Above and Beyond

At the beginning of my career, I worked for a company in Denver, Colorado, and Phoenix, Arizona, which had only been in business for about five years. The firm, Cholla (pronounced ˈchȯi-yə) was in business before the “Best Places to Work” rankings had been created. If that list had existed, Cholla would have been number one.

The best reason it was a great place to work was the policies. When a new employee started, the owner and the executive vice president oriented them to the company culture. The president said, “If you wake up in the morning and don’t feel like coming to work, don’t come in. Take an attitude adjustment day and come in tomorrow full of energy and enthusiasm.”

Cholla’s competitors said that we would never survive. They predicted we’d be out of business in less than a year. The skeptics said with an attitude adjustment policy like that, no one would ever come to work if they are given a choice.

The opposite was actually true. I loved going to work because I knew everyone who was there had chosen to come to work on that day. So, it was a fun place to be and we wanted to do the best we could.

There were employees, however, who abused the privilege. Interestingly, they didn’t work there very long. It wasn’t the administration that reprimanded them, it was the other employees. We told the slackers that if they didn’t like working there, to find a new job because we loved the policies and didn’t want them to be revoked. Thirty years later Cholla (now Facilitec) is still going strong with the same policies in place.

I was reminded of this as I got gas at Fred Meyer. The attendant asked if I would like my windshield cleaned! That never happens. I tried to tip him. He said they weren’t allowed to accept tips, but I could fill out a comment card.

Today’s gift was to write about the great service that I received from Jake. He demonstrated his choice to come to work and serve the customers. By the way he went above and beyond the call of duty I could tell that he enjoys his job.

In Giving,

Robin