From graduate job to branch manager: becoming management material

I had no previous experience of working in retail when I got a place on the Waitrose graduate training scheme, after finishing at the University of Hull in 2000 with a degree in economic and social history. At the start of the scheme, I was based at the Abingdon store in Oxfordshire and learned all about how a retail business worked at grass-roots level. This involved performing non-management tasks such as till operation and shelf stacking, and attending skills courses related to the management training scheme. It was an invaluable four months for getting an insight into working on the shop floor and what the staff do on a daily basis.

Management experience

For the next four months, I stayed at Abingdon but moved up the career ladder to become the manager of the wines and warehouse section – managing a small team of people and handling all the processes of the section, while still getting involved with the hands-on shop floor work. Tasks included developing my team, reviewing display standards, merchandising goods and increasing sales on the section. I was supervised by a management trainer who helped me to develop my management style and also attended courses with others on the graduate training scheme. This was the toughest part of my training as it was my first experience of managing people and understanding the responsibility that was involved. I made mistakes but that was all part of the learning process and helped me think about myself, my weaknesses and my strengths.

Gaining responsibility

I shadowed a department manager for six months in Newark, Nottinghamshire during the next phase of my training and was trained to be a duty manager, running the branch for small periods of time. I also began to run a small customer services department. I found out a great deal about the role of the department manager within a branch, how the job works, how to develop customer service in the branch and the differences between managing a section and a department. This enabled me to move on to be acting department manager of merchandise in one of our busiest branches in Godalming, Surrey over the Christmas period. I managed around 70 people, including section managers and assistant section managers and my biggest achievement was breaking the sales records and being part of a hugely successful Christmas operation.

Branching out

In January 2002 I was appointed department manager at Fouroaks in Birmingham. It was a big change going from a large branch to one of the smallest in the business. There was a different style of management to adapt to and a smaller team of people. The biggest difference was being solely responsible for the branch for long periods of time and being in charge of big projects, such as project managing the installation of new refrigerators. I also helped implement key company policies and coached the section managers to help them develop and improve themselves. This was the point at which I realised I could do my job to a high standard and achieve noticeable results.

Facing new challenges

I then worked in several locations as a department manager. I had a challenging post in Peterborough, right in the city centre. It was a hard place to work with high basket trade, low item value and a lot of theft. In my role I had to ensure the security of the branch, stopping shoplifters and dealing with the police. I also got involved with the local community and police to prevent crime. Despite the challenges, there were plenty of rewards: theft went down for a time; I successfully changed the management structure and brought stability to the branch; and in 2003 the branch achieved record sales and profits. I moved to the Cambridge store in 2004, which had a high turnover but at the time was not large enough for the sales it took and had to be expanded. I was part of the team that planned the 10,000 square foot expansion of the store. It was there I gained the experience needed to become a branch manager and went to workshops to improve and analyse my management techniques.

Looking to the future

I successfully completed my branch management training at Cambridge, which included submitting written assignments and attending skills courses in coaching and development. It was brilliant to be putting into practice all the skills I’d acquired and in October 2005 I got my current position of branch manager supernumerary at Ely. Looking to the future, in the short term I’d like to get my own branch and ultimately be branch manager for a new opening. It’s been hard work to get to where I am now but it’s a great environment to work in and I’d definitely recommend store management as a career.