A store supervisor or store manager juggles the responsibilities of supervising staff along with reporting to head office or the store's owner. The role of supervisor is a senior position that may be filled by an in-house staff member who receives a promotion, or by an outside applicant. Within smaller, independent stores, the store owner may take on the supervisor role.
The store supervisor's management responsibilities begin with interviewing, hiring, and training new employees. Once new staff members are properly trained and ready for work, the supervisor is responsible for making up the weekly or monthly schedule for staff members. If the store has several sales clerks, managing the schedule involves careful consideration of each staff member's work styles and availability.
When store employees report for work, the supervisor is responsible for clearly communicating their assigned tasks and monitoring employees' work habits to ensure they are performing at a satisfactory level. If an employee is not meeting his or her goals as outlined by the store supervisor, the supervisor needs to then ensure that the employee is made aware of his or her under-performance and its potential repercussions. This may include probation or termination depending on the employee's offense.
In situations where a customer is dissatisfied with the level of service he or she is receiving from a staff member, the store supervisor will often be called upon to authorize returns or other transactions on a discretionary basis. As the supervisor is entrusted with the security of the store, he or she typically carries a full set of store keys, allowing access to the cash register, store offices and doors, and bank deposit box. The store supervisor may also act as a contact for customers who wish to lodge complaints about the store's service or products.
Although the position of store supervisor is a managerial one, the supervisor usually also reports to another senior party, whether it be the store's owner or head office and ultimately, stakeholders. If a store is not meeting its sales goals or quotas, the store supervisor is then tasked with the responsibility of mobilizing his or her sales team to improve sales, which may entail motivating, re-training, or terminating staff. A supervisor is also responsible for acting as a liaison between upper management and staff, by leading occasional staff meetings and relaying news from head office.