You know the scene: You've posted countless "help wanted" notices and interviewed a "Who's Who Isn't" list of un- or under-qualified candidates for a staff position at your center. "Surely," you thnk, "there's got to be a better way to find good help these days."
Allen Martinson of Martinson's Garden Works in Ridgeland, Miss., offers a suggestion you might want to try. "Customers make the best seasonal employees," he said. "These customers already know the store, are pretty familiar with the layout and have an advantage over prospective employees that have never been in your store."
Martinson assigns most of the temporary hires to work Saturdays-only. This policy gives the store a nice lift. "Those that work only on busy weekends energize the regular staff and bring a cheerful tone to the store," he said. His seasonal workers often bring in snacks for the staff and are removed enough from the daily grind to attack Saturdays with a passion.
And, given the savings enjoyed from a pared training regimen on the nuances of plants, products, services and store logistics, the store that employs this strategy not only puts itself in position to boost sales but to trim costs.
Yeah, we're talking "Cha-ching!"
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