Retail therapy can put dollars in your pocket

By ALICE SHOPLAND

Shop staff who enjoy guiding us to the right product or service can transform shopping from purgatory to pleasure.

Unfortunately, such retail angels are usually outnumbered by bland and insincere sales staff who hope you'll "have-a-nice-day." And then there are the downright rude ones who'd prefer to advance their social lives on the phone than help customers.

Lisa Banks-Perry, northern regional manager for clothing chain Glassons, says there is a shortage of good retail staff, especially in Auckland. She believes that it's partly because retail isn't seen as a promising career.

But she is proof that retail can take you a long way. She worked in sales for Marks & Spencer in England and moved to New Zealand at the age of 20 with her Kiwi rugby-player husband.

After a year of leisure, an ad for staff in the window of Glassons' Hunters Plaza store caught her eye. Nearly nine years later that Papatoetoe store is no longer trading, but Banks-Perry is still happily with the company.

From working part-time in the Hunters Plaza store she gradually moved up through the ranks, becoming assistant manager and then manager.

Three years ago she became regional manager, with responsibility for about 130 staff in 10 Auckland stores.

"Retail provides great opportunities because it's one industry you usually don't need training to get into," she says. "You just need enthusiasm and if you want to progress through the organisation you usually can, because retail tends to promote from within. Nine out of 10 of my managers started on the shop floor or as trainees."

Also singing the praises of the retail life is Mandy Scotney, who started her working life in retail with Flight Centres and is now a director at new specialist recruitment agency Retailworld Resourcing.

"Some of the biggest companies in New Zealand now are retailers, and some of them are global. Retail is becoming more sophisticated in this country, and it's about time it was a respectable career path.

"A good retail store manager has the basic skills to take them into general management in virtually any industry - sales and customer service, human resources skills, problem-solving, achieving financial targets and working with budgets."

She says that many big retailers have in-house training programmes which can be very valuable to staff. And if you're looking for a rewarding career in retail, Scotney recommends you look for a growing company that takes recruitment seriously.

"Ask what their management structure is, what opportunities there will be for progression - you'll know from those answers if they're serious about what they're doing."

Retail angels

Lisa Banks-Perry says she looks for these qualities in sales staff: sociability, ability to hold a conversation with anybody, self-confidence, resilience ("you've got to be able to take a few knocks and climb back up"), willingness to work within the chain's existing structure and a desire to achieve results.

"We used to look for experience, but not now," she says. "Some of our best sales people are coming from hairdressing, nursing, teaching and hospitality backgrounds, and they've never worked in retail before."

And she's keen to debunk two retail myths which might be scaring potential staff away - bad hours and bad pay.

"Obviously stores in malls are open very long hours now, but we've learned you have to be adaptable and help staff get the hours you want.

"One of our top sales staff hasn't worked a weekend in years because she doesn't want to."

And the money? Top-performing Glassons sales staff are probably on $14 an hour, Banks-Perry says, and receive bonuses on top of that.

Russell Sinclair, Auckland regional manager for the Retail Merchants Association, is pleased with the increasing professionalism that's being encouraged by the Retail Industry Training Organisation, with on-the-job assessment and study at polytechnics.

He adds that "there are people earning seven-figure salaries at the very top levels in chain stores."

Round-up

At $41 billion (excluding motor vehicles), retail is the biggest industry in New Zealand. That's about 40% of our gross domestic product.

Retailing employs more than 300,000 people in around 35,000 retail outlets - that's one shop for every 110 New Zealanders.

Manukau Institute of Technology has been providing retail training since 1971.

In 2002 MIT plans to offer the following retail courses (subject to final approval):

* MIT Certificate in Retailing: one semester full-time, with courses starting February and July. Successful students also gain the National Certificate in Retailing (level 2).

* MIT Short Course Certificates in Sales and Service, Display and Visual Merchandising, and Personal Skills for Retailers: one semester part-time, for those already employed in retail. Unit standards contribute to the National Certificate in Retailing (level 3).

* MIT Certificate in Retail Management: two years part-time study, starting in February and July.