Vidya Balakrishnan
Associate Lead
Calgary
Summary
I'm an experienced professional with a strong background in Retail management, customer service and client management with excellent communication and organization skills. A highly empathetic leader who strongly believes in being a team player who is reliable and trusted. Passionate about building lasting customer relationships and fostering a positive company culture.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
5
5
years of post-secondary education
2
2
Certifications
3
3
Languages
Work History
ASSOCIATE LEAD
Hudson's Bay
Calgary, AB
11.2021 - Current
- Sales & KPI Management: Lead a team of 50+ associates in all the departments across the store, monitoring and coaching team members to achieve KPI targets and deliver exceptional customer service
- Team Management: Made sure payroll is completed on a daily basis, creating schedule on WFM for the weeks in advance with allocated store hours zoning the right associates in the right spaces to increase productivity in sales. Trained in workday and jira to deal with associate requests and queries.
- Team Development: Hire, train and motivate new associates and upskill old associates to enhance selling behaviors and performance by fostering a cross-department training strategy and one team approach creating a more appreciative and collaborative environment. This approach increased KPI targets by 25-50% last year making our store top in credit card acquisition and loyalty sign up KPI in Western Canada.
- Customer Service Excellence: Resolve customer issues and complaints promptly, ensuring adherence to company policies with empathy to create a positive shopping experience which resulted in 70% of our new customers becoming loyal customers by signing up for loyalty and retaining old customers at 80-90% making them our everyday shopping customers.
- Inventory and event management- Worked with general manage, Marketing manager, visual team and marketing team for every store event in allocating budget for the event and inventory sold.
- Health & Safety Compliance: Ensure legal requirements are met in accordance with company and local standards of health and safety of associates and customers. Assisting asset protection team in opening and closing the store.
- Proficient in managing both fast-paced environments and physically demanding tasks
- Skilled at working independently and collaboratively in a team environment.
RETAIL ASSOCIATE AND CASHIER
Value Village Thrift Stores
Sault Ste. Marie, ON
04.2019 - 09.2020
- Customer Service & Sales: Assisted 70+ customers daily, ensuring a friendly and efficient checkout process, especially during peak sale periods
- Training & Development: Coached and trained new cashiers on store operations, policies, and customer service standards
- Store Operations: Handled opening and closing procedures, including cash register operations and end-of-day balancing
School Supervisor and Administrative Assistant
Green Valley High School
Chennai
01.2015 - 01.2017
- Implemented student development program to assist those experience difficulties and promote independent success.
- Handled all office administrative tasks, including maintaining physical and digital records, bookkeeping, and scheduling.
- Organized donor meetings and supported school management with decision-making and financial administration.
- Managed daily operations for grades 1-12, including scheduling classes and supervising staff.
- Supervised daily school operations, including teacher recruitment and class scheduling.
- Coordinated marketing strategies and managed large-scale school events to boost enrollment.
- Brought in advertisement campaigns for school using marketing strategies .
Education
MBA - FASHION MANAGEMENT
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School for Textiles and Management
01.2012 - 01.2014
BACHELOR OF COMMERCE - undefined
Womens' Christian College
01.2008 - 01.2011
APPLIED USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN - undefined
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
Skills
- Client Relationship Management
- Proficient in Oral and Written Communication
- Effective Email Communication
- Store Leadership Expertise
- Design software- proficient in Figma, Canva and learning adobe XD
- Team building and leadership
- Attention to detail
- Personal Shopping and clientele
- Fashion merchandising
- Problem-Solving
- Computer proficiency- Word, excel, outlook
Teamwork and collaboration
Customer service
Multitasking Abilities
Supervision and leadership
Certification
Applied user experience design certification, SAIT
Timeline
ASSOCIATE LEAD
Hudson's Bay
11.2021 - Current
RETAIL ASSOCIATE AND CASHIER
Value Village Thrift Stores
04.2019 - 09.2020
School Supervisor and Administrative Assistant
Green Valley High School
01.2015 - 01.2017
MBA - FASHION MANAGEMENT
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School for Textiles and Management
01.2012 - 01.2014
BACHELOR OF COMMERCE - undefined
Womens' Christian College
01.2008 - 01.2011
APPLIED USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN - undefined
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology