Sales Lead Secrets

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Why does the retail industry require managers to work 45-60 hours per week?

I have been in retail for over 25 years and have yet to find reason to justify this requirement. With a properly trained assistant there is no reason a manager needs to be on site more than 45 hours a week. Whether it be spread over 5 or 6 days a week, the level of productivity and overall awareness significantly drops off after 7-8 hours in a day..so the extra hours are really “non-productive” and therefore, more costly to the organization. A rested, more alert individual will be more productive and more positive toward the organization and will increase the possibility of actually improving the profitability of an operation. This does not even include the fact that those entrusted with managing millions of dollars in inventory and annualized sales are paid a pittance for the responsibility and when broken down into an hourly rate, often earn less than the employees they are managing!

I would imagine it’s simply because the hours of operation for retail stores is much longer than your standard business. They’re open early in the morning, and stay open into the late evening. And somebody has to be there at anytime of the day or night to make sure things are running smoothly.

Assistants are fine, but it’s ultimately the Department Managers or Store Manager who are responsible for the profit and loss. Assistants don’t have this direct responsibility in most places, and so they’re not “high enough” in terms of financial responsibility to make up for it. And so, it’s the higher level managers who need to be there overseeing the operations.

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