Trading manager Review

As a Showrooms Trading Manager I am responsible for the Showrooms department in my store, sales target, state, safety etc of the whole department. I have a team of 5 people and lead them on a daily basis to achieve our targets and KPIs. I also support other trading managers in the day regarding duty managers duties (health and safety, first aid, disciplinary etc). I interact every day with my team members, my peers and my line manager, the store manager.

I have learned a lot on the job, thanks to the experience and help of my peers managers. The apprenticeship gave me a lot of insight on the why do we do what we do but didn't teach me so much how to do it. I understand it is determined a lot by where you are working but I wished the apprenticeship had given me more practical preparation for this management role.

As said previously the programme of my apprenticeship is very theoretical. It thought me a lot regarding the why, gave me insight on the whole retail market etc but wasn't preparing me on the day to day job I would be doing. The modules and exercises are good but do not focus enough on case scenarios for my taste.

My apprenticeship programme is very structured. The platform where I can access all resources on is very clear and easy to use. You know from the start what you will be doing in the future so it is well planned as well. The meetings with the tutor are regular as well.

Regarding support from my employer I had a bad experience. Most of my peers or managers were available for a question which was great but I was never given the time to do anything at work. The 20% on the jobs was not followed at all and I had to do everything on my personal time, including coming to work early to access some information on the intranet I would use. I ended up working another 12-18h on my apprenticeship a week on top of my full time job.

The support regarding the modules and the programme was brilliant. my tutor was doing a very good job and adapting her sessions to my needs, was available by email if I had questions etc even though she had 60+ apprentices to follow. The support for any other qualifications like Maths and English was less good but was external from the company doing the apprenticeship.

The qualification I received from this apprenticeship helps me to reflect on some aspects of my role and helps me foresee things. The programme gave me insights on the theoretical part of my role and makes me think more about the consequences of my decisions. I am working less on a day to day basis but planning more and understand better what is expected on the long term thanks to the qualification

Sometimes for a special event there is a team event, like for Christmas. Otherwise team events are a reward/recognition moment for the company and we get allocated social funds if we win a competition or if we achieve annual sales target. It usually is a meal all together or once was a bowling day.

Yes

It is a company that is always trying to better itself. B&Q is already a company that offers a lot of advantages and is aggregable to work for but still has areas that need improvement (diversity and inclusion, absence policy, ...) but the company is putting a lot of resources and time into trying to identify what problems might be (surveys for staff etc) and what solutions can be put in place.

Come with an open mind and take every opportunity of learning and developing yourself. B&Q does offer a lot of chances