Business has always been about putting on a pretty front at the retail side that faces the customer, while squeezing the back end for efficiency. In traditiona

Business has always been about putting on a pretty front at the retail side that faces the customer, while squeezing the back end for efficiency. In traditional restaurants, there is an often repeated quote: if you like a restaurant, don't look in the kitchen. A retail store will often have pretty displays while the conditions in the warehouse are more, hmmm, pragmatic. Nowadays, we find that the retail interaction consists of a web app or mobile app for purchasing, and a delivery man for receiving of an order. Customers will be ignorant of the backend. Rarely are people really aware what is necessary to enable them to buy the things they buy. There is nothing surprising that there is a discrepancy between the customer-facing side and the behind-the-scenes operation. What is important is to treat employees as people, regardless of whether they work in a stock room 10 feet behind the display, or 1000 miles away in a order fulfillment center.