Wendy

• Wendy
  General Store Manager
• Nathen
  General Store Manager
• Mark
  Night Manager
• Denise
  Pharmacist
• Charlotte
  Trading Assistant
• Keith
  George Living Manager
• Suff
  IT Helpdesk Analyst
• Helen
  Merchandising Manager
• Craig
  Web Merchandising Assistant
• Andrew
  Transport Operations Manager
• Mark
  General Store Manager
• Noor
  Buyer, World Foods Team
• John
  Trading Manager for ASDA Living
• Wilma
  George Manager
• Emma
  Senior Manager in ASDA.com
• Rob
  Optometrist
• Richard
  Operations Manager
• Maria
  Marketing Manager for stores
• Katie
  Product Development Manager in Financial Services
• Gavin
  HR Manager in North London
• Andrew
  Finance Manager in Distribution
• Rebecca
  Public Relations Community Officer
• Julie
  Employee Relations Manager
• Jill
  Dispensing Optician
• Andrew
  Store Manager
• Gareth
  Distribution Operations Manager

Wendy
General Store Manager, Swanley

What’s it like to be a GSM at Asda? Wow, where do I start?

It’s dynamic, fast-paced and challenging, yes, but the thing that stands out for me is the autonomy. I’m given all the space I need to do things my way – to live or die by my own decisions – which I find really inspiring. Of course, we have a framework that we all work to, but it’s very flexible, so I never feel constrained at all.

In fact, this is one of the reasons I joined Asda in the first place.

I already had quite a bit of retail experience and was looking to work somewhere I could put my own personality to good use. And I wasn’t disappointed.

My first role was as GSM for a store in Kent, which at the time was in quite a lot of trouble. I immediately took the decision to remove our ‘Store of Learning’ status as a training/recruitment centre of excellence, as we were so far from ‘what good looks like’ that in my opinion we couldn’t provide an environment fit for training our managers. I then devised a three-month project plan to turn the whole store around. I called it ‘Project Phoenix’ and made sure it addressed every one of the stores processes.

The results couldn’t have been more pleasing. When I started, we achieved a score of just 56% at our audit; three months later and we were at 95%; and one month after that, our “Store of Learning” status was re-instated. A brilliant example of what can be achieved when everyone pulls together.

Since then, it’s never ceased to amaze me how close knit the culture at Asda is. It has a real family feel to it. In some cases, where we have multiple generations of the same family working in one store, that’s literally true, but I think it’s as much about the fact that we generally have very open and supportive management style – and that we’re part of a store-led business, all working together for the same thing: the customer.

My career with Asda is going from strength to strength – I’ve just been promoted to Holding Regional Operations Manager for Kent. It’s a big promotion and I’m very proud of this achievement. At Asda, if you put in the work, the reward and progression is definitely here.