Working as an Amazon area manager is one of the most fulfilling jobs and could easily be your stepping stone to a rewarding career in retail logistics. As an Amazon area manager, you’re responsible for overseeing all the operations in your area, and the job often involves effectively managing employee teams and coordinating them for smooth operations.

There’s a significant potential for career growth in the position of area manager. The role helps you develop key leadership skills like communication, project management, creativity, adaptability, and more. You can easily maximize your opportunities at this level to further grow and enhance your career.

In this guide, we’ll look at the steps you need to take to utilize your skills as an Amazon area manager to accelerate your career.

Understanding your role as an Amazon Area Manager

Before you can determine where you’re headed, it’s important to have a firm grasp of where you stand. You need to understand your current role in your position, what you bring to the table, and what assets you have that you can maximize.

Amazon area managers have a wide range of responsibilities, and they include:

• Maintaining the company’s relationship with its customers
• Overseeing the processing of orders by field management teams
• Developing strategies that help increase efficiency and improve processes
• Monitoring important performance metrics like sales and taking corrective action when necessary
• Maintaining a safe work environment by Ensuring OSHA compliance
• Maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace without discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, race, or religion.
• Collaborating with other departments for smooth operations in all delivery stations
• Setting and ensuring the achievement of performance goals

The area manager role is a crucial one that requires a diverse range of skills. Here are some of the core skills that area managers need to fulfil their responsibilities:

• Performance management
• Communication and problem-solving
• Creativity and adaptability
• Tech-savvy
• Data analytics
• Team building
• Business acumen

These skills are aligned with Amazon’s leadership principles and will help you thrive in the position as you work toward more senior management roles.

Assessing your current skill set

The key to accelerating your career is an unwavering commitment to increasing your knowledge and developing your skill set. Continuous self-assessment shows you the knowledge and skill gaps you must fill to move on to the next level. You need to identify your strengths and weaknesses so you can capitalize on the strengths and work on your weaknesses for improvement.

You can use various career assessment tools and techniques to determine where you thrive and what you should work on. There are skill assessments that help you measure your knowledge and proficiency in specific skills. You can also seek feedback from your peers and upper management. Once you’ve identified your strengths and weaknesses, you’ll have a clear roadmap of what to do to get where you want to be.

Key skills that can propel your career

Your knowledge and skills are the key determinants of how well you perform in your current job role, and upskilling is one of the easiest ways to get promoted to higher positions. Here are some of the top skills that will help accelerate your career:

Leadership and team management

Any management role involves working with people and the ability to build successful relationships within teams. A manager is a leader, and this means inspiring your team’s trust and confidence. A good leader inspires and motivates their team to work towards the achievement of individual and company goals.

Team management requires interpersonal skills. This calls for you to know your team members professionally and personally. You must be a team player to manage your team effectively.

Problem-solving and decision-making

A managerial position requires a lot of decision-making. An effective manager is one who can spot and solve problems before they have a significant impact on operations. You’ll need attention to detail and the ability to stay calm under pressure.

As a manager, you must think on your feet when solving problems to ensure the productivity of your team and the continuity of the workflow. Your ability to make informed decisions that affect business operations will help prepare you for a career in upper management.

Communication and negotiation

As a manager, your communication skills directly translate to the type of relationships you foster in the workplace. It’s important to clearly communicate expectations, goals and targets to your team. Effective communication helps to ensure a smooth workflow on the site.

Occasionally, there will be conflicts in the workplace, which can cause a negative working culture. As such, area managers need negotiation skills for conflict resolution. As a leader, you must work on your negotiation skills to help maintain your team’s focus on the tasks at hand and rebuild team spirit.

Data analysis and reporting

Data analysis and reporting are essential to management and decision-making, especially at Amazon. Having data analysis and reporting skills means you can effectively apply data to business goals and make informed decisions that affect the company’s bottom line.

Data management is a highly sought-after skill, and developing it will help you set yourself apart as a leader and land your dream job.

Leveraging your skills for career advancement

Rising through the ranks in the corporate world requires a great amount of effort and dedication. Once you’ve worked on developing the skills you need to advance your career, you must put them to work and leverage them for growth.

You can utilize your leadership skills for career growth by taking on more responsibilities. Taking the initiative is one of the best ways to get yourself noticed by upper management. Always seek opportunities that align with your career goals and give them your best.

You can leverage your data analysis skills for strategic roles within the company. You can use your data analysis skills to develop creative solutions to company problems and strategies to help the company succeed.

Your communication skills can be an invaluable tool for building relationships and networking. There are many opportunities to interact with peers and senior managers, and you can use these opportunities to find a mentor that will help you along the way.

Upskilling opportunities for Area Managers

There are many opportunities open to area managers looking to upskill. For instance, you could sign up for the Amazon Career Choice program, where you take online certificate programs to prepare for in-demand jobs, all at no cost.

Pathstream is one of Amazon’s partners, offering various online certification programs paid for by Amazon. Here are some of the upskilling courses offered through Pathstream:

• Tableau Data Analytics Certificate
• Sales Ops Certificate 

Enrolling in any of these courses can help complement your existing skills and expedite your career advancement. For instance, if your goal is to become a data analyst, you can take the Data Analytics course to gain or sharpen your existing skills.

Strategies for career advancement

Taking your career to the next level is a challenging but rewarding venture. With dedication and commitment, you’ll be where you want to be in no time. Here are some strategies you can employ to grow your career.

Set career goals

The importance of setting career goals aligned with your skill set cannot be overestimated. Career goals will act as your road map and help you determine the skills you need to gain to reach your goal. For instance, if you’re working towards a more strategic role, you may want to enroll in a Data analytics program to help improve your data analysis and reporting skills.

Build strong professional networks

Another surefire way to advance your career is to work on your networking. Building a strong professional network will help unlock a future in your dream job. Connecting and engaging with people in a related field is a learning opportunity that will help you work on your skill set.

Utilize Amazon’s resources and opportunities for career growth

Amazon has put career advancement opportunities at your disposal, and it’s up to you to take full advantage of them. Amazon offers financial and other resources through programs like the Career Choice Program, where you can upskill your way to your dream career.

Success Stories of Amazon Employees who accelerated their careers

Portland Reed

Portland Reed, who had spent most of her career as a stockbroker, joined Amazon when the pandemic hit and forced her to shut down her business. While she had never worked at a warehouse before, she saw her Amazon job as an opportunity.

She used the Amazon Career Choice Program to enroll in Pathstream’s Tableau Data Analytics Certificate course for free. She then used her newfound data skills to improve warehouse operations and landed a promotion. According to her, the Data Analytics course equipped her with the right tools she needed to execute and excel in her role.

Carlos Rodriguez

Carlos Rodriguez found himself working in logistics at Amazon after moving to the U.S. from Venezuela. It was at the warehouse that he learnt about Amazon’s Career Choice Program and discovered Pathstream’s Tableau Data Analytics Certificate program.

Without any experience in data analytics, he could still utilize his experience and data skills to work on gaining and refreshing his technical skills. With the support of career coaches at Pathstream, he was able to restart his career. He managed to achieve his goals and got a job as the Marketing & Sales Data Analyst at Engie North America.

The key takeaway from these success stories is you have everything you need to succeed, and all you have to do is take advantage. Maximize the opportunities available by taking time to upskill and position yourself for your dream job.

Conclusion

All you need for career advancement is continuous learning and skill application. Work on your skill gaps by enrolling in programs that will equip you with the knowledge you need to take your career to the next level.

As an Amazon area manager, there are tons of opportunities for growth available to you. Take full advantage of these resources and leverage your skills to propel your career growth at Amazon and beyond.