I had a discussion with my daughter Elizabeth recently about her job at a
local convenience store. She is a cash register operator. A few days ago we talked
about her summer and the process of gathering things to begin her first semester
at college. The conversation drifted to her job and I asked her what she had learned
in her experience working at the convenience store. Like most teenagers, her response
was, “Not much”.
I asked her the question a different way, “ What
did you learn about people?” “If you are nice to them, they will be nice to
you, eventually even the grumpy ones.”
What did you learn about working
with the other employees? “If the group of workers at the store are good people,
it makes the job fun.”
How is running the cash register, selling
lottery tickets, getting ID from beer buyers, watching the gas pumps and answering
the telephone, now, compared to the first few times you were on the job? “The
first few days were rough. So many things to remember and so much happening at
once. Now it’s easy to keep things running smoothly.”
What do the
owners of the business do? “They are there to open the store every morning
and talk to the customers. They’re friendly and know most of the customers. I
think they do well with the business financially, but they work hard at it.”
So Elizabeth, sounds to me like you did learn some things.
OK,
OK, Dad I get the point. . . . I learned:
- A kind voice and a smile
will get your farther than a frown and not talking at all.
- When
the team at the store gets along well with each other, the time passes quickly
and work is not drudgery.
- I can learn to handle new situations;
when I’m working in an Emergency Room after college, I’ll have experienced the
feeling of working in an environment under pressure already.
- To
be successful at what I do, I have to show up and be ready to work hard when it’s
necessary. If I have my own business, no one else will do my work.
One last question Elizabeth, how much did the owners charge you to learn those
things that you can take with you and use the rest of your life?
Daaad!!!
Why is it so seldom recognized that all jobs are learning opportunities
and provide the employee more than a paycheck? Many business owners view the positions
in their companies as “just another job.”, which means that the employee sees
himself as “just another worker.”
The next time you are recruiting employees
for entry level jobs, don’t forget to point out that the employee gets to take
with him, free of charge, a toolbox full of skills that he can use forever. A
direct, tax free, benefit from the school of hard work.
Learning to
be a catalyst for customer service is one of the eight strategies for success
I can teach you to help you grow your business. Would you like to know more?
click
here
