Working in a retail shop or business, when there are no crowds of shoppers, do you kill time looking at your smartphone’s screen. Here’s what to do instead to make a good impression and demonstrate your value to your manager.
In this type of business, your superiors will expect you to get ahead of your tasks and have your eyes open to identify the work that needs to be done. There’s just one rule: there is never free time and there is always something to do.
As a manager of a local business for several years, Michel Morissette particularly valued his most alert employees, those who were the first to notice a display to be refilled or a dirty window to be shined again.
“The employee must also have good judgement to set priorities,” he says. “Everything necessary for daily work, displays full of merchandise, equipment functional and clean, must be done before moving on to extra tasks such as in-depth cleaning and reorganization of the back of the store.”
Suggest new ideas, but communicate them well!
If you are creative and innovative, with your head brimming with new ideas, chances are that your manager will appreciated these qualities. But you have to be balanced in your suggestions – a business of this type cannot always change its methods in a jiffy. Each task or each way of doing things is embedded in a whole. It is a well-oiled machine that could easily go off the rails if one of its gears is faulty.
“We cannot reinvent everything,” says Michel Morissette, “but improvements are always welcome. The important thing is to always communicate before making a change. The manager is often the only one with a real overview and able to measure the impact of the suggested improvements.”
Be aware that your manager also owes this duty to you of exemplary communication. If he refuses your good ideas, “a good manager will explain why,” Michel Morissette says. “Often, when the manager also takes the time to explain why things are done this way and not in another way, the employee feels included, listened to and respected. Everyone wins.”
It’s a promise – by carrying out these tips, you will never be bored at work. The days will pass quickly and take place like a charm!