i do a lot of ma*ment training each year for the circle k corporation, a national chain of convenience stores. among the topics we address in our seminars is the retention1 of quality employees-a real challenge to ma*rs when you consider the pay scale in the * industry. during these discussions, i ask the participants, "what has caused you to stay long enough to become a ma*r?" some time back a new ma*r took the question and slowly, with her voice almost breaking, said, "it was a $19 baseball glove."cynthia told the group that she originally took a circle k clerk job as an interim2 position while she looked for something better. on her second or third day behind the counter, she received a phone call from her nine-year-old son, jessie. he needed a baseball glove for little league. she explained that as a single mother, money was very tight, and her first check would have to go for paying *lls. perhaps she could buy his baseball glove with her second or third check.
when cynthia arrived for work the next morning, patricia, the store ma*r, asked her to come to the small room in back of the store that served as an office. cynthia wondered if she had done something wrong or left some part of her job incomplete3 from the day before. she was concerned and confused.
patricia handed her a box. "i overheard4 you talking to your son yesterday," she said, "and i know that it is hard to explain things to kids. this is a baseball glove for jessie because he may not understand how important he is, *n though you have to pay *lls before you can buy gloves. you know we can't pay good people like you as much as we would like to; but we do care, and i want you to know you are important to us."
the thoughtfulness, empathy and love of this convenience store ma*r demonstrates vividly5 that people remember * how much an employer cares than how much the employer pays. an important lesson for the price of a little league baseball glove.
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