by Alex Samson

Created on: February 01, 2009

There's a common misconception, particularly here in the UK, that retail is somehow easy and not as taxing as or highbrow as office or clerical work; it's seen as the easy option for those of us not cut out for management roles in high power corporations. Often the people with this attitude are the ones who have never walked a shop floor in any other capacity than stressed shopper.

It's true office managers and shop manager inhabit very different worlds, one major difference, besides the obvious, being that an office manager is responsible for a very specific area or project, while a retail manager works many different roles in one day. In one 8-9 hour period a shop manager may need to don any one of the following hats: sales, buying, HR, PR. A key skill is knowing how to arrange these hats most effectively to get through a day.

The ability to communicate, to both listen well and express your own ideas to your team, is essential. Retail teams are often made up of individuals from a diverse range of professional and academic backgrounds and experiences. A successful manager will know how to exploit this treasure trove of knowledge to the maximum benefit of the store. For example, in one shop that I managed for a while I was lucky enough to have in my team a graduate interior designer. For the year that she worked with me I had the best window displays in the mall.

Another skill that good retail managers have is the ability to know the difference between being sympathetic and being a push over. Like all bosses, there will be times when you will need to be flexible and open to the needs of your team in order to promote a harmonious and therefore productive atmosphere. This is important because it shows that you care and actually take an interest in the people that drive the success of your store. However, always keep in mind that respect is a two-way street and just as it is important you respect their needs, they should also respect yours as their boss. Flexible give-and-take is different to soft push over. Soft leaders kill business, no more is this truer than in a shop. If your staff have confidence in you and respect for your directives they will respond positively and sales will grow. Sales = confidence, confidence = sales.

So many retail managers make the mistake of thinking that they can hide in the back office usually making the excuse that paperwork won't do itself, cash tills need reconciling, etc. As the manager your presence on the shop floor is important

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