Or are you just being kind?
We often hear about how important it is to understand our values when thinking about our career. It actually took me a while to work out what was important to me.
I think back to the time I was working for a chain jewellery store, straight out of finishing that super useful Bachelor of Applied Science 🙄 . I was in their management development program and then worked my way up to store manager.
During this time I learnt about:
• Product margins, and which products would drive the most profits (leather watch straps in you were wondering).
• How to select products that would sell the best in each store location. I became a homewares buyer there for a while.
• How to roster staff and manage the costs of staff, within a budget.
• How to drive revenue.
• How to manage people, and create a team that works together and supports each other, and
• How to deal with conflict, particularly when customers decide to scream at you the day before Christmas. Some first-hand resilience building right there.
And lots more.
But I wanted to learn more about organisations managing people and so I started studying human resources and looking for ways to gain some relevant experience while studying.
Over a couple of years, I secured my first “HR” job, and it was a good one. It set me up to do lots more across my career, and what did I learn?
I learnt that along with the facilities and/or buildings that organisations need to run their business, people are one of the most expensive parts of running a business, and that often organisations don’t always manage their people very well. And that I wish they would, because they could be way more successful. More performance. More revenue. More profit.
That commercial retail experience has not been wasted.
It’s meant that across my career I have always thought about how the work I’m doing makes financial and business sense.
It’s meant that when I haven’t had a budget, I have either built a strong business case to get one, or been creative with how I deliver work.
It’s meant when I work with clients at The Culture Ministry I’m thinking about the impact the work will make, and how it saves them money, or makes them money. Of course I want people to be treated well, and fairly, but to work in making culture better, I think you also must be commercial in your approach, or there is no jobs for anyone.
Lisa xx