A store supervisor or manager juggles the duties of supervising employees while also reporting to head office or the store’s owner. Supervisor is a senior position that can be filled an internal employee who has been promoted or an external candidate. The store owner may take on the supervisory role in smaller, independent stores.
Interviewing, hiring, and training new employees are all part of the store supervisor’s management responsibilities. Once new employees have been properly trained and are ready to work, the supervisor is in charge of putting together a weekly or monthly schedule for them. If the store employs several sales clerks, scheduling requires careful consideration of each employee’s work style and availability.
When store employees arrive for work, the supervisor is in charge of clearly communicating their responsibilities and closely monitoring their work habits to ensure they are performing satisfactorily. If an employee fails to meet his or her goals as set forth the store supervisor, the supervisor must ensure that the employee is informed of his or her poor performance and the potential consequences. Depending on the employee’s offense, this could include probation or termination.
When a customer is dissatisfied with the level of service provided a store employee, the store supervisor is frequently called upon to authorize returns or other transactions on a discretionary basis. Because the store’s security is entrusted to the supervisor, he or she usually carries a complete set of store keys, allowing access to the cash register, store offices and doors, and the bank deposit box. Customers who wish to make a complaint about the store’s service or products may contact the store supervisor.
Although the position of store supervisor is a managerial one, it is common for the supervisor to report to another senior party, such as the store’s owner or head office, and ultimately, stakeholders. If a store’s sales goals or quotas aren’t being met, the store supervisor is charged with motivating, retraining, or terminating employees in order to boost sales. A supervisor’s other responsibilities include serving as a liaison between upper management and employees leading staff meetings and relaying information from headquarters.