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Retention Plan Can Help Keep Hourly Employees (Part 1)

Good recruitment, hiring techniques vital

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — It’s not easy to find, hire and keep good employees.

During a recent Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) webinar, Kelly Saliba, SPHR, vice president of human resources for Economy Linen & Towel Service in Zanesville, Ohio, shared that turnover is one of the biggest challenges in business today.

“It seems like just a few short years ago, we placed an ad in the local newspaper, and we received about five times the applicants that we needed to fill the positions that were open. People stayed a long time and pretty much focused their efforts on processing the linen in our plants,” says Saliba. “That’s no longer the situation.”

She notes that some turnover is desirable, especially if an employee has stopped working but remains on the payroll. However, turnover is always costly in terms of training and productivity.

Raising wages may seem like a step in the right direction, but Saliba says that throwing money at the problem doesn’t always help. Likewise, traditional recruiting methods aren’t cutting it.

She says that businesses in the laundry and linen industry need to have a retention plan in place. A basic retention plan covers five areas: recruiting, hiring, training, employee treatment and tracking the numbers.

RECRUIT RIGHT

Saliba says a laundry must take steps to become an “employer of choice.” The company needs to make itself attractive to good employees.

“If you recruit right, you have more candidates to choose from, which allow you to make better hiring decisions, which should allow your training to be much smoother because you’re training the right people and not just whoever comes in the door,” she says.

Portray the image of a business that treats people fairly and provides a good work environment. Saliba says the company also needs to be involved in the community and let the public know about those good deeds.

“If you have a reputation for treating people fairly and respectfully, then that makes your recruiting efforts easier, which makes your hiring easier, which makes your training easier, which makes it easier in that supervision and management have more time to treat them properly,” she says.

When it comes to recruitment methods, use a combination of traditional and nontraditional methods, according to Saliba.

Traditional methods include help wanted ads, job fairs and employment (“temp”) agencies.

On the nontraditional side, Saliba encourages businesses to try recruiting in places they wouldn’t normally consider, like placing a hiring ad in a newspaper section other than “Help Wanted.” Try radio ads, or intermission ads at the movie theater. Other ideas include posting flyers in supermarkets, holding an open house, or even simply wandering around the neighborhood.

Follow-up is important, says Saliba. Launderers need to have a constant source of potential employees from whom to choose. Constant contact and interaction with recruiting sources can help keep the well full.

“The nature of our business is relationships, and the recruiting sources that we rely on, whether private or public agencies or other groups, there are other companies and organizations vying for talent,” says Steve Kulchin, vice president of human resources for Mission Linen Supply in Santa Barbara, Calif. “The more that you can differentiate yourself as an employer of choice, they are going to be more inclined to recruit for you.”

HIRE RIGHT

Information is important when it comes to hiring. Both the company and the potential employee need to have as much knowledge as possible in order to make a good choice.

Companies must check references listed on applications to assess whether or not the potential hire has some of the basic skills necessary for the job.

However, potential employees also need to know what they’re getting into. Saliba suggests providing potential hires with a short history of the company, what it does, the hours and expectations, and a facility tour.

“A picture is worth a thousand words, and to hire somebody in our industry without at least letting them have a view of what the work looks like, if you don’t do that, it puts you behind the 8-ball on hiring,” she says.

The hiring process for new employees, according to Saliba, begins when management hires front-line supervisors. Unless those supervisors know how to manage and communicate effectively, the chances a new hire won’t last increases.

Check back Tuesday for the conclusion on training and employee treatment.

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(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].