Job Title: Store Associate

FLSA Status: Non-Exempt

Reports To: Hardware Store Manager

Job Objective

The store associate is responsible for providing efficient, friendly customer service by processing and handling customer orders in a timely, accurate, safe, and courteous manner. This position is responsible for greeting and welcoming customers and delivering outstanding customer experience. The candidate must be friendly, customer service oriented, flexible, and possess excellent communication skills. Strong computer skills are a must.

Incumbent maintains efficiency in a manner that will optimize the cooperative’s market share and savings, improve the cooperative’s efficiency, help achieve the cooperative’s mission and goals, and result in outstanding customer service.

This position will maintain a positive attitude that promotes team work within the location, as well as within the cooperative and upholds a favorable image of Five Star Cooperative at all times.

Qualifications

Education/Experience:

• Strong customer service skills – ability to be friendly and understanding to customers and co-workers
• Candidate must be honest – ability to handle money
• Excellent communication skills
• Candidate must be proactive, initiative, enthusiastic, and flexible
• Willingness to work mornings, evenings, and Saturdays as needed
• Candidate must be teamwork oriented

License, Certificate, or Registration: Valid driver’s license

Basic Skills: Speaking, Writing, Reading Comprehension, Listening, Monitoring, Judgement and Decision Making, Time Management

Essential Tasks:

• Obtains or receives merchandise, totals bill, accepts payments, and makes change for customers in country store
• When not assisting customers, may help stock shelves or counters with merchandise
• Maintain awareness of all promotions and advertisements and provide this information to customers
• Stamps, marks, or tags price on merchandise
• Provides general assistance to customers concerning location and price of merchandise
• Assists in maintaining and cleaning the condition of the store
• Accurately records customer transactions and handles monetary transactions by operating a cash register
• Communicates with others in a polite and professional manner
• Promote and Practice Five Star Cooperative’s values
• Enforce and abide by all cooperative policies
• Perform duties as requested by management
• Cleans work area as needed
• Has knowledge of and adheres to Five Star Cooperative’s safety regulations

Maintenance & Safety:

• Observe OSHA, state, and federal safety regulations
• Maintains company compliance, enters any compliance data and completes monthly preventative maintenance schedules. 
• Operates trucks and equipment safely
• Receives no OSHA, state, or federal citations
• Receives no valid customer complaints concerning driving
• Maintain clean and neat facilities

Service and Skills:

• Excellent customer service required – Applicant must be neat and approachable
• Handles customer complaints smoothly – notifies supervisor of any problems and strives to solve any problems quickly, either personally or through communication with the supervisor. 
• Excellent telephone skills – applicant must promptly and courteously answer the phone
• Requires acute attention to detail
• Requires making decisions that affect customers, other employees, Five Star Coop’s financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization
• Commitment to excellence and high standards
• Actively work to increase personal skills and knowledge
• Attend product, merchandising, safety, and cooperative meetings as requested

Work Context for the Essential Functions of the Job

• Requires face-to-face and telephone communication with individuals, customers, or teams daily
• Opportunity to make decisions without supervision, 
• Requires making decisions that impact the results of co-workers, clients or the company, 
• Requires being exact or highly accurate, 
• Requires repeating the same physical activities or mental activities over and over, 
• Requires meeting strict deadlines daily to ensure customer service when unloading and product delivery deadlines.
• Requires work with others in a group or team, 
• Requires work with external customers or the public, 
• Includes responsibility for work outcomes and results, 
• Includes responsibility for the health and safety of others, 
• Requires wearing common protective or safety equipment, 

Other Duties:

• Ability to deal effectively with a diversity of individuals at all organizational levels
• Good judgment with the ability to make timely and sound decisions
• Versatility, flexibility, and a willingness to work within constantly changing priorities with enthusiasm
• Ability to work independently and as a team player
• Must be able to climb stairs, reach above, below, and at shoulder level. 
• Willingness to work from multiple locations within the cooperative

Work Conditions and Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. This job is performed indoors or outdoors and will have exposure to external elements including: weather extremes of Northern Iowa, heights, confined spaces, and other variable and unique environments. Employee will have exposure to dust from feed, grain, or fertilizer products.

Physical Abilities

• Far Vision—The ability to see details at a distance.
• Near Vision—The ability to see details at close range to complete detailed paperwork and computer work(within a few feet of the observer).
• Reaction Time—The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
• Static Strength—The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
• Response Orientation—The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.   
• Spatial Orientation—The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
• Depth Perception—The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or further away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.  
• Extent Flexibility—The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Multilimb Coordination—The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
• Manual Dexterity—The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble or move objects 
• Climbing—Ability to climb stairs.