Have a Great Manager? Enter to Win in the 2020 IGA Manager Awards!

Owning a grocery store is hard. But like any other job, it gets easier when you have the right people working for you—particularly in management.

In an industry where margins are tight, turnover is common, and customers are increasingly expecting more from their shopping experience, having a dedicated manager who is invested in both the success of the store and the store team is critical, says IGA Coca-Cola Institute President Paulo Goelzer. “People forget that the best employees are not born, they’re made. Nothing is more important than a supervisor or manager’s role in creating satisfied, productive employees. Most people don’t leave the company, they leave the manager,” he says.

“The point here is simple,” Goelzer continues. “You want your operation to run smoothly? You want more satisfied customers and increased sales? Make sure your people are happy. What’s the key to making employees happy? Give them a great manager.”

What Makes a Great Manager?

Managers have a hand in every level of your store’s performance and overall success, including: on-boarding, training, and maintaining a positive work culture for employees; creating memorable customer experiences that build lasting loyalty; and overseeing sales, operations, and financials. Clearly store managers wear all the hats. But what makes a manager great?

The Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council study, Getting to Great: Mapping Management Practices that Drive Great Store Performance, offers some insight. “The best managers we observed were both leaders and coaches for their teams,” the overview says, citing the following characteristics found in top performing managers during the year-long study of more than 11,000 people working in retail:

• They shared a common vision with employees.
• They were part of the team.
• They provided personal leadership.
• They harnessed employees’ desires to do a good job and make valued contributions in ways that unleashed employees’ potential to improve store performance.
• They paid attention—interacting constantly with employees and customers—and acknowledged each employee’s contributions toward achieving store goals.

The Importance of Recognition

So, it turns out that your manager checks all the boxes. How do you make sure that manager knows just how important their contribution is to the success of your store?

Recognition is key, Goelzer says. “Managers spend their days coaching the best performances from your team, and the great ones know that acknowledging a job well done—with awards and public recognition in the store and on social media—is crucial to keeping the team motivated and moving forward. So, while your manager is doing their part to recognize the team, ask yourself, are you doing enough to recognize your manager?"

Recognition Matters

• Engagement, performance and productivity is 14% higher in companies with award and recognition programs.

• Effective recognition reduces 31% of voluntary turnover.

Source: Fuente: Breslin & Associates

IGA’s Manager Recognition Program

New for 2020, IGA wants you to help us recognize the top managers in our IGA Alliance at the 2020 IGA Global Rally in Nashville this March!

Take five minutes to tell us what makes your manager great,  and they’ll be in the running to win free registration for the IGA Global Rally and Leadership Journey Workshop (held specifically for managers on the morning of March 9, the first day of the Rally), and $1,000 cash prize. Winners will be announced mid-January, and recognized at the Leadership Journey Workshop and in a profile in The IGA Minute.

The deadline to enter, January 3, will be here before you know it, so don’t delay!

Have questions? Contact IGA Vice President of Events Barbara Wiest at bwiest@igainc.com.