In this career series presented by Thread Hunters, Kmart state manager Victoria/Tasmania Chris Melton details a key project from his career.
How did you get your start in the industry?
I started working casually in retail whilst I was at school and then continued working part-time throughout my time at university before exploring management opportunities when I finished studying.
What does your day-to-day look like?
Given I work across multiple sites, my day to day is spent motivating the teams and looking at ways to inspire them to deliver on our strategy.
There is generally a mixture of store visits and strategic planning.
What is one piece of business advice you’ve been given that sticks with you today?
Elevate the customer to ensure they are at the heart of the decisions you make and start with the end in mind.
What are the challenges in your role and how do you overcome them?
Geographical challenges that comes with a large portfolio means that I rely on a lot of people.
The key is to surround yourself with great people and make sure your expectations are clear.
What project stands out as a highlight in your career?
Kmart’s new store concept rollout with 200 stores converted to the new store format in just over four years.
This involved refurbishment works and a dedicated team to manage the large-scale project.
What were the biggest challenges in the early days of your career?
Acting based on emotion was difficult to contain when I was younger.
With more experience I’ve had to learn to remove the emotion from a situation to achieve an objective or outcome.