Should i be a district manager

Having been a store manager for a few chains early in my career, I understand the inner workings of the district manager-store manager relationship.

My district manager was there to ensure that the district and regional goals were met, and that I had what I needed at store level to make those goals happen. And they are held accountable for what happens in their stores.

DMs have one of the most important jobs in the business. They are critical to lateralizing learning and best practices. I will liken this to a point of view from my long time ago role as a DMM at a department store. Basically it boiled down to direct supervision of the buyers, which was direct supervision of the product and the open-to-buy.

No wonder I always felt stressed. Identify strengths and weaknesses. Coach accordingly. There is only so much of that that can come from reading spreadsheets at HQ. First off, a DM must be a proven player. That is critical when working with and helping a store and the management staff. Every company needs to focus on making the DM a partner with the store management, thus creating an environment of mutual success. All too often, DMs scare the heck out of store personnel which is clearly anti-productive.

Successful retailers must be trained into what it takes to be a successful DM partner to store management, and when the retail performance drops in stores, upper management must communicate with and travel with the DMs to get a real dose of reality. At that point there must be mutual respect and strategy among the store personnel, the DM and the executives.

Customers come to stores to experience brands and buy. Managers and associates need hardware and software tools to provide the best experiences possible. These tools should be accompanied by simple behaviors that create and enhance customer interactions that impact metrics.

District managers should then have access to real-time data that can be used to coach managers and associates and also serve as a measure of their performance. What gets measured gets done. We are just addressing this now? Here are some conditions you might expect to encounter:. You may have an office in the corporate headquarters or at your home, but you can expect to travel at least some of every week, and possibly more during certain times of year or company events.

Depending on the size of your region, you may travel by plane, car or train, staying in hotels and eating take-out or restaurant meals. Some physical stamina may be required to endure the rigors of frequent travel and any time spent rearranging or setting up company products in retail locations.

You will spend much of your time in the stores you represent, meeting with and advising store management teams, administering training, overseeing the implementation of corporate marketing and advertising, analyzing profit and loss statements and ensuring compliance with company policies and sales and customer service benchmarks. You may meet with employees and change store appearance before opening or after closing time.

Although education and experience requirements vary by company, here are some ways to become a district manager:. An associate degree or continuing education business classes combined with the relevant experience can give you good preparatory knowledge as well. Pursue promotion in management: At whatever level you start your career, stay motivated and ambitious to pursue management positions.

Companies frequently promote from within because candidates are known entities and have proven their worth. Cultivate business relationships: Employment in the retail industry involves a lot of personal contact and the development of professional relationships.

If people know your strengths, they are likely to recommend you for promotion or hiring at another company. Our fast-growing company is looking for a highly-motivated candidate for district manager. Duties include hiring store managers for new stores within a four-state territory, overseeing staffing, and frequent travel to be on-site during the building of retail spaces.

Once stores are established, responsibilities will include budget management, implementation of corporate marketing campaigns, assessment and support of meeting store goals and benchmarks and frequent store manager meetings. Find jobs. Company reviews. During the first 30 days, a district manager should visit every assignment in his district and get to know the managers and leaders at each location.

Depending on the size of the territory, a manager may need more than a month to make it to all locations but visiting all of them should take place as soon as possible. While making the initial rounds, district managers should inquire about problem areas for each location. Managers should ask where each location's needs are not being met by the corporate office and investigate how services could be more efficient. For example, the district manager for a restaurant chain could find out from the manager and team leaders that they're having a hard time retaining employees and discuss ideas to hire better quality candidates.

When meeting with locations in an assigned territory, district managers should develop initial goals for each location. District managers are spread thin in the sense that they don't spend eight hours a day, five days a week keeping watch over those in their charge. Therefore, it's important that each meeting is productive. For example, a district manager over a large department store could investigate merchandising efforts and analyze what's working and not working to sell clothes.