If the past two years have shown us anything, it’s that we are resilient and can make it through even the most challenging times. However, a lot of that challenge for the floral industry has been hiring and keeping great people on our teams.

You know the term “The Great Resignation” (since it’s all over the news). This ongoing trend started in 2021 when employees began resigning from their jobs in large numbers across the United States. Many are now returning to work, but they are choosing to find employment that either gives them the ability to work from home or provides a good work-life balance.

How can you find and hold on to a team of employees who love what they do and share your commitment to quality and service? It takes some work, but you can achieve it. In a recent article in the magazine Floral Management, HR expert Glenna Hecht recommended a few ways to recruit and keep top people. Here are some key takeaways:

1. Hire less experienced people and train them. You may think this will take extra time, but it will be more beneficial in the long run. By hiring someone with less experience, you won’t have to “un-train” them from another company’s procedures, processes, and values.
2. Provide a clear sense of company culture. Your company culture is one of the main reasons a person will choose to work with you, and it’s right there at the top of reasons they will stay. A great way to give prospective employees an idea of what it’s like to work for you is to invite other employees to participate in the hiring process.
3. Be flexible with schedules. Companies must focus on the quality of life of their employees to succeed in this post-pandemic landscape, and flexibility is one of their most important considerations. Make sure you clearly state that you offer flexible schedules when recruiting since this could be the deciding factor for a potential new hire.
4. Emphasize quality of life. We can’t state this enough: employees want to know that their company understands work-life balance. After all, many of them have worked from home either a portion of or throughout these past two years. They know the value of time away from the job far more than ever before. By putting in policies and procedures that emphasize work-life balance, you’re far more likely to keep your employees happy and productive.

We hope these tips can help you when you are looking for new people to join your team. Hiring and training a new employee is an enormous investment in time and money, so you want to make sure they fit in and thrive in your environment. Good luck!