the
project successfully.
R= I overcame the challenges as presented and I delivered the new system on time and within budget. As a
result of this system my team can address 100% of customer service emails within 48 hours, we have
reduced the volume of complaints received by 35% and we have a suite of reports that can help us deliver
further improved customer service. Its a great achievement and one which I am very proud of.
Note the use of "I" throughout and note too the use of a powerful lead sentence which summarises the
achievement and sets up the rest of the answer to come. This is a great selling tool and designed to get the
attention of the interviewer.


Q. Describe a situation where you implemented change.


I implemented and managed a formal work experience programme at my Asar, ALDI and 99p STores. As a result, we
attracted young talent and found new recruits for junior roles which saved the company the high costs of advertising and wide
interviewing. The scheme gave young people the experience to help them make career choices and improve their CVs while
providing us with good quality work at a very low cost. I used my organisational skills to plan a busy summer placements
schedule and put together a welcome pack to make sure the individuals were well-looked after and to promote the benefits of
the company to them.

Q. Provide an example of where you overcame a problem. Given the chance,
what would you do differently?
Describe a difficult problem you had to sort out in your last job
"We were getting a lot of complaints about late deliveries". (Situation)
"I met with the staff involved in the customer delivery department and discovered that the
problem seemed to be with the stock coming through on time.
I investigated and found that requests for new inventory were not processed fast enough. The
backlog was in the orders department as they were not following up adequately with the suppliers.
A system for regular follow-up was quickly implemented." (Action)
"This sorted out the stock problems and the delivery staff were able to meet their
deadlines." (Result)
111111111111111111111111111111111111111

I was responsible for sending the Asars new brochure to print but our managing director requested significant changes to the
design at the last minute and I knew that it would not be possible to meet the printers deadline. I had built a strong
relationship with the printing company so my first move was to give them a call and explain the situation. It was agreed they
would hold off for a few hours but I knew this would still not give the designers enough time."
"I then spoke to the designers and together we worked out what had to be changed and what was quick to change. I
approached my managing director and explained that certain amends should be left as their significance was disproportionate
to the late fees we would incur. Having secured his sign off, the designers focused on the main issues and we were able to
send the brochure to print without being penalised.

Tell me about a time when you received negative feedback from your manager or
supervisor. How did you handle this?
"I had worked hard on a presentation to a potential supplier. My boss told me that he was
disappointed in the quality of the information I presented and that the customer had not been
impressed. (Situation)

I was surprised as I felt I had prepared well but I asked my boss to go through the presentation
with me again and explain exactly what the problems were. He pointed out outdated information
and I realized that I had not used the most recent financial information in my preparation. I
researched the updated information and asked if I could rework things and prepare a new proposal
for the customer. He agreed. Once I had sent the proposal I followed up with the customer to ask
if he had any queries. (Action)

We didn't get that particular contract but the company has asked us to submit a proposal for some
other business" (Result)
Prepare for questions that explore your adapatability.
Tell me about a time you had to quickly adjust your work priorities to meet changing
demands
"I was in the middle of drawing up my departmental budget when I was asked to put together a
costing for a big project we were tendering for.
(Situation)
I made an outline of the information I needed immediately for the costing and assigned a portion
to each of my staff. I spent the next couple of days drawing up schedules of the tasks that needed
to be carried out to complete the costing and meeting with staff members to brief them and get
feedback. I was then able to re-focus on completing the budget on time. (Action)
The costing was completed on time, each staff member really contributed and I didn't miss my
budget deadline". (Result)
Your behavioral example should be structured to demonstrate what the situation was, the actions
you took and the outcome. You can find out more about providing good behavioral examples
at The Behavioral Interview
Expect interview questions that explore your leadership skills in behavioral interviews.
Tell me how you went about setting the goals for your department and gaining
commitment from your staff.
"I needed to set the departmental objectives for the next six months.
I looked at the company's vision and goals for the next two years to decide which activities and
tasks my department should concentrate on. I clearly communicated the relationship between our
department goals and the company's goals to my staff. I explained which activities would result in
achieving these goals.
The staff really benefited from having a clear idea of the company vision and how we could
contribute to achieving this. Understanding the big picture meant they were able to see how each
of them were an essential part of the company's success and this motivated them towards goal
attainment."
Negotiation skills are required in a wide range of jobs.
High Work Standards
Tell me about a time that you were not satisfied with your work performance. What did you do
about it?
"My performance review rating was lower than I had expected or wanted. (Situation)
I met with my manager to establish a plan of action for improvement and set very specific targets
to be met on a monthly basis. I worked hard to meet these targets and constantly monitored my
performance. I also asked for regular feedback about my performance. (Action)
After six months, my boss conducted another review and my rating was much higher." (Result)

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