CSP’s third-annual Convenience-Store Women’s event kicked off Monday in San Antonio, Texas.
Here are four takeaways from the first day of the conference, including tips on overcoming challenges, creating work-life balance and speaking the language of power.
Overcoming challenges doesn't happen without mistakes
Consistent and quality employee training was a challenge that Kayla Hall, vice president of human resources at Refuel Operating Co., dealt with at the start of her career at Refuel. The North Charleston, South Carolina-based company has grown through acquisitions, she said, so there were many variations of training in place across locations in five states.
What Hall did to address this problem was providing employees with engagement surveys to find out what was and wasn’t working. Her advice—don’t be afraid to make mistakes. The first training program that she rolled out wasn’t perfect, she admitted, but it led to learning, improvement and a stronger commitment to making change.
Know your purpose
Out of her nine promotions at QuikTrip, Aisha Jefferson’s most recent promotion to corporate communications manager was the scariest, she said. She had about 24 hours to make the decision, and it required moving from Atlanta to Tulsa, Oklahoma. She’s come a long way since she started as a cashier 22 years ago—on her way to college, she stopped at a QuikTrip, loved the customer service she received and wanted to be a part of it. She’s been a part of the organization ever since.
“Talking to my store manager, he saw something in me that I did not see in myself,” she said. “I thought I could be the best cashier in the world—fast, super awesome customer service that engaged me initially. And he said, ‘No, I see more in you than you probably see in yourself,’ and in that moment, that is what I learned. I knew my purpose, and I was all in.”
Finding work-life balance
Work-life balance has a different meaning for everyone. But it comes down to being happy—both at home and at work.
That’s how Heather Clay, senior director of pricebook and merchandising support at Westborough, Massachusetts-based EG America; Tina Edmonson, regional account manager at Raleigh, North Carolina-based JTI-Liggett; and Aleah Stealey, director of operations at St. Louis, Missouri-based iSee Store Innovations, define it. Their power team, which consisted of a group of women who had prevoiusly attended CSW, worked throughout the year on developing strategies to help improve work-life balance.
Clay, Edmonson and Stealey (pictured above) shared some examples of ways leaders have implemented work-life balance in their lives:
- No meeting Fridays: Don’t schedule meetings on Friday. Instead, use them to catch up on work or step out early if needed.
- Create an end-of-day ritual: This could mean every day at 6 p.m. shutting the laptop down, no matter what’s going on.
- Family first, calendar second: One vice president put her children’s school events in her calendar. This sent a clear message to the team that personal time matters.
- Flexible work environment: Tasks or projects can get done just as effectively outside of a strict 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule. Empower a team to use the flexibility to balance personal needs while still accomplishing business objectives successfully.
Creating a positional purpose statement
Quendrida Whitmore, senior consultant at Leading NOW, CSP's educational content partner for the CSW event, shared how attendees can speak the language of power. One place to start is by creating a positional purpose statement, which articulates how an employee creates value for customers and shareholders.
“As you think about your positional purpose statement, it is the impact that you have on the organization, it is not what you do for the organization,” she said.
To think of this, Whitmore said, consider, “What is the impact that you make on the company? Why are you there?”
One example she gave was instead of saying, “I’m an accountant,” say “I maintain and analyze our financial statements, ensuring we achieve our target margins.”
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