Store
Manager (2004.9.22)
I work as the chief of a drugstore in Sekigahara
town in
The company I work for keeps over 250 drugstores in Tokai and Kinki district. And about a year ago, as of the 1st of August, 2003, I was assigned to the chief, or the store manager of one of them, Sekigahara shop.
Now, I work very hard every day to MANAGE the shop.
Managing a shop is a DEMANDING work. Every day, the list of “what I should do” is ENDLESS, but on the other hand, the available time is LIMITED. In the limited time, I have to make good use of so called “four resources” --- “hito”, “mono”, “kane” and “joho” which mean “employees”, “things”, “money” and “information”--- in order to “mawasu” --- which means “run” --- the shop.
What should I do right now? And what should I do next? --- I am THINKING ALL THE TIME while working, and every day passes very quickly.
Which do you think is the most important factor in
the “four resources”?
It is definitely, “hito”---“employees”. If I could control them effectively, I could keep improving
the shop day by day.
But as a matter of fact, “hito” is also the most delicate as well. In other words, it is the most difficult to handle.
Now I have 11 employees in the shop and they all are females. Every employee has their own individuality and sensitivity, and they each have their different circumstances. When I am giving a job, I need to care about the present condition of the employee and judge whether she can do it or not in the given time. And I have to give them appropriate amount of job.
When I communicate with the employees, my attitude to them is important. When I show them the attitude that I trust them, their motivations for the work will go up.
I also have to make them understand why they need to do that job. When they get convinced of the necessity of the job, the efficiency of their work will be raised.
But if I expected too much from them and gave them too much job, they might lose their drive.
BALANCE --- I always have to consider.
I care about the BALANCE of human relationships as well.
First, I have to think of the relationship between the employee and me.
We shouldn't be too close, for we are not friends. Our relationship should
be “a boss and a subordinate”.
But of course, if our positions were too distantit, it wouldn't go well. I must tell them what they need to correct or improve, and sometimes I have to scold them or train them. But I should not be too strict. Too much strictness would let them down.
And the balance AMONG the employees is also important. If I showed partiality toward a specific employee, it would lead to discontents of the others. Then good relationship among them would COLLAPSE and I would not be able to maintain the comfortable workplace. They HATE unfairness.
The quality of the daily work heavily depends on the atmosphere in the workplace, including human relationshis. So, having good communication with “hito” and keeping good balance among “hito” is the very CORE of my everyday work.
Besides, I have to think of A LOT OF things simultaneously while working.
How can we make our
customers happy?
How can we accomplish the task by the deadline?
How can we increase
today’s sales?
How can we get bigger
profit?
How can we keep the shop
clean?
How can we prevent shopliftings or other troubles in the shop?
How can we meet the
demands of our boss or the head office?
As a store manager, my goal is to complete the shop where all customers feel happy, the shop where all the employees enjoy working in high spirits, and the shop which can produce very good profit. It seems to be an idealistic dream, and the actual shop is far from that goal at present, but I try to keep that goal in my mind anytime.
*******
I joined the company about 5 years ago, in November, 1999. Of course, I didn’t think of becoming a store manager at that time. Since I had changed my job from other type of occupation, I had no experience working in a drugstore. For the first several months, I learned and learned.
I learned how to greet to customers, co-workers, and our fellow dealers. I learned how to operate cash registers. I learned about a large variety of goods and medicines. I learned how to make up prescriptions. I also learned how to order goods and how to display them.
I enjoyed learning, and enjoyed working as a general employee.
But several months later, some co-workers’ words CHANGED me.
A part-time lady was quitting a shop because she had got discontented with the attitude of the store manager and had lost her motivation.
A few days before she quitted, she said to me, “If YOU became the store manager, I would like to come back to this company and work again in your shop. Please let me know when you are promoted to a store manager, OK?”
I was so delighted and thanked for her encouragement. The new goal was set. ・・・From that day, I started walking along the way for becoming a store manager.
After I was transferred to another shop, other part-time lady was also feeling dissatisfaction against the manager of that shop. During our lunch time, she confessed to me, “I feel UNFAIRNESS. The manager is favoring specific part-timers. YOU might not do this. I wish the person like you were my boss.”
I was glad that she evaluated me such.
Their words are supporting me even now.
*******
Although I work as a store manager for more than a year, I am not qualified enough yet. I sometimes get in little troubles and ask my co-workers or boss for help. And from time to time, I get complaints from our customers. One day I went all the way to Shiga prefecture with my boss to apologize for our mistake. I also have an experience of being scolded IN A LOUD VOICE by our customers. Yes, sometimes, the work is so stressful.
But I feel that I am happy, because I know what I should do now. I thank my company, for it gives me MY JOB, or my MISSION.
More than 5 years ago, I didn’t know what I should do. I had a job, but I couldn’t feel that it was my "ten-shoku" --- which means "real vocation". I often ENVIED people around me --- my colleagues or my friends, because they looked very LIVELY to me when they were working or talking about their work.
Let me tell you two episodes.
One evening, a friend of mine, Mr. Y, came to my
house. He and my family enjoyed chatting. Suddenly, his cellular phone rang. It
was the call from his office. He answered the call, and talked for a few minutes
about his work. Finishing it, he excused us about the call and we started
chatting again. But after a while, his phone rang again. --- He was a site
foreman, so probably his boss or subordinates often needed to call him even when
he was off. But he didn’t seem to be irritated by those calls. He rather seemed
to welcome those calls. After the second phone call finished, he said, laughing,
“I get phone calls of the job anytime.” When I saw him saying so, I thought, He
loves his job. I envy him!
Miss. M was my classmate in English school. In classes, she often said,” I have to go back to work after this class.” In those days, I couldn’t imagine going back to work after English classes, so I said, “You are working too hard, really. Do you really have to go back to work? Isn’t such lifestyle stressful?” She replied casually,”Well, that’s my job.” She didn’t sound unsatisfactory at all. She worked for a travel agency and her job was making travel plans for customers. When I heard her talking about her job, I felt that she ENJOYED her work, and moreover, that she was PROUD of her “my job”. I really envied her.
Now, my company is giving me “what I should do”, which I eager to get before. I feel very happy about that.
*******
By the way, do you know
Sekigahara town? Sekigahara town is famous for the "Battle of Sekigahara" which
Ieyasu Tokugawa and Mitsunari Ishida fought in. So, you may think
that the town is relatively prosperous. But no! The fact is that the town is
declining. The population of the town is decreasing year by year, and it will
become less than 9000 in the near future. To begin with, Sekigahara town is in a
very rural area. Therefore, it is a very difficult mission that we keep growing
the sales in such a town.
But it is MY JOB. I am trying my best for that
challenging mission by thinking of some strategies and carrying them out.
*******
Now, what is YOUR job? I like hearing about other people’s job. Please tell me about your job-life.
Working is sometimes stressful, isn’t it? But I believe that it gives us a lot of precious things. And the stresses often make us grow. I bet you agree.
Let's enjoy working together. After all, we
can live our wonderful life thanks to our job.
