I manage a coffee shop.

Some people would say that managing a coffee shop is an easy job, and it probably would be if I didn’t care so much about keeping my employees and customers happy. It is a balancing act that can knock you off your feet if you let it. Making the customers happy is actually pretty easy‡give them what they order, be friendly and offer a clean and safe environment in which to consume their product. Sounds simple, right? However, the first step in ensuring this is done is to hire the right people and keep them happy as they are the ones on the front line interacting with the customer.  

Keeping customer happy—pretty easy with happy employees
Keeping employees happy—not so easy.

When you work for me you get 2 things; great training and direct feedback.
The 2 should work fairly well together. I train you in the way you will learn best, changing my approach and style to fit you as well as re-directing where necessary. In return I expect you to listen, absorb and achieve some sort of higher understanding of your role. I take the job very seriously and enjoy being the leader of my group. In addition to constant feedback, both from my leadership team, and myself, every month I sit down with you so that we can talk about things that went well and any things that need to be improved. I strive to keep my finger on the pulse of my employees to enhance the health of the team.

So why now, with over 16 years of management experience am I feeling so impatient with this very simple give and take interaction with employees?  I have had to ask myself a few questions:

Do I need to be challenged?
Do I need to change my management style?
Are employees in this generation different then those in the early 90’s?
-and if so-
What is the major difference in people between then and now?
Do I need to get a new job?

My future blogs will cover these 5 questions. What I hope to do is determine the source of my impatience and give myself a truthful look into my future with this particular company and career path.