Taylor Oliver
Seminar in Professionalism
Career Plan
2/19/2014
Executive Summary
Throughout my career as a grocery store manager, I intend to create an
environment which fosters health and happiness for not only me and my employees,
but also the customers in my store. I plan to surpass the expectations of my
customers, and in turn, surpass my competitors by earning my customer’s business
for life. In order to bring about this environment, I will lead my employees by
example, making sure to always provide top customer service, and to be sure that
customer’s expectations are exceeded, rather than just met. I will also try to create a
warmer and more customer friendly store by eliminating or improving certain aspects
of the shopping experience that I believe are not enjoyed by customers such as
heavy lifting of bulky or heavy items, unsanitary public areas such as restrooms and
food court, and out of stock items. I believe that by creating a more well liked store,
customers will consider shopping less of a chore. Ultimately, I hope to better myself
through service and commitment to my employees and customers, while creating a
stable financial environment for my future.
My next year and a half will be split up between gaining more work experience,
and acquiring a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Plattsburgh. Once I have received my
bachelor’s degree in business administration, I will have five years of work
experience at my current job at Price Chopper. After Graduation, I plan on attending
company sponsored management courses offered by the Price Chopper
Corporation, and possibly work as an intern for the corporation.
With five years on the job experience and internship experience, I hope to be
promoted to an entry level management position, such as a department manager or
co-manager. Through departmental management, and work experience, I plan to
learn as much as possible about all different aspects of my store. In addition, I will
pay close attention to any and all disgruntled customers I come across, as I believe
unhappy customers are the best way to learn about aspects of the store that need to
be improved.
After gaining plenty of knowledge about all areas of the store, I plan to one day
make my way up to co- manager and eventually store manager. At that point, I
should have the ability to start enacting changes to issues that I had learned about
through my years of customer service. Eventually, as I improve the store around me,
I should be able to edge out my competition enough to earn a share of the vastly
populated grocery store market, and manage a profitable store.
When my career is nearing its end, I hope that I will have made myself a better
person, while helping my employees by offering any and all assistance I can. I hope
to become a more caring and compassionate person, who applies the golden rule to
grocery store management, by treating my customers and employees the way I hope
to be treated when I am in their shoes, as a customer, or as an employee.
Mission Statement
In the future, I plan on choosing a career as a grocery store manager. As a
teenager, my second job ever was in a grocery store. I started working there when I
was 17, and have been working there ever since. I love the working environment
provided by grocery stores, and I became close with many of my coworkers. I am
also attracted to a managerial position in a grocery store because during my work
experience and throughout my many business classes in college, I have become
aware of ways that I believe I could improve customer satisfaction, and in turn,
create a more loyal customer base. However, in my current, entry level position, I
lack the power required to make large changes to the store environment.
My Mission Statement:
“I am committed to providing a more enjoyable and comfortable environment for
customers and employees in my store. I will follow the golden rule when dealing with
issues of customer and employee satisfaction in order to truly understand the issue I
am faced with. I will improve my personality by becoming a more positive individual,
who puts a strong emphasis on the safety and comfort of others. I will also strive to
put the needs of others before my own needs, and attempt to optimize the
experiences of not only customers but also employees, in hopes of improving the
satisfaction they receive from utilizing the store. I will create a more customer
focused aura in the store which uses customer complaints as a basis for store
improvement and future communication between employees and customers”
Goals and Objectives
A. Short Term Goals
1. My first short term goal is to graduate from SUNY Plattsburgh with around
a 3.5 GPA. In order to achieve this, I will need to be able to effectively
utilize my time, so I can continue gaining work experience and earning
money to pay for college, while still attending classes, completing all
required assignments, and seeking help from friends and professors
when I do not understand a subject. I will need to stay committed and
keep focused on my goal in order to continuously improve my GPA over
my last 3 semesters.
2. Secondly, I hope to achieve a more influential role at my job at Price
Chopper. Since I don’t have a degree yet, and only 3 years of work
experience, it is unlikely that I will receive a managerial position for a few
years. I hope, however, that I will work my way up to a front end
supervisor, or a similar, slightly more influential role. To accomplish this
goal, I will strive to always work hard at my job, maintain my punctuality at
work, and keep good relations with my superiors, while showing them I
am capable of handling increased responsibilities.
B. Intermediate Term Goals
1. Within the next several years, I will aspire to complete some management
classes and an internship with the Price Chopper Corporation. I will achieve this
goal by making every effort to advance through the ranks at Price Chopper to a
spot where I would be in line for a managerial position. I hope to then
successfully be chosen for the courses and internship, in which case I will strive
to complete the class and internship successfully, while gaining as much
knowledge and experience as possible from the instructors and my fellow
students, while establishing a network with people in my line of work, in hopes for
creating a favorable relationship with my superiors and competition.
2. After completing the management courses and internship, I will strive to
achieve a position as a department manager, I will achieve this goal by
keeping up good work habits, and having a fairly full resume which will
implicate me for the logical choice for a managerial position. Hopefully by
this time I will have gathered enough knowledge about the store that I will be
able to outperform any competitors I will have.
C. Long Term Goals
1. The first of m long term goals is to eventually become a store
manager. It will most likely take many years of additional work experience and
lots of hard work, but I will strive to maintain my commitment. Along with a
promotion, I hope to achieve a pay raise that will allow me to live comfortably,
and possibly support a family.
2. After I make my goal of becoming a grocery store manager come true,
I plan to take steps towards making changes to customer service in my store. I
will take the initiative and try my best to improve sources of conflict in my store.
Fore example, I will attempt to eliminate the issue of heavy of bulky items by
placing them closer to waste height so customers are able to pick up these items
without too much strain. I will also attempt to establish a rule of thumb for
customer service to be followed by not only me but also my employees, which
will apply the golden rule to issues of customer service.
3. Lastly, I hope to retire from my management position when I have the
ability to do so comfortably, without fear for my financial future. I hope that I am
able to achieve this goal by staying committed to my career, and being fiscally
responsible with my salary.
SWOT Analysis
A. Strengths
1. I have been accumulating work experience throughout my four years of
college, and I should have nearly five years of experience by the time I
graduate. This is a strength because I have worked in as many as four
different departments in the store, and have begun to accumulate knowledge
and experience which could help me edge out others competing for the same
position who might have less experience in the work environment.
2. I am a kind and patient person. It takes a certain type of person to work in
retail, someone who can put up with complaints and unhappy customers. Not
only am I able to keep calm when faced with complaints, but I also believe
that complaints are a retail worker’s greatest learning source, as I is usually
the small things that will either make people a customer for life, or make them
want to take their business elsewhere.
B. Weaknesses
1. My first weakness comes in the form of a low GPA currently at Plattsburgh
State. My overall GPA from my first 3 years of college is under 3.0 I believe
that this is a weakness because many people that will be competing
eventually with me for management positions will probably have a higher
GPA. It is my plan to improve my GPA in the next 3 semesters so this
weakness will become less relevant.
2. Another weakness of mine is a lack of punctuality. I am often a few
minutes late to my job, and have been spoken to about this issue by my
supervisors. In order to solve this problem, I need to start setting my alarm
several minutes earlier in the morning and getting ready faster. Although this
weakness should be fairly easy to correct, if it is left unchecked, it could
cause problems for me when looking for a promotion.
C. Opportunities
1. The retail industry is one that is constantly growing, and I believe that
it will continue to grow, and that the opportunity to find a job will always be
there, as managers, people are always being hired and being fired, and
positions open up often. In addition, there are so many stores within the
retail industry that positions will be constantly available.
2. Secondly, I believe that the retail industry is one of the few industries
that is not in danger of being outsourced or automated. As many
industries move their labor overseas or replace it with machines, I believe
that grocery stores will be employing human labor for years and years to
come.
D. Threats
1. I believe that the main threat posed to my success as a grocery store
manager is the sheer amount of competition I will be faced with. As many
students graduate with some sort of business degree, many of them will
naturally move towards positions in grocery stores due to previous work
experience or lack of other available jobs. I hope that by staying loyal to
one company throughout my work experience, that I should be a more
obvious choice for promotion than someone who lacks experience with
the company.
Career Path
Stage 1: (Age 20-22) Student at SUNY Plattsburgh
I am currently a junior at SUNY Plattsburgh and will be graduating
after 3 more semesters. If all goes as planned, I should graduate in
May of 2015.
Stage 2 (Age 22-24) Price Chopper management courses and Internship
After I graduate from college, I intend to attend company sponsored
management courses, and if possible, participate in an internship
within the corporation.
Stage 3 (Age 24-28) Supervisor or similar promoted position in a Grocery
store
After completing management courses and an internship, along with
having more than 5 years of work experience, I will strive to obtain a
promotion to a job with more responsibilities and a higher pay rate.
Stage 4 (Age 28-35) Department manager or co manager
After a sufficient amount of work experience is gained, I plan to
eventually become the manager or co manager of an entire
department, while gathering knowledge about the specifics of
individual departments
Stage 5 (Age 35-60) Store manage
When I have been able to gather enough knowledge and work
experience to assume the responsibilities of the entire store, I hope to
be promoted again to the position of co-manager or store manager. I
hope at this stage, I will have enough power to start enacting changes
to my store that will allow me to gain an advantage over my
competitors, and become a successful store manager for many years
until I am able to retire comfortably.