Melyssa Johnston
People Developer and Retail Specialist
Puslinch,ON
Summary
Passionate People Developer and Retail Operations Specialist
With a deep-seated passion for understanding and developing people, I bring a dynamic approach to retail operations and logistics. Extensive experience in hiring, scheduling, and managing teams in fast-paced retail environments equips me with the skills to optimize operations and drive performance. Thriving on nurturing talent and fostering a culture for continuous improvement. While my core expertise lies in retail, my adaptability allows me to seamlessly transition into other sectors, ensuring operational excellence and team development across diverse settings.
Overview
22
22
years of professional experience
Work History
Sales Manager
Staples
04.2022 - Current
- Sales Operations Manager, Large Volume Retail Store
- People Development: Highly passionate about developing talent and recognizing potential from within. Strong advocate for developing and promoting employees from within the company to foster growth and loyalty.
- Leadership & Team Management: Successfully led a dynamic team to consistently achieve and exceed revenue targets in a high-volume store setting.
- Hiring & Training: Streamlined hiring processes and implemented comprehensive onboarding programs, resulting in a well-trained and motivated workforce.
- Scheduling & Workforce Management: Directed scheduling to ensure optimal productivity and superior customer service.
- Logistics Coordination: Collaborated with logistics teams to maintain timely inventory replenishment and manage optimal stock levels.
- Strategic Planning: Analyzed sales data and market trends to devise strategic action plans, driving continuous sales improvement.
- Customer-Centric Culture: Developed strategies to cultivate a customer-focused culture, enhancing the shopping experience and boosting customer loyalty.
- Sales Coaching: Coached employees on effective sales techniques, promoting cross-selling strategies to increase revenue.
- Performance Improvement: Provided personalized coaching and counseling to sales personnel, supporting individual selling efforts and helping representatives meet and exceed targets.
- Operations Oversight: Oversaw and managed all operations of the store in partnership with the General Manager, including merchandising daily planograms, ensuring first-in-first-out stock rotation, and understanding and sometimes working in various departments such as Print and Marketing, Technology, and the newest addition, Bell and Virgin Plus Mobile and Internet.
Divisional Sales Manager
Staples
01.2020 - 04.2022
- Sales Manager, Smaller Volume Retail Store
- Customer Relations Management: Handled customer relations issues, enabling quick resolution and ensuring client satisfaction.
- Issue Resolution: Quickly resolved customer issues to close deals and boost client satisfaction.
- Sales Strategy Leadership: Spearheaded sales strategies to drive consistent sales performance and maintain high customer satisfaction.
- Recruitment & Training: Recruited, hired, and trained sales associates, fostering a high-performing team focused on professional development and customer engagement.
- Scheduling & Logistics Management: Managed scheduling and logistics to optimize staff coverage and inventory management for seamless store operations.
- Merchandising Innovation: Implemented innovative merchandising techniques to enhance product visibility and drive sales.
- Targeted Sales Initiatives: Developed and executed targeted sales initiatives, leading to significant improvement in key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Team Leadership: Led a successful sales team by providing motivational coaching and performance-based incentives, driving overall team success.
Store Manager
Boathouse
09.2017 - 05.2019
- Operational Management: Oversee and execute day-to-day operations, ensuring the store runs efficiently and effectively.
- Recruitment & Training: Conduct interviews, recruit, and train sales associates to ensure strict adherence to the company's policies, procedures, and guidelines.
- Team Leadership: Lead and manage a team during sales, merchandising, and store changeover shifts, fostering a high-performance culture.
- Inventory Monitoring: Monitor inventory levels by conducting regular checks on merchandise and anticipating customer demand.
- Customer Service Excellence: Lead by example and cultivate a culture of excellent customer service and employee engagement.
- Health & Safety Oversight: Oversee all health and safety protocols, maintain relevant documentation, and ensure employees receive regular training on these protocols.
- Loss Prevention: Function as the loss prevention representative, conducting regular inventory spot checks and promptly addressing any discrepancies.
- Scheduling & Budget Management: Develop and manage schedules and shift changes, create individual sales budgets to ensure that the store budget is met.
Assistant Store Manager
Boathouse
07.2015 - 09.2017
- Operational Assistance: Provided assistance to the store manager in executing day-to-day operations, ensuring smooth functioning of the store.
- Recruitment & Training: Conducted interviews, recruited, and trained sales associates to ensure strict adherence to company policies, procedures, and guidelines.
- Team Management: Effectively managed a team during sales, merchandising, and store changeover shifts.
- Inventory Monitoring: Monitored inventory levels by conducting regular checks on merchandise and anticipating customer demand.
- Leadership and Culture Development: Led by example and cultivated a culture of excellent customer service and employee engagement.
- Health & Safety Oversight: Oversaw health and safety protocols, maintained relevant documentation, and ensured employees received regular training on these protocols.
- Loss Prevention: Functioned as the loss prevention representative, conducting regular inventory spot checks and promptly addressing any discrepancies.
- Scheduling & Budget Management: Developed and managed schedules and shift changes, created individual sales budgets to ensure the store budget was met.
Skills
Technical Skills
- Operational Management: Expertise in overseeing daily store operations to ensure efficiency and effectiveness
- Recruitment & Onboarding: Proficient in conducting interviews, hiring, and training staff to meet company policies and guidelines
- Inventory Management: Ability to monitor and manage inventory levels, including conducting regular checks and anticipating customer demand
- Merchandising: Skilled in implementing innovative merchandising techniques to enhance product visibility and drive sales
- Scheduling: Experience in developing and managing staff schedules to ensure optimal coverage and productivity
- Data Analysis: Proficient in analyzing sales data and market trends to develop strategic action plans for sales improvement
Soft Skills
- Leadership: Proven ability to lead and manage teams, fostering a high-performance and customer-centric culture
- People Development: Strong passion for developing talent and promoting from within to build a motivated and skilled workforce
- Customer Service Excellence: Dedication to cultivating a culture of excellent customer service, ensuring high levels of client satisfaction
- Communication: Effective communicator with strong interpersonal skills, capable of engaging and motivating team members
- Problem-Solving: Adept at quickly resolving customer issues and operational challenges to maintain smooth store operations
- Adaptability: Demonstrated ability to adapt to different retail environments and seamlessly transition into various roles
Additional Skills
- Health & Safety Compliance
- Loss Prevention
- Sales Strategy
Technological Proficiency
- Point of Sale (POS) Systems
- Microsoft Office Suite (Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint)
- Retail Analytics Tools (Power Bi, Looker, Staples internal reporting - Sales forecast, performance/variance, P&L)
Languages
English
Native or Bilingual
French
Elementary
Timeline
Sales Manager
Staples
04.2022 - Current
Divisional Sales Manager
Staples
01.2020 - 04.2022
Store Manager
Boathouse
09.2017 - 05.2019
Assistant Store Manager
Boathouse
07.2015 - 09.2017
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