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Switching departments
Department store retailing seems to be one of the retail sectors that has escaped the brunt of the downturn. However, moving into a management role in this sector from a high street retailer can be a leap into the unknown. In this feature, we ask HR professionals at one of the UK's best loved department stores about what you can expect should you decide to make the move.
John Lewis
Kate Nicholson, succession planning manager
& Carole Donaldson, resourcing manager
Q: What are the key similarities between senior/area manager roles in department stores and chains?
The most obvious similarity is around the leadership role senior managers need to achieve, ensuring excellent delivery through their teams to ensure the store is successful.
In addition, they will need sound commercial skills; the ability to analyse business information and to respond. At the core will be the ability to inspire great customer service through knowing their customers, products, place in the market and what great looks like.
Q: What challenges or benefits might a manager face when moving into department store management?
The key difference will be around the breadth of the assortment. Senior managers will be responsible for a diverse range of departments and a variety of product types as well as merchandising, customer service, aftersales, back-of-house operations and key performance measures to deliver a multi-channel retailing experience.
It is also having a clear understanding of the customer expectation for the brand across differing assortments.
The pace of working in a department store environment is key as you need to be able to interpret management information across all the departments and then make decisions based on this both for the short term and in setting the vision for the long term. To deliver this, managers need to foster a climate of empowerment and accountability within the team. Individuals will need to be able to manage a broad range of challenges and the ambiguity encountered in running a department store.
Q: Would you say that the current climate made it harder or easier to make the move into department store management?
I would say it was the same, it is about getting the right person for the role, whilst retail experience is desirable we recognise that there will be fantastic candidates who possess the attitudes and behaviours we are looking for who have transferable skills from other industries. At John Lewis, we look for individuals who are passionate about delivering an outstanding customer experience and who can develop individuals and teams through coaching and feedback.
Q: What progression opportunities are there in department store management?
A number of our senior leaders started their careers with the stores side of John Lewis; both Andy Street and Mark Price the current managing directors of our two divisions, were heads of branches so there is a vertical ladder which can be climbed.
Alternatively, individuals can choose to move horizontally into specialist roles such as personnel, retail operations and finance for example. Within John Lewis, we offer a variety of development programmes to enable partners to realise their potential.
