Joe Sheetz steps in to lead Sheetz, where the line between family and employees blurs

 
Nurturing a positive culture
Beyond a sense of ownership, Sheetz works hard to create the right culture in each location — whether corporate, at each store or in the distribution facility — by constantly measuring what’s going on.
“If someone says, ‘What’s your job now as CEO versus what you were doing before?’ I look at my job as the keeper of the culture,” Sheetz says.
Upper management is always interviewing or surveying employees, as well as spending time out in retail stores rather than sitting behind a desk.
However, it can be difficult to maintain an overall culture as the company gets larger. Each store is going to have a slightly different culture, so it just needs to remain positive.
Sheetz says you need to promote the right people and then hold on to them because they are walking examples of culture that can spread it to whichever area they are in charge of.
“We do our best to try to create career opportunities for people so they stay,” he says.
In addition, the nearly 500 store managers go through six months of training.
“There is a lot of pressure on our store managers,” Sheetz says. “We spend a lot of time coaching and teaching them about what it is to create a great work environment, and then we measure it. We ask their employees: ‘How are they doing? What could be better at this store?’”