Branch Manager

Description

The Branch Manager exercises complete responsibility for developing and managing a business operation that increases sales, profitability, market share, and customer and employee safety and satisfaction. They direct, coordinate and monitor all branch operations including sales, warehouse, logistics, inventory, finances, facility maintenance, and personnel development activities.

Decision Making & Strategic Decision Making

• Recognizes issues, problems, or opportunities and determines action needed.
• Gathers and organizes information - Identifies the need for, collects, and organizes information to better understand problems, opportunities; compares and combines information to identify underlying issues.
• Interprets and analyzes information - Integrates information from a variety of sources; detects trends, associations, and cause-effect relationships.
• Generates alternatives - Creates relevant options for addressing problems/opportunities and achieving desired outcomes.
• Chooses appropriate action - Formulates clear decision criteria; evaluates options by considering implications, especially the impact on a company’s financial picture; chooses an effective option.
• Commits to action - Implements decisions or initiates action within a reasonable time; monitors results and makes adjustments as needed. Accountability built in to ensure success. Delegates effectively.

Delegating Responsibility & Follow-Up

• Shares appropriate responsibilities - Allocates decision-making authority and/or task responsibility in appropriate areas to appropriate individuals.
• Clearly defines parameters - Sets guidelines of delegated responsibility, including decision-making authority and any required actions, constraints, or deadlines. Able to delegate both routine and important tasks.
• Provides support without removing responsibility - Suggests resources and provides assistance or coaching as needed; expresses confidence in the individual. Trusts people to perform.
• Stays informed - Establishes appropriate procedures to keep informed of issues and results in areas of shared responsibility.
• Communicates time frames - Builds due dates into assignments and task delegations; effectively communicates milestones and expected results. 
• Gathers appropriate information - Asks questions to obtain relevant 
• information; convenes meetings to review progress and share information; gets feedback on results from those directly involved. Provides needed resources.
• Evaluates results - Meets formally with peers, associates, and management to review the results of an assignment, project, or delegated task.

Planning And Organizing

• Prioritizes - Identifies more critical and less critical activities and assignments; adjusts priorities when appropriate.
• Establishes S.M.A.R.T. goals in line with company goals and values. Implements action plans with timelines with deliverables and measure results.
• Determines tasks and resources - Determines project or assignment requirements by breaking them down into tasks and identifying types of equipment, materials, and people needed.
• Schedules - Allocates appropriate amounts of time for completing work, while avoiding scheduling conflicts and overruns; develops timelines and milestones for goals and projects.
• Leverages resources - Identifies and takes advantage of available resources.
• Stays focused - Understands the importance of time management in order to effectively use time and prevent irrelevant issues or distractions from interfering with work completion.
• Accountability – Holds self and others accountable for deadlines, assignments, etc.
• Communication – Keeps team up-to-date on progress, milestones, assignments, etc.

Communication

• Organizes the communication - Clarifies purpose and importance; stresses major points; follows a logical sequence.
• Maintains audience attention - Keeps the audience engaged through use of techniques such as analogies, illustrations, humor, an appealing style, body language, and voice inflection.
• Adjusts to the audience - Frames message in line with audience experience, background, and expectations; uses terms, examples, and analogies that are meaningful to the audience.
• Ensures understanding - Seeks input from audience; checks understanding; presents message in different ways to enhance understanding.
• Adheres to accepted conventions - Uses syntax, pace, volume, diction, and mechanics appropriate to the media being used.
• Comprehends communication from others - Attends to messages from others; correctly interprets messages and responds appropriately.
• Ability to sell – Presents ideas and information to successfully influence the audience to accept and embrace mutual outcomes.
• Actively develops and promotes effective communication skills in others in the organization.
• Makes complex ideas or situations clear, simple and understandable. Recognizes patterns, sees discrepancies, missing pieces and trends.

Building Trust & Gaining Commitment

• Opens discussions effectively - Describes expectations, goals, requests, or future states in a way that provides clarity and excites interest; shares thoughts, feelings, and rationale so that others understand personal positions.
• Develops ideas - Presents own ideas; seeks and develops suggestions of others; makes procedural suggestions.  
• Facilitates agreement - Uses appropriate influence strategies to gain genuine agreement; persists by using different approaches as needed to gain commitment.
• Closes discussions with clear summaries - Summarizes information and outcomes of discussions and establishes next steps if needed. Ensures that the situation/issue at hand is understood.
• Demonstrates honesty and integrity and keeps commitments.
• Builds relationships – Learns the value of relationships and views building relationships as a critical success tool.
• Team player – Builds trust by developing and nurturing a team environment; treats people with dignity, respect, and fairness; gives proper credit to others; stands up for deserving others and their ideas even in the face of resistance or challenge.

Coaching & Developing Others

• Clarifies expected behaviors, knowledge, and level of proficiency by seeking and giving information and checking for understanding.  
• Explains and demonstrates – Provides instruction, positive models, and opportunities for observation in order to help others develop skills; encourages questions to ensure understanding.
• Establishes good interpersonal relationships - Helps people feel valued, appreciated, and included in discussions.
• Collaboratively establishes development goals and plans - Works with individuals to identify areas for development, understands need for improvement, and jointly sets specific development goals.
• Creates a learning environment - Secures resources required to support development efforts; ensures that opportunities for advancement are available; offers assistance to help individuals overcome obstacles to learning.
• Monitors progress - Gives individuals’ specific feedback on their performance related to established goals; highlights key positive and negative performance issues; adjusts plans to ensure development.
• Leads by example – Models the behaviors, knowledge and practices and demonstrates the characteristics that are expected of the individual who is being coached.

Managing Conflict

• Clarifies the current situation - Collects information from relevant sources to understand the conflict. Documents outcomes or implications as needed.
• Remains open to all sides - Objectively views the conflict from all sides. Addresses conflict as it arises, and approaches conflict as an opportunity.
• Skilled at focused listening – Practices attentive and active listening. Accurately restates the opinions of others even when he/she disagrees.  
• Stays focused on resolution - Stays focused on resolving the conflict and avoid personal issues and attacks. Establishes a clear and compelling rationale for resolving the conflict.
• Initiates action - Takes positive action to resolve the conflict immediately to avoid escalation, address the issue, dissipate the conflict, and maintain the relationship.
• Closes discussions with clear summaries - Summarizes to ensure that all are aware of agreements and required actions.
• Follow up – Monitors progress of situations and keeps team on track.

Technical / Professional Skills and Knowledge

• Demonstrates a solid understanding of and successfully manages the SALES / MARKETING function within the branch.
• Demonstrates a solid understanding of and successfully manages the PURCHASING / INVENTORY function within the branch.
• Demonstrates a solid understanding of and successfully manages the WAREHOUSE function within the branch.
• Demonstrates a solid understanding of and successfully manages the FINANCE / CREDIT function within the branch.
• Demonstrates a solid understanding of and successfully enforces the HR /TALENT function within the branch.

Quality Orientation

• Follows procedures - Accurately and carefully follows established procedures for completing work tasks.
• Ensures high-quality output – Oversees personal and team job processes, tasks, and work products to ensure freedom from errors, omissions, or defects.
• Takes action - Initiates action to correct quality problems and notifies others of quality issues as appropriate.

Perform other duties as assigned. Adhere to the rules and regulations as set forth in the Employee Handbook.

Requirements

Job Requirements:

Education: 

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Engineering or Construction Management

Experience: 

• Minimum 1 year in similar position (3 years preferred)
• Minimum 3 years in progressive position (5 years preferred)
•  Product/applications experience preferred
•  Wholesale distribution experience preferred
•  Supervisory experience required
•  Competency in all subordinate positions of branch operations is essential