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Kaitlin Muccino
Dr. Majocha
Organizational Communication
9 April 2014
Total Customer Focus Vs. Total Employee Focus
Does the phrase “Made to Order” or “Sheetz run” ring a bell? Of course, we all have that
one convenience store that we all find ourselves always going to, to fill up our gas tanks and of
course while we are there might as well get something to drink and eat too. Because Sheetz Inc.
is such a popular company, we see them popping up everywhere nowadays. When we take a look
around, we always realize that we are close to a Sheetz. As a customer, we go there not really
focused on the employees but on the food. Behind the counter though, something much more
than just preparing food is going on. The motto at Sheetz is “Total Customer Focus” but because
of this, they could be distracted and be forgetting about their employees. In an article on the
Sheetz website it says “Sheetz was founded in 1952 on the principles of respect for each other
and our customers” (Total Customer Focus, 1). After being employed there and experiencing this
type of unhealthy environment, I can’t help but wonder, whatever happened to “Total Employee
Focus”?
Current Event
A recent article that was posted on the Tribune-Democrat website on April first, discusses
one of the Sheetz stores that is located in Ebensburg. This particular Sheetz location is over three
decades old and has gone under many changes and renovations over the years to accommodate
the ever changing needs of customers. As more time passes though, the store has been failing to
keep up, and the company has decided to demolish the building and construct another one in its

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place. As quoted in the article, ‘“The old store has become obsolete,” said David Hazelet,
director of real estate. “There is nowhere to expand.”’(Griffith,1). The new building though, will
be located two hundred yards down the road. As a previous employee, I know that Sheetz is
currently always renovating their stores and keeping them up to date. I also know that Sheetz as a
company is very forceful and with this characteristic it can be beneficial in ways such as
satisfying customers and making a large profit but along with this, can also harm the company as
well by distraction. If you are being forceful and focusing on progressing forward with your
company and your products, it leaves the potential to overlook a key part in your business, your
employees. The aggressiveness could be overflowing to the employees and make them act this
way towards new hires.
History
Sheetz Inc. was all started by a man named Robert Sheetz. He decided that in 1952 he
would purchase a location from his father in Altoona Pennsylvania and open the first “Sheetz
Kwik Shopper” which was a soon to be family run convenience store. During the early years
of the company, Sheetz focused mainly on being a convenience store and started out by selling
hot dogs. The company became family oriented when Bob’s brother Steve signed on to
facilitate the company nine years later. When telling of the history on the actual Sheetz
website it says “In 1972, the brothers literally doubled the size of the company, expanding
from seven to fourteen stores. One year later, Sheetz added gasoline pumps and introduced
self-serve gasoline to Central Pennsylvania.”(History,1). With this, we see that from the start
that Sheetz is an aggressive company. Sheetz Inc. now has more than fourteen thousand
employees and over four hundred and thirty seven stores that are open in six different states
along the east coast that include Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, and

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West Virginia. (History,1). Currently, Bob Sheetz is retired and his son is running the
company. Along with his son, other family members are working for the company including
his brother Steve, who has remained with the company.
Personal Interest
With reading all of this you are probably wondering “Why is she interested in this
company in particular?” Well I am glad you are asking. I will tell you it is not because of the
delicious food or the tasty coffee. It is because I have first-hand experience with this company
and have dealt with many of the issues that this company has. My past work experience has been
with companies that have been great when it came to integrating new employees. When I first
arrived at Sheetz, it was a whole other experience for me. I first began working there and I
thought I would enjoy it because everyone seemed friendly and inviting to me at first, even in my
managers. They seemed happy to have me and made me feel comfortable at first but it was not
until I started my “on the floor training” that I realized just how unwelcoming and unhealthy the
work environment really was.
To start, I have to say that the Sheetz location I was working for was positioned in a very
bad area. When I got there, the current employees informed me that two people had overdosed
from heroin in the bathroom just weeks before. And months after working there, during my shift
there was a shooting down the road and someone was killed. Having never been in this type of
environment, it made me feel quite uncomfortable. I would become extremely stressed and
would make myself physically sick before I had to go in to work. Along with being thrown into a
terrible area, I was also experiencing what it was like to be the target of exclusion and workplace
bullying. My supervisor, of all people, would talk about me over the headset and say things such
as “that girl broke the register” and would talk loudly about me to the point of other people

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telling her to stop. She even confronted me and asked me, “Do you hate everyone? Or are you
just shy because you never talk, and to work here you need to be talkative” on top of all of this, I
would also get hit on by the older men that would walk into the store. They would say “you’re
too pretty to working here” and would ask me “do you have a boyfriend?”. As an employee
trying to do my job, this made me very uncomfortable. After leaving the company just months
after starting to work there, I feel that it is necessary to shed light on these issues that the
company is facing. Many people think that Sheetz is a successful company and don’t get me
wrong, it very much is successful but in the area of their business which would be downtown
Johnstown, they are lacking. In this paper I will be discussing the theories of exclusion and
workplace bullying and will apply them to the company, I will also mention the problems that
the company is facing, and the recommendations that I would like to make towards the company
to possibly use to better their company.
Exclusion Theory
Something that most of us have been through in our lives is exclusion. Almost all of us
have all had that group of friends that has intentionally left us out of their plans, which makes us
feel not so great. It is important to understand that when working at a company, relationships are
key. The book Problematic Relationships in The Workplace which is written by Becky L.
Omdahl and Janie M. Harden Fritz describes organizations as relationships and how important
they are by saying:
“Although organizations of various types produce goods, provide services, and
accomplish a variety of goals, they are all essentially systems of interpersonal
relationships. Organizations are social collectivities comprising people and the links or
relationships among those people enabling organizing. (Wheatley,2001). Workplace

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relationships are therefore, central to workplace functioning.” (Workplace relationships,
106)
Exclusion as defined by Omdahl and Fritz in their book is “being generally accomplished via no
or infrequent, superficial, and cautious communication limited primarily to task-related needs or
concerns”(Omdahl, Fritz,107) not only can exclusion be done by no communication, but can
also be done by actually communicating frequently but in a hostile manner for example bullying
or harassment (Omdahl,Fritz, 107). There is not just one type of exclusion there are actually
many. For example, exclusion can take place in the form of ostracism. Ostracism is when the
group actually banishes or shuns a member away from them. Another form of exclusion, the one
I believe most pertains to me is called depersonalization. According to the book Problematic
Relationships in the Workplace, Depersonalization refers to discontinuing communication with
the target employee regarding non-work-related and personal topics; interaction required for task
accomplishment continues (Process of Relational Exlusion,107). As the book continues it
mentions that reasons of being ignored or excluded can occur because the fellow employees
simply choose to ignore the victim, or it can be because they do not realize that the victim is even
there. To relate this to my own experiences, I would be working the register and would hear
them talking in the back and they would then say to me “oh your still here! We forgot you were
even working.” Being a new employee, you can imagine how uncomfortable I felt. I did not feel
a part of their team and felt extremely excluded.
There are many consequences when it comes to exclusion. Many people and employees
like myself, take exclusion and being ostracized very personally. While affecting them
personally, it can also affect their work ethic and even punctuality. When I say that this affects a
worker personally, you might be asking what this exactly means. Being excluded in the

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workplace can leave an employee feeling depressed and lonely. It can even affect their life
outside of work. And while working, the employee can become distracted and not do their job to
its fullest extent. When I would think about working I would get so nervous that I would start to
feel sick to my stomach. During work, I would watch the clock and when my supervisor would
talk to me rudely, I would get very distracted while waiting on customers and not ring them up
properly.
Workplace Bullying Theory
Another theory I want to focus on to address the company’s issues is the theory of
workplace bullying. When we think of bullying we mainly think of actual physical violence, but
bullying can be disguised in various ways. Workplace bullying can be linked to social influences
and as explained by the book Problematic Relationships in The Workplace, bullying can take
shape in the forms of negative gossip and social isolation/exclusion (Omdahl,69). The book also
mentions that if incivility is allowed into the workplace then all types of bullying such as
harassment and intimidation, to name a few, are used to boost employee’s social status in the
workplace. Having this type of work environment can allow for certain types of personalities to
bring down others. In the article ‘‘Yes, We Have an Anti-bullying Policy, But...:’’ HR
Professionals’ Understandings and Experiences with Workplace Bullying Policy, when talking
about workplace bullying gives a statistic to put things in perspective: “In their study on
bullying in American organizations, Lutgen-Sandvik et al. (2007) found close to 30% of U.S.
workers felt they had been bullied sometime during their work history” (Cowan, 2).
In the workplace, being bullied can affect the target greatly. Take This Job and ... :
Quitting and Other Forms of Resistance to Workplace Bullying describes these effects as “The
harm to workers runs the gamut of human misery including ‘‘anxiety, depression, burnout,

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frustration, helplessness, ... difficulty concentrating, ... lowered self-esteem and self-efficacy’’
(Keashly & Neuman, 2005, p. 335), alcohol abuse (Richman, Flaherty, & Rospenda, 1996), and
posttraumatic stress disorder (Leymann & Gustafsson, 1996; Mikkelsen & Einarsen, 2002).”
(Lutgen-Sandvik,1-2). Much like the effects of exclusion, it creates these feelings of stress and
depression, a major effect of bullying is difficulty concentrating. While these effects are mostly
due to extreme bullying, it is not to say that we should not take these situations seriously. These
feelings continue until ultimately, the target has no other choice but to give up and leave the
company. According to the study done in the article “…But Words Will Never Hurt Me,” Abuse
and Bullying at Work: A Comparison Between Two Worker Samples, participants in the study
that were twenty-five and younger had higher frequency of quitting their job but had lower
frequencies of talking to the abuser or a union rep (Lutgen-Sandvik,13).
Company Issues
On the outside it does not look like Sheetz as a whole, has very many issues. They cater
to their customers and they give great benefits to their employees which makes them seem like
the perfect company right? Even though the company is functioning correctly, that does not
mean that problems do not lie within the individual locations. As a previous employee, I was
able to work in one of their locations and experience many of the inside problems that they do
indeed have. So what issues lie within this “perfect” company? For starters, when I first started
with the company I was not properly trained. I was forced to sit on a computer and “train” for
over 2 weeks. This is a problem because I did not actually learn anything from this computer
training and by the time I got done actually doing the training, I almost forgot everything that I
had been learning. This type of training lacked the hands on and personal experience that is
needed when learning a new job. When I got onto the floor to do actual tasks, they threw me into

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making food right away and did not give me much guidance. My manager expected me to know
how make all of the food and to know where everything was. When it turns out that I was taking
too much time and unsure about the procedures, my manager would act condescending towards
me. Another issue was that even after months of being employed at Sheetz, I was never shown
how to make specialty drinks. When the store would be busy, one of the other employees would
tell me to make the drinks, and when I told them that I was not trained to make them, they
became angry.
Another problem that this company faces involves the employees and how they address
the customers and how they act at work. Although this does not pertain to every Sheetz, it does
apply to the location that I have worked for. The managers at my store would be lenient about
some issues and strict about others. Employees would take breaks and take personal calls on the
phone that is used for the company and I would even find some employees actually screaming
while on the phone in the back. Although downtown Johnstown, is not the best area, they are still
rude to some of the customers. Even though we did not always have the best customers, the
employees should still treat the customers properly.
Recommendations
After researching, and experiencing these issues first hand, I believe that this company
can make many improvements. Being that the company is functioning very well already, with
making these recommendations, I think that the company can grow to be even better. When
talking about Sheetz, it seems as though only improvements need to be made at certain locations
not to the company as a whole. When I worked at my Sheetz location, I found that they did not
train me fully which did cause a great deal of tension so with this, I feel as though the people in

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higher positions in the company, such as the district manager, can take the time to thoroughly
look at how each location is training their incoming employees.
Another recommendation that Sheetz could implement would be a stronger anti-bullying
policies. According to a study done in the article ‘‘Yes, We Have an Anti-bullying Policy,
But...:’’ HR Professionals’ Understandings and Experiences with Workplace Bullying Policy,
only one surveyed human resource professional said that they really felt that their company had
an anti-bullying policy that they believed actually covered what “bullying” was (Cowan,7).
During my time working at Sheetz, I had to attend a mandatory meeting on hospitality of all
things. I was able to briefly discuss my issues with the district manager but she did not seem to
give me much guidance. I asked her if it was possible for me to just transfer to another location
and her answer was basically no. This to me can be improved by having the manager come and
observe and have individual store meetings with the employees and manager s to discuss these
policies and make themselves available to employees so that they can voice their issues if they
have any.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I have introduced a company that is experiencing troubles within its stores,
I have applied the theories of exclusion and workplace bullying to this company and its issues,
shed a light on some of the issues going on with this individual company and one of its locations,
and given adequate recommendations for the company such as more aggressive training to new
employees and policies for workplace bullying. Even though I still love to eat at Sheetz and go
there to fuel my car, it is quite safe to say that I will never be working there again. When I left
the company, I voiced my reasons for leaving in my exit interview letting them know what had
been going on but this was the only time I felt safe to do so because of feeling intimidated by my

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coworkers. If Sheetz does end up make the improvements I have suggested in my paper, they
will be functioning better as a company overall and could make their employees feel like their
customers by having the company’s total focus.

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Works Cited
Tokunaga, Robert. "But, Words Can Never Hurt Me If … : Cultural Relativity in
Evaluating Appraisals, Attributions, and Consequences of Hurtful Messages."Journal of
Intercultural Communication Research 37.3 (2008): 169-188. Print.
"Total Customer Focus." Sheetz Jobz. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://sheetzjobz.com/total-customer-focus.html>.
Lutgen-Sandvik, Pamela. "Take This Job and … : Quitting and Other Forms of
Resistance to Workplace Bullying."Communication Monographs 73.4 (2006): 406-433.
Print.
The Tribune-Democrat. "Sheetz plans new Ebensburg store » Local News » The
Tribune Democrat, Johnstown, PA." Local News ATOM. N.p., 1 Apr. 2014. Web. 4 Apr.
2014. <http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/x2010449892/Sheetz-plans-new-
Ebensburg-store>.
Cowan, Renee L.. "“Yes, We Have an Anti-bullying Policy, But … :” HR
Professionals' Understandings and Experiences with Workplace Bullying
Policy." Communication Studies 62.3 (2011): 307-327. Print.
Fritz, Janie M. Harden, and Becky Lynn Omdahl. Problematic relationships in
the workplace. New York: Peter Lang, 20062012. Print.
"HISTORY OF SHEETZ." Sheetz // History. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<https://www.sheetz.com/subpages/history

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Lutgen-Sandvik, Pamela, and Virginia Mcdermott. "Making Sense of Supervisory
Bullying: Perceived Powerlessness, Empowered Possibilities." Southern Communication
Journal 76.4 (2011): 342-368. Print.