Recently I've been pondering what makes certain places so outstanding that they epitomise all the positive aspects of their brand - I wrote a blog a few months ago about a particular McDonalds that could give teamwork lessons to any company in the world.
Like many people I'm a creature of habit, and there are a few Starbucks stores I stop at regularly when I'm travelling. I've noticed an fairly high level of turnover at these, and sometimes feel sad to be losing friends and familiar faces whose company I've grown used to.
Yesterday I found that Lewis, one of the assistant managers here is leaving and taking on a new role in a different company, and I felt sad about that.
But really this is a great thing for Starbucks (and for Lewis). Almost all those who have left have transitioned to more senior roles in other companies - taking their training, attitude, and ethos with them.
Which other company wouldn't want to take advantage of this? There are only so many people that can progress upwards within a company - some will be lost, and what better way to build your brand professionally than by creating demand in the marketplace for those that you've trained.
Good things will always happen to good people. If you demand the best, then you always run the risk of them being poached into other positions by other companies - perhaps this is why some of the most well known and admired brands in the world have such longevity.
I'm out of the way upstairs writing this, and a moment ago one of the guys brought me up a coffee (the one in the picture above) and a smile. I cannot express how nice it was to have this happen - and how much it was appreciated.
It's the small things like this that make all the difference - but the key is having the right people in the right roles, no matter what the company, who really do love what they do and go out of their way to make people feel special.
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