Garden Centre Associate

GARDEN CENTRE ASSOCIATE

Daily involvement in the growing, maintaining or marketing of trees, shrubs, flowers and plants, etc.

You need to have:

· an interest in plants and gardening.

· a good knowledge of the plants and accessories that are stocked.

· good manual skills for handling seeds, bulbs and plants carefully.

· excellent customer service skills.

A garden center associate’s responsibilities include: setting up irrigation and encouraging retail sales. Other common duties revolve around the maintenance of the plants, which often includes weeding, pruning, and watering. The garden center associate should be comfortable working with plants in a greenhouse or natural setting. Qualifications could include experience caring for plants in a commercial or wholesale garden center, greenhouse, or nursery.

Summary

The Garden Centre Associate works in a fast-paced environment that involves constant interaction with customers to deliver friendly and courteous service. This role also involves GC maintenance (watering and caring for annuals, perennials and nursery stock), stocking shelves, merchandising, customer carry outs and general housekeeping.

Responsibilities and Tasks

Customer Service

• Provides excellent customer service to all customers entering the GC, by educating them in the care and maintenance of annuals, perennials, nursery stock and related products.
• Smiles, makes eye contact with and greets customers.
• Guides customer to the location of requested items.
• Answers questions and provides friendly advice and service to customers.
• Suggests value-added and related products to customers to ensure they go home with what they need.
• Ends the discussion with the customer using a closing statement (e.g., “Is there anything else I can do for you today?” “Did you find everything you were looking for?” “Thank you for shopping at Canadian Tire”).
• Responds to and handles customer inquiries, requests and concerns in a timely manner, over the phone and in person.
• Handles multiple customers in an effective and efficient manner.
• Deals with challenging situations in a professional manner.
• Learns about new lawn and garden products on a regular basis.
• Keeps up to date with in-store promotions, in-store deals and product locations.

Operations

• Ensures that retail basics tasks are executed efficiently (e.g., stocking, labels, facing, etc.).
• Walks the GC, greenhouse and soil compound to understand what needs to be accomplished on a daily basis, while also following the directives laid out in the daily Task Lists.
• Maintains inventory accuracy.
• Maintains and rotates annuals, perennials and nursery stock to ensure they are fresh and appealing.
• Keeps the GC neat and tidy.
• Verifies that all UPCs and selling price are accurate.
• Reports stolen and damaged goods to Management.
• Operates computer, EFD and RF gun.
• Plays an active role in the GC team by openly sharing opinions and ideas on how to improve department success, and by participating in meetings and all training as required.
• Engages in learning activities and listens to feedback to improve their own abilities.
• Complies with company, store, and Garden Centre policies.
• Abides by all health and safety programs and regulations. Reports any observed or potential hazards immediately.
• Uses professional language and maintains a professional appearance (uniform, hygiene, grooming, and name tag) when interacting with others.
• Completes other tasks, as required.

Requirements

• Experience in a horticultural customer service role and/or in a customer service role is considered an asset but not necessary.
• A good working knowledge of nursery stock and horticultural products.
• Pesticide handling license, where applicable. May be obtained after hiring.
• Ability to work under minimal supervision with computerized systems. (i.e., POS systems, AS-400, EFDs and RF Guns).

Required Skills and Abilities

Successful candidates will demonstrate the following competencies:

• Strong orientation towards customer service excellence.
• Highly approachable, customer-oriented individual who thrives on offering exceptional service to customers.
• Strong belief in the Canadian Tire Values of honesty, integrity and respect.
• Effective written and oral communication skills (e.g., probing, listening, etc.) and the ability to maintain professional communication, even in challenging situations.
• Ability to complete detail-oriented retail tasks according to instructions and to demonstrate responsibility for outcomes.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced team environment that provides assistance, and support, to co-workers to achieve common goals.
• Ability to resolve retail and/or customer issues.
• Ability to multitask, adapt and cope with challenging situations.
• Positive attitude, punctuality and solid work ethic.

Potential Career Opportunities

• Next levels: Retail Supervisor, Garden Center Manager, Retail Department Manager, Retail Manager and Store Manager.

Physical Demands and Working Conditions

In compliance with the store’s Health and Safety Policies and Procedures:

• Standing/walking for 8 hours.
• Lifting and/or carrying of merchandise items, as required, on a regular, frequent and unassisted basis. Merchandise items may vary in weight from “light” to “heavy”.
• Lifting and turning repeatedly throughout the shift. Lifting above the shoulder, from floor to shoulder and floor to waist.
• Walking and carrying at the same time and pushing/pulling, as required.
• Twisting, turning, reaching and working above shoulder level.

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Permanent

Salary: $17.00-$17.50 per hour

Benefits:

• Dental care
• Extended health care
• On-site parking
• Profit sharing
• Store discount

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Work Location: In person