As vice president of people and culture for Franklin, Tenn.-based MAPCO, which operates close to 340 company-owned stores throughout the Southeastern region of the U.S., Amanda Davis plays a key role in transforming the company culture and elevating its talent, while positioning MAPCO for growth in a post-pandemic world.
CStore Decisions is recognizing Davis as part of our human resources (HR) awards for her commitment to attracting top talent, improving the customer experience and creating a people-first culture beyond the standard benefits offer.
Prior to joining MAPCO, Davis worked for Starbucks, Apple, Target and, most recently, Dollar General, all of which she credits for preparing her to build MAPCO’s HR function after its acquisition by Chile-based retail company COPEC.
Amanda Davis
“MAPCO is an incredible place to work — it’s honestly difficult to put into words,” Davis said. “COPEC is extremely people-focused and values-driven. Being privately owned and extremely aligned on vision with our board allows us to focus on what matters most, invest for the long term and make an impact in the lives of our team and our guests.”
In her role, Davis oversees MAPCO’s Total Rewards program, employee relations, training and organizational development, payroll, talent acquisition, field HR business partners and internal communications — all of which help to propel the company into what Davis calls its “desired state.”
“It’s challenging, as we haven’t reached our fullest potential,” she said, “but that creates an energy and a momentum that can be felt throughout the organization.”
Just Getting Started
Davis cites competitive benefits as a key area of MAPCO’s employee value proposition.
“Beyond traditional medical/dental/vision/ancillary plans for which we benchmark higher than industry, we offer an attractive 6% match on 401k, flexible scheduling, same-day pay options and more,” Davis said. “We also have an attractive part-time benefits package, which allows us to meet the needs of our team members.”
Outside of the standard benefits, she said, MAPCO is always looking for ways to “meet our team in the moments that matter,” whether that’s housing and food when affected by natural disasters, emergency pay when testing for COVID, or helping grieving families.
“A people-first culture doesn’t stop at the standard benefits offer,” she said. “That’s really us just getting started.”
Like all retailers, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged MAPCO to work and think differently. Its first priority surrounded keeping its team safe while continuing to serve its communities.
“I’m proud to say that MAPCO has never laid off a single team member due to the pandemic, nor did we decrease store hours,” Davis said. “This seems simple, but at a time when customer traffic was down, we were laser-focused on keeping our team members safe and whole.”
From there, she said, MAPCO had to determine how best to take care of team members who were personally affected by COVID-19, which included emergency pay for testing and recovery, as well as daily check-ins, care packages and more.
MAPCO also created a phase-out plan to test and ultimately take its support center teams remote and find creative ways to drive engagement virtually.
And in February, MAPCO announced that it would provide its 3,200-plus employees with paid time off to get the COVID-19 vaccines. Upon completion of their vaccination schedule, hourly team members will receive eight hours of pay, and salaried team members will receive eight hours added to their paid time off allotment.
For MAPCO, Davis said, it comes down to caring about employees’ well-being and equipping them with awareness, information and accessibility to make the best decisions for themselves and their families.
“For us, 2021 will mean being there for our guests as they begin to return to more normal activities of life and work while ensuring we’re still following protocols to keep our team safe,” Davis said. “It is about understanding our customers’ behaviors in a post-pandemic world — what trends will revert and which are here to stay. It means redefining the future of work for our support center team.”
Beyond that, she said, she’s excited to continue to differentiate MAPCO in its core markets, attract top talent and create an unparalleled guest experience.
“My ultimate goal is for MAPCO to emerge as an employer of choice differentiated by our incredible culture, career opportunities, benefits and so much more,” Davis said. “To help others see the intrinsic reward of building this dream in partnership with COPEC and to attract the best talent to do so — that’s what I’m most looking forward to.”
