Even in the most avaricious and short-term thinking of businesses, you will often find oases of brilliance, managers who care about their people, develop and nurture them and create great employee and customer experiences, sometimes against all the odds. I was chatting with a former colleague the other day and was reminded of Mary, one of the best people managers I ever met. Mary would get her whole team together at shift changeover time and find something positive to say about everyone. That way, everyone went home from work feeling good about themselves, and came back in to work the next day feeling motivated to give of their best. You could never find anyone in Mary’s team who would say a bad word about her. Mary was a tiny powerhouse of a lady who got the bus to work and had the knack of making people feel special. She made a point of covering her team’s lunch breaks, so that she didn’t lose the skills of serving customers. Needless to say, she was a great role model in terms of customer service – if you wanted to see what a great sales assistant looked like you just had to watch Mary in action. Mary would never ask anyone to do anything that she wouldn’t do herself.

Mary’s team’s performance was always consistent. Those who struggled were helped and supported, everyone was given a chance. Her employee turnover was almost non-existent, compared to other branches, because no-one wanted to leave her team. She and her team developed people who went on to lead other teams within the company. Mary never had to hire team leaders from outside her branch as there was always someone ready to take on the new roles that became available. When Mary was on holiday, her team leaders took turns in looking after the branch, preparing them for the step up that Mary was developing them towards.

Mary didn’t seelk the limelight and always gave her team the credit for the success that came their way. Mary provided the practical and emotional support to enable her team to be the best they could be. That being said, Mary would not tolerate unprofessional behaviour, but she was a model of professionalism herself, so her people knew what was expected of them.

There are Marys in every company, providing great employee experiences, often against all the odds. Their people go on to provide oases of brilliance in customer service. If you have a great customer experience somewhere, chances are there will be someone behind the scenes providing a great employee experience too. The Marys of this world should be celebrated and rewarded!