I do a lot of management training each year for the Circle K Corporation， a national chain of convenience stores. Among the topics we address in our seminars is the retention of quality employees—a real challenge to managers when you consider the pay scale in the service industry. During these discussions， I ask the participants， “What has caused you to stay long enough to become a manager？” Some time back a new manager Cynthia 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 interim 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 bills. Perhaps she could buy his baseball glove with her second or third check.

When Cynthia arrived for work the next morning， Patricia， the store manager， asked her to come to the small room in the back of the store that served as an office. Cynthia wondered if she had done something wrong or left some part of her job incomplete from the day before. She was concerned and confused.

Patricia handed her a box. “I overheard 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， even though you have to pay bills before you can buy gloves. You know we cant 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 manager demonstrates vividly that people remember more how much an employer cares than how much the employer pays. An important lesson for the price of a Little League baseball glove.

我每年都為全國連鎖便利店索克公司做大量的管理培訓(xùn)。在經(jīng)營管理研習(xí)會(huì)上，我們要談的話題包括如何留住高素質(zhì)的員工——考慮到服務(wù)業(yè)的薪工標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，這對(duì)經(jīng)理們是一項(xiàng)巨大的考驗(yàn)。在這些討論中，我問與會(huì)者：“是什么使你們留在了公司，并當(dāng)上了經(jīng)理？”過了一會(huì)兒，一名新經(jīng)理辛西婭接過問題，幾乎哽咽地說：“是因?yàn)橐桓笔琶涝陌羟蚴痔??！?/p>

辛西婭告訴大家，最初她來索克只作為臨時(shí)員工，那時(shí)她也在尋找更好的工作。就在上班兩三天后，她接到了九歲兒子杰西的電話——孩子參加兒童棒球聯(lián)盟賽需要一副棒球手套。她解釋道，自己是單身母親，經(jīng)濟(jì)拮據(jù)，第一個(gè)月的薪水要用來償付賬單。也許她只能用第二個(gè)月或第三個(gè)月的薪水來給兒子買棒球手套了。

第二天早晨辛西婭上班后，店鋪經(jīng)理帕特麗夏把她叫到了店后一間用作辦公室的小屋。辛西婭以為她做錯(cuò)了什么，或是前一天有什么工作沒有完成。她很擔(dān)心，也很納悶。

帕特麗夏遞給她一個(gè)盒子，說：“我昨天不小心聽到你和你兒子講電話。我知道有些事情很難對(duì)小孩子解釋。這是給杰西的棒球手套，也許他不會(huì)理解自己對(duì)你有多么重要，盡管你只能先付賬單，然后才能買棒球手套。你要知道，雖然我們無法給像你這樣好的員工更高的薪水，但是我們是很關(guān)心你的，也想讓你知道你對(duì)我們有多重要?！?/p>

這家便利店經(jīng)理所表現(xiàn)的周到、體貼和愛心生動(dòng)地證明，比起雇主所付的薪水，人們記得更深的是他們所給的關(guān)心。一副十九美元的兒童棒球聯(lián)盟手套，是多么重要的一課?。?/p>