Working at R&R Sport

When we started R&R Sport we chose to think and act differently.  We decided to think outside the square and we have ensured we have adapted to change over the years.  As a general rule we recruit for experience in outdoors pursuits, expertise in the specific products we sell and valuing customer service.  

We strongly emphasize excellence in customer service and train all new staff on the R&R Sport way in customer service. We believe our team and the quality of our team is what makes us stand out from the crowd.

We aim for an environment in store that is vibrant, fun and welcoming yet professional. So, consequently we have a team of staff, many of whom are not only experts in product knowledge in their fields but also highly skilled and achieving athletes in those fields; and who can come to work and be themselves.  One of the natural consequences of encouraging our staff to play is our 'out of work hours injury rate,' with staff often coming a cropper...hitting a tree while down-hilling at 65km per hours or hurting themselves while surfing in Fiji. This all adds to the wonderful dynamics of having a youthful and active team. This makes the job for our recruitment and rostering teams all the more harder but our staff are walking the walk which we want to encourage.

Our stores have a reputation for excellence in customer service but also provide a fun and sometimes whacky environment; staff are encouraged to have fun at work. They can often be heard singing very loudly, or playing music very loudly. Dogs are welcome in store with many shops having a shop dog. Our teams often play together a lot after hours, be it going on staff ski trips, mountain biking, adventure racing together or out wakeboarding and waterskiing in summer. This means the team is often buzzing about their recent adventures. We aim for that enthusiasm to be passed onto our customers.

Our best endorsement is members of our team telling us they feel part of a family and our high rate of employees who return to work for us after pursuing other professions or travel. Probably best said by one slightly inebriated staff member recently who told me "I love working in a place where my employer just accepts me for who I am”.

People often ask me the secret of our success and without hesitation I tell them it’s the individuals that make up our team.  We don't always get it right, but that is our objective and to date we've been pretty good at it.  Our team members put in a lot of hard yards and are part of something which I think is unique and exciting in the retail environment.

I don’t know of too many other companies where its ‘normal’ to experience the kind of growth R&R Sport has experienced over the past 10 years.  Where we have grown from just 1 store to 9 across New Zealand….but that’s the exciting part about working for R&R Sport and I can assure you it’s not going to stop here.

We have many more dynamic plans in the pipeline and we’re always looking for the best people in all outdoors specialties and fields to join our family to help us achieve our goals and play an integral part in the future of our company.

The current labour market is a tough one - we know it - but we also know from experience that we have retained a competitive edge as an 'employer of choice', because not only do we offer competitive pay, ongoing training and great staff purchasing benefits, we also offer a unique culture that is known as "the family” at R&R Sport.

We work hard, we stay focused on our business goals but, most importantly, we try and have fun doing it.  The bottom line is ‘who we are’, and ‘what we stand for’.  Our core values of world leading brands, professional service, quality, challenging ourselves and having fun is still what drives us and keeps us focused.

So if you’re someone who likes working in an energetic, fast-paced, dynamic environment where your passion for challenging convention while providing excellence in customer service can go into overdrive, then we’re probably a good match and we’d love to hear from you.

Infusing our core values into everything we do relies on our company and our people doing their bit.  Our company strives to provide a work environment where we have the right policies, processes, systems, communications, facilities, benefits, interesting work, fair pay, flexibility and reward and recognition to support our people and our business operations.  Our people strive to provide their knowledge, skills, ability, energy, attitude and approach to their jobs and focus on the achievement of our business goals. Our culture is unique – we know it, we’re proud of it and we work hard to make it a reality.  Come on instore and experience it for yourself!

Our recruitment process is tailored to each individual job but typical elements may include:

• Interviews (face-to-face/phone) 
• Instore trial days
• Reference checks 
• Validation of certificates/qualifications
• Police checks

We have embedded principles of fairness and equity into our recruitment process to ensure we keep our business operations and workplace fair and free from all forms of inequality and discrimination.

We receive high levels of interest in almost every position we advertise, which is great, but this also means our recruitment team is super-busy!  To maximize efficiency and deliver professional services to everyone, we:

• Write job advertisements that say what the job involves and it's minimum selection criteria 
• Communicate with you via email to keep you informed of your application status and next steps 

We have a formal induction process where new staff learn about the history of our company and about our values and culture. This is paired with a general orientation of the store you will be working in.

This is followed by a training program where you will be paired up with your instore trainer to learn about our point of sale system, customer service the R&R Sport way, as well as basic product knowledge in our key departments. This induction and initial training is designed to take place before you hit the shop floor so you can hit the ground running with a clear understanding of our expectations of you as an employee and with you having a clear understanding of who we are and what our style is.

Ongoing product knowledge and point of sale training is provided throughout the year at R&R Sport. We try and make as many of these sessions as hands-on as possible with training sessions in which you test the skis, ride the bikes, camp overnight in the tents, use the lanterns and cookers and eat the dehydrated foods.

Any staff member who wants to be a department manager is run through a specific training program and those who put their hands up for even more responsibility find themselves with an individual training program tailored for their wants/needs and area of interest.