A People Person
Zone Manager Tonjalia Green cultivates employees’ potential at the 74 stores she oversees By Angela Hanson
A
ny Corner Store customer who happens to bump into Zone Manager Tonjalia Green on a summer afternoon is unlikely to realize that the 32-year veteran of the convenience store industry has already worked a long day, often leaving her house before 5 a.m. The selfdescribed “people person” has a way of projecting positivity to customers and employees alike as she travels from store to store. “I like working with people and developing them to their full potential, and I’m a talker,” Green said. “I enjoy this business. I enjoy the customers.” With full profit and loss responsibility for the operation of 74 Corner Store locations, Green has plenty of customers to enjoy. Seven area managers report to her on behalf of a work team made up of approximately 675 employees, but Green doesn’t rely only on secondhand information about the status of Tonjalia Green her stores that span from southeast Houston to southern Louisiana. On an average day, she is on the road visiting multiple locations. “I try to talk to everyone at every store,” said Green. She spends a lot of time listening as well, to learn what she can do to help the store and what employees need to be able to do their jobs better and more efficiently. Green isn’t just focused on numbers and the bottom line. “I like to make sure everybody’s happy and they’re enjoying their work environment,” she added. “If there’s something I can do to change that and
make that a positive environment, then that’s what I’m there for.” Green’s expertise comes from her longtime experience in positions ranging from an entry-level customer service representative to her current role. While she started out as a cashier for Diamond Shamrock, which was later acquired by CST Brands predecessor Valero Energy, she began training for management almost immediately. “I didn’t start out thinking it would be a career for me,” she recalled. “But once I got into management, I saw that I had a lot to offer, and things just worked out that way.” Today, the advancement process is slower but more thorough. Corner Store’s 90-day training program for managers focuses on on-the-job training as well as inoffice modules, and covers everything from profit/loss statements to the company’s food programs. At the same time, there’s room for less structured development. Green is known for mentoring store employees at multiple levels and doing what she can to cultivate their potential, whether that means encouraging them to train for the next level of store management or putting together a development plan that will help them become an area manager. She also organizes fun team-building activities like bowling outings for the people who report directly to her. “We often do activities where we have to count on each other to win. That brings the team closer together and breaks the monotony of them being out in the field so much,” said Green, one of this year’s Convenience Store News Top Women in Convenience honorees in the Mentors category. “We tend to talk a lot about business. My guys talk about what they’re each doing within their areas.” StandardS & Support
While she works hard to support those who work
WWW.CSNEWS.COM | AUGUST 2015 | Convenience Store News 43