I have worked with customers in one capacity or another for 26 years, ten years in a retail grocery environment and sixteen years in a food distribution warehouse. My belief is that an HR department should not be viewed as the place you have to go when you are in trouble or terminated. Unlike a typical HR department, my door is always open to my associates to help them with not only work related issues and questions, but I am also available for them when they just need to talk. It is not unusual for my associates just to stop in the office to say hi and be sociable. The majority of my associates know that my door is always open to them and I do alot of things that are outside of my job description, but it has paid off in the loyalty and trust that I have built up with them. My philosophy is that the associates of my warehouse are my customers, and the better service that I give to them, the better service they will give to our company. This has been proven as I have the #1 shipping department in the country for my division, and my trans department usually runs # 1 or 2 also.