Every two weeks, FCNews seeks out flooring retailers across the country to offer their advice on hot topics of the day. This week we asked: Where will you place your emphasis in 2023—retention or recruiting?
Here are their responses:
“I would do both, but I would place the greater emphasis on retention. Both require a financial investment. A new hire is never a 100% correct hire because you never truly know a person until you begin working with that individual, which could take anywhere between two to three months. During that period, you are pouring in your time, resources and finances with a 50% chance they are the right hire to get a return. With our existing ‘A team,’ you know with more certainty their worth and return on your investment.”
—Roy Tokuhama, Abbey Carpet & Floor of Hawaii, Honolulu
“In our case, I think it’s more important to retain the employees we already have. We have recruited well the past few years, so we need to keep who we have in place.”
—Chris Kemp, Kemp’s Dalton West Flooring, Newnan, Ga.
“Both retention and recruitment are so important. I place a greater emphasis on retention because without your top people, training the next generation becomes much more difficult.”
—Sheldon Yoder, Budget Carpet and Flooring, Columbus, Ohio
“Our greatest emphasis is on retaining our top installers we currently have. Our belief is mentoring the new ones is the way to go for training purposes.”
—Mike Foulk, Foulk’s Flooring America, Meadville, Pa.
“Our focus is on retention. Our installation teams are top-notch and we treat them like the gems they are. Currently we are living in post-hurricane madness, which means we have more work than we have flooring installation professionals.”
—Marjorie Benson, Friendly Floors, Port Charlotte, Fla.
