Being recognized by your peers is always special and that is how our internal Top Hand program is modelled. Peer nominations are submitted from our AgriBusiness team, recognizing teammates who show a spirit of selflessness, are willing to help with tasks outside their normal responsibility, believe "good enough is never good enough," embody the co-operative spirit and/or rise above adversity.
Winning nominations, as determined by our in-store employees, are then sent to Area Managers to pick the ultimate winners by area. Our quarterly Top Hands are rewarded with a special pin and gift cards that increase with additional wins.
We pride ourselves on exemplary customer service at all of our UFA sites and strive to continuously improve. We do have a Rate Us survey set up for customer feedback where all comments received are valued and appreciated. The URL for this survey can be found at the bottom of our UFA till receipts. Hearing from our members and customers is always satisfying, but when a teammate gives you a shout-out, that is extra special.
Garrett Larocque, CSSR3, Spruce Grove Farm & Ranch Supply
Top Hand Winner – North
Garret went over-and-above the call of duty when working with one of our major contractors. They were building a very large shop and had purchased lumber, metal, man doors, etc. from us for this build. They were in need of the man doors and accessories, but we had trouble getting them and it caused an issue for the contractor being able to continue with their build. Garrett worked with AG business support and the vendor and was able to have the doors picked with parts in one day. Garrett then took the UFA truck to Edmonton where the vendor was located the next day, picked the stock up and delivered it to the contractor, located west of Spruce Grove!
The owner was very happy with the quick response and had nothing but great things to say about Garrett and what he consistently does for not only them, but UFA. We are very lucky to have Garrett on our team!
Marilyn Hogan, CSSR2, Camrose Farm & Ranch Supply
Top Hand Winner – Central
Marilyn works for UFA part-time, covering our power hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. as she is also a school bus driver. She has just celebrated her one-year anniversary with us.
Marilyn had developed her customer service skills to amazing heights. With each customer, it starts with the greeting and ends with Marilyn selling the total package to the customer, no matter what they came in for. It is not uncommon that she gets at least two allied sales and one add on sale during each customer transaction.
When we put focus on getting customer surveys completed Marilyn jumped to the task and is leading the team with surveys completed. Of the 246 surveys completed in Camrose for Q3, 89 of the surveys commented exceptional customer service and all very positive things to say about Marilyn.
"We shop at UFA because of the trust we have in Marilyn and UFA."
"Camrose UFA is a better place because of Marilyn."
"We came in to purchase three rolls of barbed wire. We left after purchasing $12,000 in continuous fencing. Marilyn is one heck of a sales lady. She made sure we had no money left before we left the store."
Anne Chartrand, Yard Shipper/Receiver, Medicine Hat Farm & Ranch Supply
Top Hand Winner – South
Since joining UFA, Anne's experience in Warehouse Management has shone through. Her attention to detail and strict adherence to policies has helped the Medicine Hat Farm Store raise our Scope audit score from 2023 to 2024 and was instrumental in our success with our Wall-to-Wall prep work. For the last few weeks, Anne has been making a name for herself with all the tremendous support she has been giving at the old Red Deer store decommissioning. Anne quickly picked up on the expectations put on her and shared her own expectations of helping to monitor her home store when time permitted in her absence.
Anne has also received praise from UFA employees outside of the Medicine Hat and Red Deer sites, specifically from members of the Inventory Control and Asset Protection teams, where she Is hoping to move into in the future.
Congratulations to our Q3 Top Hand winners!
