Why People Matter?

As 2020 comes to a close. I have been doing some reflection on this year, personally and looking at the events of the world. This year has been a unique one with the Covid 19 Virus, another controversial election period, and division surrounding issues that should bring us together.

For me, as an Assistant Manager at a big box retailer, I encounter lots of people every day. I remember when the virus really hit my part of the USA. We sold through a lot of food and other household products. I couldn’t stock a case of pasta or pasta sauce without the whole thing being picked off the shelf within two minutes. I will never forget one lady who thanked me for working at the store to help keep the shelves stocked. Then everyone else kept thanking me, it felt good. I still thanked them for shopping at the store despite the lack of product on the shelf. Customers were telling me about things to take so I don’t get the Covid 19 virus and stay healthy. These were times where I felt that we were all coming together cause I felt we were all looking out for each other.

However, I also saw times where customers would point their finger at one another and get mad cause one of them dropped their face mask down for a second to get some air. Then when the toilet paper shortage hit it was crazy with hearing about people fighting over a package of toilet paper. Shortly after that bikes, weight sets, guns, and gardening supplies sold quickly. Customers just wanted things to do and we had plenty of things to buy. Pools were selling at the store I worked at, which the number of pools that were selling was unheard of…like two big $499 pools a day I think was the average. It’s things like that frustrated some customers when we were out of the products they wanted.

As a manager, leading my team through these uncertain times where we could not follow the normal playbook was a challenge. Change is difficult to deal with. I dealt with it the same as my team. We all deal with change differently. It is through working with my associates day-in and day-out that ultimately caused me to think about the main purpose of the article. Why People Matter?

I am a very results-driven manager. The task has to be done within the time I give so we can move to the next task. I can get aggressive at times that rub people the wrong way. I get a lot of complaints when I am like this. Business comes first to me. Then I had to change my way of thinking cause it got to the point where my bosses were tired of getting complaints on me. And all I had to do was as simple as showing the associates I actually do care about them and their well-being not just getting the job done.

I read a couple of books on changing my way of thinking and using positive words to talk to people. I really soaked it in. People matter. Not just employees or customers in a business, but all people. We all impact this world and the way it operates whether we think we do or not. We all leave behind something. There is a saying “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” by Maya Angelou. I really thought about this quote while trying to improve myself so I can impact people in a positive way.

People matter because our time on this world is limited. I decided I am not going to treat someone poorly for whatever reason. There is always a better way, a more positive way, to do things. We are all dealing with stresses we have never faced before, but this is the time to really come together. We all have a heart and we all should start showing it more.