By: TimeForge Labor Management

If you’ve worked in retail for very long, you’ve probably had the pleasure of working under an outstanding manager – as well as the misfortune of working under at least one mediocre boss. You may also have customers struggling with employee engagement and retention.

So what exactly makes a store manager good? Many times, employees may think one store manager is better than another, but store owners may have completely different opinions. The primary responsibility of a store manager is to ensure the store runs smoothly – not necessarily to be well-liked. Store managers need to know a lot of things, like how to display merchandise, track inventory, assist customers, keep up with time and attendance  of employees, and manage the staff. To accomplish many of the tasks that store managers face, it’s important to have a positive relationship with staff.

To that end, here are some store manager quick tips you can share with your customers to help them boost employee satisfaction and retention:

Store Manager Quick Tip #1: Coach your team toward success
For store managers, communication skills are key. Part of keeping things running smoothly includes maintaining a team that respects and supports the business. So how exactly do you build such a dream team of employees? First, update your employees more than once a week about changes, whether it’s a change in a sales promotion, a change in uniform, or a change in the arrangement of the store. You are not only their manager, but also their coach. Keep your employees motivated and set new employee tasks for them each week. Be sure to ask your employees if they need anything from you in order to accomplish the tasks you’ve given them. This not only shows that you are interested in their work, but also that you are willing to help them accomplish the tasks you’ve assigned.

Store Manager Quick Tip #2: Stay on top of employee scheduling and requests
Organization is another biggie. Building schedules, following employee availability, and reviewing applications is a hectic routine. Your employees need to see and know that you have everything under control. That means making sure you honor employee availability and requests as much as possible, and scheduling the right amount of people to work each day.

Store Manager Quick Tip #3: Let technology take care of the tedious stuff
At TimeForge, we simplify your duties as a store manager by giving you the tools and applications you need to keep your business running seamlessly. With our staff scheduling software, we can help you schedule your employees quickly and efficiently.  By freeing up some of your time, and improving communication between management and staff, we can help you build a quality relationship with your employees, which will improve morale, productivity, customer satisfaction, and ultimately the bottom line.

If you or your customers found these tips useful, you might also like our post on best practices for grocery store managers.