You would not guess Mike Young is a rock star if you met him on the street. I mean a "rock star" in the sense of an amazing small business owner who is a remarkable role model for other business owners.
True confessions -- the first time I met Mike, I thought he was too uptight and corporate for this loose and fun culture. I wasn't convinced he'd be a good bakery owner. Then he won me, and the rest of us, over and now owns the Great Harvest Bread Co. in Jackson, Mississippi. Lucky for us!
After Christmas, I heard a story from Mike's field representative at the franchise office about his bakery's holiday party. He had a small gathering at his house for his employees to thank them for all their work. Usually, he takes them out to a really nice restaurant for a holiday party after Christmas when they are caught up on their sleep -- the holidays are the busiest time of the year in a bakery! But this year, they had heard about a family that was drowning in medical bills due to a child's illness, and were about to be evicted. The employees came to Mike and asked him to use their party money to help this family instead. They all personally contributed cash to the fund too and were able to pay a full month of the family's rent so they could stay in their home.
I thought that was a cool story, so I called Mike to ask if I could 
write about this "random act of kindness." That's where the story started going down an unexpected path for me. As I was talking to Mike and pulling details from him about how the employees came up with this idea, I realized that Mike has created a culture in his business where something like this would happen. It's really NOT a random act.
Mike understands the value of his employees to his small business. He told me his number one challenge is to find and keep good employees. He defines a good employee as someone who has at least two-thirds of his commitment and passion for the business. He knows it's unrealistic to expect more than that, so he doesn't stress the team out with expectations that won't be met.
He created a team that executed flawlessly through the busiest time of the year by taking care of them individually. One of his employees is a musician -- he loaned her the money to buy a $10,000 harp and she paid him back within a year. He has also loaned money to employees for kids' eye glasses, a car, college tuition and parents' funeral expenses. My mouth was dropping as I heard this. Definitely not a best practice from business school, but Mike nonchalantly says "my employees know that if they need something, we'll help each other out. This same thing happens between employees here, too."
Talk about putting your money where your mouth is! What do you think? Would you do the same for your employees?
