Commercial Laundry: Rick Rone, Laundry Plus, Bradenton, Fla.
The correct combination of the proper people in the appropriate places is similar to a complicated chemistry formula. It is difficult to say that any one specific management position is more important than the rest. I am a staunch advocate of moving up from within whenever possible.
Most of us are probably familiar with a business theory referred to as the Peter Principle. If not, take a moment to look it up. There are quite a few good head-hunting firms, and the preponderance of both psychological as well as managerial testing programs that are available is exceptional.
That having been said, I am a firm believer in the fact that nobody knows your customers or your business ideologies better than the people who have some tenure with your firm. I have been privileged in assisting quite a few of our plant’s hourly workers in their rise within the ranks of our company.
When it is evident that there is an opening that cannot be filled from within, one great resource that is available to most of us is the comprehensive network of our suppliers. For instance, your laundry chemical supplier probably provides products to many other companies around the U.S. Most suppliers, as well as subcontractors, have a close relationship with their customers and therefore can be a valuable tool in your quest.
It is always important to handle your search in a professional manner. Remember that, “What goes around, comes around.” There are a number of good publications for our industry that offer a classified section for our job listings, as well as people looking to make a change.
Depending on the position, as well as your company size and budget, there are many good firms available to assist you in your talent search. This avenue may seem to be the most costly, but if you find the best candidate in an expedient fashion, this may ultimately prove to be the least expensive direction to take.
Lastly, I would like to stress that co-worker retention can be far more important and less costly in the long run than the hiring of a new person. I firmly believe in going the extra mile in an effort to keep the good people that have helped make the company what it has become.
Uniforms/Workwear Manufacturing: Scott Delin, Fashion Seal Healthcare, Seminole, Fla.
Just last week, I received a phone call from a recruiter asking me if I knew of anybody looking for a position as a general manager for a regional laundry. Two weeks ago, another call came my way looking for a sales manager for a linen company. It seems to me that these calls are becoming more common than not, as everyone in our industry is looking for that one special person who can fill the voids left by the staff that was either dismissed or moved on to bigger and better positions.
Many companies today are looking within their own organizations for that one special person who is willing to step up to the plate and lead. However, when all else fails, we fall back to plan B—the recruiters (head hunters), vendors, trade associations, colleges and even technical schools—for the diamond in the rough who can bring some value and stability to their workforce, whether it be in production, sales, engineering or management.
Obviously, the ideal place to find our future leaders is within our own organizations. Promoting from within seems to build trust and respect among our workforce as they realize that they, too, can move up the ladder if given the opportunity to do so. Also, their peers have more respect and admiration for them, as they know firsthand that they not only talked the talk, but walked the walk.
As the job market is becoming tougher to fill, many high schools, technical schools and colleges are hosting job fairs for students looking for internships as an avenue to learn a craft and also to decide their career path. This is a practical way for the overachiever to possibly land a position with an organization/laundry if they decide that this is indeed the career path they choose to travel. It is also an economical way to find the right person for the job while making a small monetary investment.
Ongoing education is key to the growth and success of our laundries and their management teams. Successful operators have to find a way to exploit their hidden talent from within while barring no expense in doing so. Trade associations offer educational courses for laundries to send their potential rising stars in an effort to maximize their skills and leadership capabilities and techniques.
The Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) offers PMI (Production Management Institute), MMI (Maintenance Management Institute) and EMI (Executive Management Institute), for example. CSC Network offers various training sessions during its annual conference and also throughout the year for its members. The Association for Linen Management (ALM) offers a certification course for laundry and linen managers.
These are just a few options out there to help uncover the possible leaders that will help our industry grow.
As everyone in our industry is looking for that one special person to lead in production, sales, engineering or maintenance, we need to pay attention to those who are already working for us. You never know, that next leader might just be the person who is working in soil sort, route makeup or even customer service. It is funny how the right person just might be in front of us but we’ve never taken the time to notice.
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