Case Study: Jeniffer's Store
Based on her review of the stores, Jennifer concluded that one of the first matters she had to attend to involved developing job descriptions for her store managers.
As Jennifer tells it, her lessons regarding job descriptions in basic management and HR management courses were insufficient to fully convince her of the pivotal rule job descriptions actually played in the smooth functioning of an enterprise. Many times during her first few weeks on the job, Jennifer found herself asking one of her store managers why he was violating what she knew to be recommended company policies and procedures. Repeatedly, the answers were either “Because I didn’t know it was my job” or “Because I didn’t know that was the way we were supposed to do it.” Jennifer knew that job description, along with a set of standards and procedures that specified what was to be done and how to do it, would go a long way toward alleviating this problem.
In general, the store manager is responsible for directing all store activities in such a way that quality work is produced, customer relations and sales are maximized, and profitability is maintained through effective control of labor, supply, and energy costs. In accomplishing that general aim, a specific store manager’s duties and responsibilities include quality control, store appearance and cleanliness, customer relations, bookkeeping and cash management, cost control and productivity, damage control, pricing, inventory control, spotting and cleaning, machine maintenance, purchasing, employee safety, hazardous waste removal, human resource administration, and pest control.
The questions that Jennifer had to address follow.
Questions
1. What should be the format and final form of the store manager’s job description?
2. Is it practical to specify standards and procedures in the body of the job description, or