night crew and trader joe's

i have now been a Trader Joe's manager, or "full-timer" in our jargon, for a little over 3 months now.

and i am loving the career choice.

my job is basically prioritizing tasks and delegating work to the employees. i also have to do paperwork and deal with customers, but the bulk of it is formulating a list of tasks and managing people to get said tasks done in the most efficient manner.

i work quite a bit, 50+ hours most weeks, but the benefits are well worth it. first, the paycheck. it is the biggest i have ever gotten. health benefits are good--medical, dental and vision. a retirement fund that matches 15.4% of my gross pay without forking over a dime. 2 days off in a row (albeit tuesday and wednesday most weeks), which i hear is unheard of in the food retail business.

there are a few reasons why i could see myself doing this for quite a few years.

one, i feel challenged at my job.
when i go to work, i work. i have to put in effort for 10+ hours and be in constant activity. there is not a lot of down time, the occasional breather if it slows done for a few minutes or if customers are being friendly and want to chat. depending on what hours i am at the store (my shift switches pretty much every day--which i kinda like), i have a whole new set of tasks to oversee and accomplish.

two, i am good at it.
it is not hard manual labor, but it is physically active. i am on my feet for the whole time, constant bending, moving weights of 5lbs to 200lbs, and cleaning. as sad as it is to admit, i kind of like coming home and being wiped out. in a masochistic way, it feels like i've accomplished something real.
delegating jobs and assigning crew members to tasks is something i'm good at and enjoy. organizing willing people into accomplishment is a satisfying feeling. sometimes crew members don't live up to my expectations (a few have wore my expectations low, so i'm surprised when they do anything, but i digress), and i have to pick up the slack which sucks. though more often than not, i am impressed by the vast majority of the employees and the effort they put out.

which leads into three, my coworkers are excellent.
my boss, the captain, is a fantastic manager. he has his quirks and faults,--so does everyone--but i have learned a lot from him about how to manage employees and the logistics running a grocery store.
our current first mate is wicked cool as well. i am learning a lot from talking to him and getting his thoughts on things.
the other established fulltimers at the store are fantastic as well. one is a merchant, and he has been such a big influence on me as a manager. he helped give me the confidence to really give this job the effortto succeed. the specialist is a damn hard worker. when i am working with him, i feel pushed to get that last extra bit done. anytime i ask him a question or present a scenario, i get a good, concise answer i can use.
we have lost a couple full timers since i came on board. one was one of the funniest guys i know. he would joke about everything and anything. he had some crazy stories. you could tell he wanted to slack, but he knew when there was work to be done. the other was one of the most cynical people i knew, but gave me great advice when i was thinking about accepting the promotion to full time. i developed a good friendship with him.
we currently have another newbie full timer. he's got a fun attitude most of the time and a sense of humor i like, but he is a bit harsh in his mangerial style. very much a d in the disc personality test (i'm a strong i), so he has some leadership experience to earn, but i think if he consciously tries to improve he will be fine.

the part timers are what make the job really great. one of my roommates is one. i actually got him the job at trader joe's. over the summer we got one of his friends to start there, but he left when school started up. so we replaced him with another aquaintance who has become a friend as well.
i have become really good friends with one of my original overnight crewmates. he has had a lot of awesome experiences in his life and if you want to define what a "good" person is it is him. also he may be the best stocker in the store which is nice.
we have this high school kid who i think is fantastic. i really like him and his attitude. i think he'll do good someday when he finds a career.
then there is college student who is one of the funniest and kookiest kids i will ever meet, but he loves trader joe's and does anything i ask with a smile on his face.

each part of the day has different workers bringing a creating unique atmospheres. i see the morning crew as more the people where trader joe's is their main occupation, while the evening and night people are more there for part time work--after school, pay for college, supplement the spouse's work or because it is a really fun, laid back place. each crew member is different and that keeps the interactions fresh and exciting.

there are a few things that aren't that great about the job. the long hours do get to me once in a while, but that is minor. bitchy customers are sometimes a hassle, but they are a very small minority of the shoppers (two slogans i like about trader joe's and our demographic are: "champagne taste on the beer budget" and "the overeducated, underfunded shopper"). most are fantastic, and i am starting to get to know the regulars.
then there are the crew members who perform below their potential for whatever reason--bad day, stress outside of work, getting sick of the job or they just plain suck. the three are easier to deal with than the last. that one takes a lot of effort, or they quit.
some of the employees are pretty close to my age (20-24). sometimes i feel they want to take advantage of the fact that i am in their peer group and maybe let them slide for slacking. or it could be i am just paranoid about over stepping the supervisor/employee boundaries.
my approach is to interact with each employee uniquely to ensure i stay within their comfort zone for work relationships.

the fulltimers have helped me get a lot of hands-on experience and know-how for the job. my other big source of education was the training program tj's has for first time managers. there i got to interact with other people in the same situation with me and learn a lot of abstract and intelletual aspects of how to be a manager. the things i learned i have tried to assimilate into my managerial style. i think i am doing a decent job at that. i can tell that i can get more out of the employees after the training then i could before.
combine the continually growing experience with that intellectual knowledge and i am becoming a better manager--more efficient and more empathetic with the employees.

this job is helping my personal life out as well. i appreciate the time i spend with carla and my friends way more now. all because it has become a much smaller portion of my time. i try to pack it in and balance it all. i am using my skills at interacting with customers and crew members in interacting with my friends and people i meet out in the world. i also have a lot of sympathy for anyone that works retail now. my eyes are wide open to the world of commerce.
and the money helps, but that isn't my main motivator.
don't get me wrong, it's a close second, but the satisfaction i get from knowing i am successful--i'm fully capable of the position, and i enjoy it immensely--at something is a damn good feeling.