Wilson's Garden Center in Newark, Ohio, is using an unconventional means to find seasonal employees this year: its blog. But then, where are you more likely to find, as the virtual application says, "individuals with a passion for serving our guests" than from a roster of those very guests?
Consider the "up" side: They know plants. They know the area. They know the landscape, as it were, of Wilson's -- enough so that they check in on the blog on a regular basis to find out what's new and what's next. It stands to reason that people with that kind of passion about the store would easily take ownership in any paid position they would assume there. Plus, training would be minimal, given their familiarity with the surroundings and procedures.
To make life easier on both the management team and the future staffers it hopes to lure, the blog features a "Top Asked Questions" section that has already anticipated and addressed most of the challenges involved in the interviewing/hiring process.
As a result, owners Ned, Harry and Mitzi Wilson will undergo a selection process virtually free of non-qualified applicants, and, in fact, will probably be choosing from among folks they already know and appreciate -- and who know and appreciate them.
In some circles, that's called win/win. Here we like to call it "Cha-ching!"
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