Hint, you pay them every few weeks.

About 3 blocks from my apartment a grocery delivery company, Fresh Direct, parks 7 days a week from about 8a – 9p. Despite this being a violation of parking rules this is excellent from a logistical perspective. Being able to preplan deliveries and have a central point of distribution is something that would have changed my life 5 years ago.

Having owned and operated DCSnacks, a delivery company that had a similar operational concern, this was a pain I knew all too well and thought they were solving it uniquely. On my way back to my apartment today, I saw an employee of Fresh Direct and started speaking with him about his position and what he thought about the company.

While it is not surprising, the employee didn’t love his position, his direct superior or much of the way he was treated. He shared that he was asked on a regular basis to walk with a handtruck filled with cases of drinks and groceries over 20 blocks away on a regular basis to make deliveries, not the easiest thing while on foot. While it is an interesting factoid, that isn’t important though; what is important is that this was my first contact with Fresh Direct besides knowing about them from being in the industry. My first touch point was with a delivery person first.

Despite the retainer fees and marketing consultants and web designers and countless other professionals who tirelessly work to craft the correct message to the public. They neglected to take care of the employee who ‘hasn’t gotten a bottle of water in 2 weeks.’ despite working outside for 8 hours… some days in over 100 degree heat. He was able to give me enough information to confirm my thoughts about their average order size, break down how they handle HR and how they handle deliveries on a regular basis.

This was the living example of taking care of your front line employees and they will take care of you. It isn’t the employees who quit and leave that cause the larges problem, the employees who quit and stay cause far larger issues, sometimes on a daily basis.

Who is the person with least seniority in your company and what would they say about you or your company?