A key figure in the work of any point of retail or wholesale is the store manager. The duties, functions, powers and rights of the person holding this position are carefully prescribed in his job description, as well as in some 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 managers. As a rule, it is directly subordinate to the owners or top management, for example, network managers. From the point of view of legislation, it is the store manager who is responsible for fulfilling 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 endorses the reporting documents, including strict ones, and is also responsible for compliance with fire and sanitary safety measures and so on. From this it follows 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.
The main provisions of the job description
What is the main document by which the store manager (manager) works? Job description usually consists of several points: functions or duties, rights, requirements. The following are the main general points from these sections. This document is approved by the owner-entrepreneur individually or by a meeting of founders, owners or shareholders, depending on the legal form of the legal entity. After hiring the director of the outlet with his signature confirms familiarization with the job description and undertakes to fulfill it in full.
Job responsibilities
Since the main employee of the outlet is the store manager, the responsibilities of this person are quite broad. 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 rationing the work schedule, determining weekends and holidays.
- Compliance with the legislative requirements for the operation of the store, depending on the specifics of its activities.
- Submission of documents, execution and receipt of all necessary permits in accordance with applicable law, taking into account the profile of the store (licenses, conclusions, certificates, etc.).
- Ensuring the availability and functioning of all the necessary commercial equipment, measuring instruments, cash registers, terminals, etc., as well as monitoring their timely maintenance, metrological verification, and also, if necessary, registration with government 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 orders, instructions, orders.
- Providing employees with everything necessary for them 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 contracts of sale, commission, rent within the amounts established by the senior management or the owner of the store.
- Preparation and submission of reports to state bodies, governing bodies or the founders of the outlet.
Other functions of the store manager may be added to this list at the discretion of the owners or senior management of the network.
Rights
The store director has not only responsibilities, but also a number of opportunities, which are also indicated in the job description. So, the point of sale manager has the right:
- Submit proposals to higher management or the owner of the store on improving the work, changing the work schedule, expanding or reducing the range of products, conducting promotions or advertising campaigns, etc.
- At your discretion, hire and fire store employees.
- Take disciplinary measures against employees who violate the work schedule or in bad faith performing their duties, including in the form of reprimands, with entering (or without) personal files and work books, as well as bringing to liability (fines).
- To reward employees who distinguished themselves in the performance of work within the limits established by the senior management / owner of the store or budget.
- Require the employer to provide all necessary conditions for the performance of his immediate duties, including the provision of a workplace that meets the requirements of labor legislation, the means and capabilities to implement the norms and requirements of regulatory legal acts or to eliminate existing violations.
- Transfer part of their functions or duties, as well as the right to sign on separate documents to another official with prior (or without) approval of the senior management or owner. Such a person, for example, may be a deputy store manager or chief accountant.
This is also not a complete list, but only the main points. As in the case of duties, the rights of the manager can be much wider depending on the specifics of the activity and the level of trust of the employer.
Requirements
Since such a position involves a certain level of knowledge, skills that a store manager should have, responsibilities are not the only important point in the job description. Often, the employer prescribes the requirements for the store director. For instance:
- Constantly improve their skills by taking special training courses, trainings, attending conferences and round tables for managers.
- Do not be a regular customer of a competing trading network or store.
- Have always a well-groomed and neat appearance that matches the corporate policy of the network.
Sometimes the employer also prescribes the requirement to answer calls from senior 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 senior management of the network, but also to the law. This basically boils down to a few points in the job description:
- For damage caused by failure to perform or improper performance of their duties, the manager is liable in the amounts established by the internal documents of the store (or network), as well as applicable law.
- For the use of financial, material and technical resources of the outlet in their own interests or the interests of third parties, the manager is responsible depending on the amount of damage caused.
- For non-compliance with the requirements of regulatory legal acts, as well as for submitting inaccurate reports to government and control bodies, the store director is responsible in the amounts established by law.
Working time
A difficult question is how this work is standardized. 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 director has an irregular working day and often works without days off and holidays. This is due to the great responsibility and the amount of work. But with the right selection of personnel and a competent distribution of responsibilities, the store director can organize his working time productively and have a completely normal schedule. The main requirement of all owners usually comes down to the following: the business must work and bring income not lower than a certain level, and the rest is the task of the head of the outlet, and he will fulfill it independently, working at night, or will meet the deadlines without processing, the founders mainly interested in the last turn.
Salary
The salary of the store manager depends on many factors: the region in which the outlet is located, the direction and specifics of work, the need or absence thereof for business trips and business trips, the volume of goods turnover, the need for specific knowledge. The director’s earnings are almost always influenced by the profitability of the enterprise, as well as the fulfillment by 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 is likely to 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
The grocery store has its own specific activities related to the very strict requirements of regulatory documents for its activities. Since such a product can affect the health or even human life, the law very strictly applies to sanitary and hygienic standards of implementation, as well as to the quality of products. That is why the head of the outlet for the sale of food (whether it is a wholesale warehouse or an ordinary grocery store) bears great responsibility and is obliged, among other things, to carefully monitor the availability of all necessary certificates for the products, the conditions for their transportation and storage, as well as the health and physical condition of their employees.
CV and candidates
The resume of the store manager should contain information about education and work experience. Such a position, as a rule, cannot be occupied without certain skills and knowledge in the field of trade. Indicate all previous places of work. Most likely, the employer will be interested in the candidate who has gone all his career from an ordinary seller to senior management. In this case, the applicant for the position is likely to have the most complete picture of the work process, possible difficulties and features.
Higher rank
The manager of a chain of stores is a position that, in essence, is very similar to that of a store director, but the hallmark is the management of not just one outlet, but several. As a rule, a manager of this level does not interact directly with all employees of the chain stores, but more often only with directors or their deputies. The duties and rights of such an official are practically the same as those of the store manager. As a rule, the network director bears responsibility to the owners or founders.
Custom approach
Today, a non-standard approach to such a position as a store manager is becoming increasingly popular. The duties of the director of the outlet have recently been supplemented by new items, including the adoption of innovative solutions and the introduction of creative ideas for business development. It all depends on the corporate policy of the network and the views of the owners on doing business.