Job seekers and future retail extraordinaries; you’re in for a treat! To help you launch exciting careers in the retail industry, we’ve teamed with our friends at Smiggle and Premier Retail to highlight a super exciting opportunity: the Just Future Leaders Program!
The program (which has been running for over 10 years now), helps retail superstars level up in their careers, hit milestones and land their dream promotion quicker than ever before. The best part? You can be a part of it too!
So, if you love shopping and want to pave a clear path to success, read on; Smiggle and Premier Retail are about to tell you how.
Discover the Just Future Leaders Program: A Launchpad for Career Growth
“Our hugely successful Leadership Program has helped so many talented people progress into more senior roles in the organisation through our Retail stores, State Retail roles and Support Office roles. Essentially, it’s a great way to supercharge your career!
“Wondering how to get involved? The program is open to Assistant Managers and Key Holders who play a key role in the delivery of their store’s results across our 4 retail pillars. Even if you’re not quite there yet, don’t worry; we’re here to support you at any stage in your career journey. If the Just Future Leaders Program is something you’re interested in, we’ll help you get there!
“The Program is designed to build on the participant’s current management and leadership skills whilst developing their capability to drive improved business results in their stores.”
All About the Just Future Leaders Program
Wondering how the program works and what your journey might look like? We’ve got you covered. Check out this handy FAQ segment with tonnes of insightful answers from insiders at Smiggle and Premier Retail:
Question: What skills and leadership qualities does the program help participants develop?
Answer: “Our Just Future Leaders program positions our Junior Leaders to confidently and skilfully transition into a Store Manager role when the opportunity arises.
“We have had close to 1000 leaders participate in our Just Future leaders Program over the years, with our Regional Manager Teagan being one of the many success stories come out of Smiggle!”
Question: Why is internal career development a key focus for Smiggle and Premier Retail?
Answer: The Just Future Leaders program is an initiative that focuses on developing the next generation of leaders in the retail industry. The aim of the program is to encourage engagement in team members, who are fostering an interest in retail to see them succeed and progress internally throughout the business.
The key to the initiative is that it seeks to develop leadership skills in people that can be used both in and outside of work.
By investing in our team members success, we are rewarded with loyalty, performance and productivity, which in turn directly helps the businesses talent retention, lowering hiring risks. This strengthens the company name and improves the company’s adaptability. It’s an all-rounder benefit!
Question: What career opportunities exist for future employees, including high school students, within the business?
Answer: There is an array of career opportunities that are at your disposal if you step into Premier Retail. Anything from talent, sales, loss prevention, marketing and product development (as Smiggle products are developed in-house in Melbourne!)
As a high school student, we always encourage entering into a sales assistant role and then communicating with your Store Manager, Assistant Store Manager, or Regional Manager about any roles that interest you and we can get behind you 100% to help you get to where you want to go!
If you were to step into JFL, throughout the 3 in-person sessions, the program is facilitated by different leaders of the business who have experienced their own progression and show passion and drive for their careers. It is inspiring and exciting to see the opportunities presented to you.
Question: How can aspiring retail professionals take advantage of programs like Just Future Leaders to build a rewarding career?
Answer: The JFL program utilises a cultural framework of behaviours that are based on key qualities that leaders are expected to be able to provide in the business; compassion, integrity, proactiveness, reliability. We use hypothetical situations, role-play, and real-life examples to paint the picture of what is expected of us, as leaders.
You are then encouraged to leave a session with the knowledge given to you and use it in real life scenarios and come back to the next session with a ‘light bulb’ moment, thus creating an environment that is expectant of feedback and constant growth. It is an incredibly collaborative program that seeks to celebrate the successes and challenge your understanding of business and leadership.
Meet Teagan! Real Stories of Success:
How Teagan Progressed from Casual Sales Assistant to Regional Manager
So, now that you’ve heard about the program from management’s perspective, it’s time to connect with a past participant who used the Just Future Leaders Program to supercharge her own career! Before we get started, we’ll hand it over to Smiggle and Premier Retail to introduce their fantastic candidate and highlight why she’s the perfect spokesperson for the job:
Teagan is coming into her 9th year with the brand. Starting as a Casual Sales Assistant in Smiggle Frankston. With the help of our Just Future Leaders program, Teagan then progressed her way up to an Assistant Store Manager, then Store Manager at our Flagship Chadstone store.
In 2022 Teagan stepped into her first multi-site Cluster Manager role before most recently progressing into a permanent Regional Manager role in Smiggle.
Learn About the Just Future Leaders Program from Someone Who Experienced it Firsthand!
It’s time to pass it over to Teagan, who’s ready and willing to answer all of your burning questions. Trust us, if you want to launch an exciting career in the retail industry, she’s your girl!
Question: How has the Just Future Leaders Program helped you in your career journey and development with Smiggle?
Answer: While I have always been a very outgoing and outspoken individual; I never really imagined myself in the role of a business leader. Throughout my high school career and even into Uni I was studying to be a teacher, when I eventually found myself with the opportunity to step into a Store Manager role at Smiggle.
I loved the company, I always looked forward to working and so it was a natural next step for me, but what really encouraged me was my Regional Manager, who took the time to build my skills up, speak to her observations of me and provide me with the confidence to step into a leadership role. I was encouraged into the JFL program where we honed our understanding of the cultural framework behaviours of the Just Group which really helped me understand what was expected of me in my day to day.
This program directly and positively changed the way I view my role as a leader, and I use the knowledge every day in my current role.
Question: What challenges have you faced along the way, and how did the program equip you to overcome them?
Answer: The JFL program has been directly linked to my growth in the business but also to my own personal growth. I find myself referring to my learnings from the sessions every other week whether that be in regard to talent development, or my own understanding of the sales or shrink landscape.
While an outgoing and enthusiastic individual, I have always struggled to ask for help and lean on my peers. I think the program really helped me understand and accept the unknown, being uncomfortable with not having the answers, and providing me with the knowledge of who to go to and when.
The JFL program was an invaluable lesson for me in learning to rely on my own initiative, honesty and integrity. I find myself always conscious of the leadership shadow I cast, trying to provide an example of the performance and behaviours I am expecting my team to display.
Question: What are the key leadership lessons and take-aways that you have applied in your role/s, and how have they impacted store performance and team engagement?
Answer: One of the big take outs for me has always been the different forms of leadership, the DiSC profile. I understand that it is not a 100% accurate personality test and does not seek to pigeonhole people into one or two roles, but it is incredibly helpful for leaders to understand the way their teams, and themselves, learn.
I have always taken very well to self-reflection and self-exploration, and the JFL program encourages this in every way. It is a constant “how to” guide of who you are, and what you want to be.
Talent (people) make sense to me. I am incredibly grateful to the JFL program for giving me the opportunity to develop my understanding of the importance of team development.
I pride myself on my team retention and engagement, always seeking to validate the emotions and experiences of my team before anything else, and have some great success stories of my team members who have been able to develop useful life skills that I work one-on-one with them to develop.
Start Your Retail Journey Today!
Now that you’re well-versed on the Just Future Leaders Program, it’s time to launch your very own retail career! To get started, all you need to do is head to Smiggle’s employer profile, or start browsing their job board for entry-level positions; we’ll see you there!
