The worst enemy of a store's bottom line and incoming revenue is an incompetent store manager. For this reason, many companies will only hire a store manager who has three to five years of retail management experience under his belt. Before working as a store manager, it is important to understand the enormous amount of work associated with the position. In some cases, you may have an assistant store manager on board to help you carry the load.

Hiring Staff

A store manager is responsible for hiring new employees. As such, he must be a good judge of character. He is responsible for reviewing applications and resumes for job candidates and performing job interviews. If the manager has a hard time judging an employee candidate's character and abilities, he can use professional assessment tests to ensure that he picks the best candidates. These assessment tests are job specific and evaluate the job candidate's knowledge, practical skills and personality.

Scheduling

It's difficult for a store to operate efficiently if there aren't enough employees scheduled to work each day. The store manager is responsible for ensuring that there are enough employees working to meet customer demands. To ensure proper scheduling, the manager may have to use forecasting software. With forecasting software, the manager can keep track of what days and times of the week or year are the busiest. The manager can use this information to help guarantee that there is enough staff available during those busy times.

Opening and Closing

A store manager is responsible for opening and closing the store each day. For this reason, he is the first person to arrive and the last person to leave. During store opening, he oversees the workers to verify that everything is set up properly before the first customer walks through the door. This includes assigning cash register drawers to the cashiers and reconciling deposits. During closing, the manager counts the cashier's drawers to ensure there are no overages or shortages. He also checks to see that the store is properly cleaned and ready for next-day operations. He may also have to make bank deposits from the day's operations.

Inventory and Budget

The store manager is responsible for ensuring there are enough supplies and products in the store to carry on with the daily operations. He normally has a paper or electronic inventory checklist. When supplies or products get low, he calls vendors to order more. It is the manager's responsibility to oversee everything that comes into the store and everything that leaves. This is also a part of loss prevention. The manager is responsible for setting an annual budget for the store and making sure the store stays within that budget.

Enforcing Policies and Conflict Resolution

Store managers are responsible for providing employees with a copy of the company's policies and procedures and holding each one accountable for honoring those policies. Although the manager should be cordial with his employees, there are times when he must also act as a disciplinarian. If rules are constantly violated, the manager is responsible for addressing the guilty employee or employees. This can be done through verbal or written warnings. In some cases, depending upon the severity of the violation, the manager is responsible for terminating the employee. The store manager is also responsible for addressing customer problems.