Trending: Bit of a Slowdown, Hiring and What is Employee Branding?

Episode 120:  Are you feeling that you can finally catch your breath and business seems to be a bit slower than last year at this time? Do you find it challenging to hire new employees that want to stay with you for the long term? Vonda and Lori cover both of these important subjects currently trending in the floral industry.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:04

People can tell when they walk in that shop, the culture of the shop, which we've talked about many times, is that do I want to be a part of this? Oh my gosh, look at them. They're having fun back there. And look at the beautiful work they put out. I want to be a part of what they're showing here. Welcome to the Business and Pleasure of Flowers. We're your hosts, Vonda LaFever and Lori Wilson.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

And we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination. Kind of like us, Vonda.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

So Vonda, I wonder, you know how when you're on social media, which I know you're not on much, but I've noticed there's so many podcast clips of people, and they all have those really cool big headphones on. That's like a video of them podcasting, and they have more than one microphone. Like they look super legit and fancy.

SPEAKER_04 1:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:04

And so as you can see, the rest of people can't see. You know, I have my big microphone on, but I often wonder, should I get some headphones just for visual effect? They maybe don't even have to work, just like some pretend because I want to look like those people. Or are we doing it wrong?

SPEAKER_04 1:21

Well, I don't think we're doing it wrong. A lot of people like to have the headphones, and we might sometime get to that, but they say they can hear all the little details and they can hear the inflections in one voice or the other. And interesting enough, we don't really have to worry about that because I put our podcast through an equalizer, which equalizes our voice and takes care of a lot of that. So I do think that's why the quality of ours is pretty darn good.

unknown 1:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:50

And we don't have to wear our earphones.

SPEAKER_03 1:52

I just needed to bring it to the team, share the information, share the concern, make sure we're doing what we're supposed to do.

SPEAKER_04 2:00

I know, but I feel like when we change the way we're recording and we're doing some videos, we might have to get the headphones for the look.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Right, right. Because you've talked about switching platforms. And if we do, and I'm gonna be having some little Instagram reels, I'm getting myself some of those headphones. Okay, even if I don't have them plugged in.

SPEAKER_04 2:19

So clickers, be ready.

SPEAKER_03 2:21

Yeah, and we're gonna get some big we can get some big pink headphones. Of course, pink. And you'll just see the plug going out because I won't even probably use them. But anyway, oh my goodness. So we are doing our podcast on our normal Friday pod, but it's later than normal, it's already noon.

SPEAKER_04 2:42

I know we kind of don't have as much energy by noon.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

No, no, God, we're so old. Um, not you, me, not you, you'll never age. Right, right. But it's funny because you just mentioned, I wonder if I need another cup of coffee. And it's like, it's already noon. Like I know, right? Uh anyway. Crazy. Okay, crazy. We got stuff to talk about today.

SPEAKER_04 3:04

We need to talk about it. We do a couple things that you were gonna bring to the attention of our clickers and ask them if they're experiencing the same thing.

SPEAKER_03 3:12

Yeah, so you know, we've talked here and there about what's trending, what's going on in the industry. And so here are two things that I've been, I don't want to say dealing with, I don't, because that's kind of sounds negative, but I've been having conversations the last couple of weeks. Um, and I'm so I've kind of taken notice on oh, there's a bit of a theme. Number one, and I learned this with Cammy Martin. I called her this morning, I said, Hey, have you noticed this too? And she said, Yes. For the first time in two years since beginning of pandemic, I have heard more than one, probably less than half a dozen, though. So I'm gonna be real here. I have heard more of our members either say in conversation with me or post on the face, our members' page. It's slow, like it feels slow. Does anybody else feeling slow today or this week? And so I wonder here's here's where my brain goes do we have a new reality of what slow is? Like we've been going 150, 199 miles an hour for two years, just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. So when maybe we're just going 95 miles an hour, right? We feel like, oh my gosh, like I ate my whole sandwich today in one setting and didn't have to get up and go make a casket spray. Like, what are we talking about when we're talking about slow? It's all relative. I remember back in the day, a few, you know, years ago, you knew when your downtime was going to be, right? Yeah, I remember you said, you know, there's some summertime that you kind of have some planning, and there's always those little periods that tend to, but that's gone. It has been gone, yeah. Then as of yesterday, conversations, it's back up. Oh, I'm swamped. I can't even like people are canceling their meetings with me because they're too busy and blah, blah, blah. So I don't know, maybe it was just a two-day thing.

SPEAKER_04 5:21

Well, I think the weekend came then, right? And prompts are kicking in and cyclical things are happening. Well, that is a really good question. And I was on a call uh this morning as well with a member, and they were asking me, Hey, can you tell me what do you think is gonna happen the rest of the year? And as I always say, I wish I had a crystal ball. I wish I did, I wish I could tell you that. But there was a recent study that came out by the National Retail Federation, which is a retail organization that really looks at what's happening in retail growth. And the growth in 2021 in retail was 14% year over year. Wow. Which was unbelievable, right? It was one of those things that you don't usually see that type of a growth. This year they're expecting six to eight percent. Okay. So it's not supposed to be so accelerated like we've had the last couple of years. Um, but normal pre-pandemic growth was 3.7. So it's still better, right? Yeah, so it's still going. Now, of course, you know, they're watching that really close with what's going on globally. Yeah. Um, and so that's gonna make a difference. And they say the longer the unsettling is happening, the longer that happens, the more people will pull back. Yeah, you know, the sooner it we get this taken care of, the happier people will be, and and they'll continue to spend their money. So that's kind of my thought on it. It's the ebb and flow still. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

For them to ask you what do you think the future holds? I think your answer could be, well, the future holds more ebb and flow. Like you never ever, we don't know, just be ready, be ready. Um, and when you have those slow days, instead of going straight to fear, oh my gosh, we're done with the busy time. I'm not use that time productively, right? Right, or take a minute and breathe. Exactly. Exactly. Go, wow, it's nice. Instead of getting nervous, is anybody else feeling this? Go, wow, you know, let's let's I'm gonna think I'm gonna take tomorrow off because we don't have a lot going on. Can you guys so anyway? All right, so that was the first one. Okay, the second one that's to me is never ending right now is the hiring of employees, retaining employees, all of this stuff employee related.

SPEAKER_04 7:58

Well, let's be clear, Lori. A lot of that you really have the in on because we have people joining the flower click flower prep school and sales prep school. Right. And so you're hearing people who are like, hey, I need this to onboard people, and it really does work, but then then you're like, Oh, I need to hire put another one on, oh, take this person off.

SPEAKER_03 8:18

And so it's kind of right, right in and out. It is a significant part of my job right now, so it's I I that's why I'm like, it's more trending. Many shop owners who are in our prep school courses every every other day. I'm getting emails from hey, can I have a new employee? Can you add this one? Um, I mean, and I can honestly say I'm talking just, I mean, we have hundreds of people in the course, but my day-to-day, I'm dealing with at least five shops that are either adding or removing. That's the understanding. They'll go, hey, so-and-so is no longer here, or can you update me on what employees I have enrolled? Because which tells me they're they've been having some exits, right? And they got to figure out who needs to be deleted, who doesn't. So monitoring that, like I do, gives me a really good feel of wow, this is this is an issue. I mean, and these these shops are from all over the United States, it's not like one concentrated area, like the Midwest. It's it's from California all the way over to Vermont. So in doing that so much lately, I you know, I'm always researching, always looking to see if I can find an answer. And I didn't find like an answer answer, but I did find a really interesting article that had some really good statistics to back up their content, right? Right when you looked over it, and really interesting, actually. It's really interesting, and and what I want our listener to understand is anytime we read these articles, Vonda and I read it through the eye of just our industry. So while it might not have been written for just the floral industry, we filter through a lot of these, right? Because some of it we're like, well, that doesn't apply to this industry. So that's kind of what we thought we'd do.

SPEAKER_04 10:27

But I thought it was interesting because the writer of this article said these are mind-blowing employer branding statistics, which I was like, wow, yeah, you know, that really and they were to us too.

SPEAKER_03 10:41

Yeah, right. No, they were. So the concept of the article in a nutshell, he talks about the difference between an employer brand and employer branding. So I will be honest, I had to read this section probably three or four times to get a clear because I wanted to make sure I was understanding. So we're starting with employee brand is how you are perceived in your industry, as well as your promise to your employees. It exhibits your company culture, your employee engagement, and employee satisfaction. So, for example, and this is just a really big one. I can remember years ago, uh, you would see articles, you would see on LinkedIn, you would see all the stuff, how cool it looked to work at Google. Like Google had free lunch, awesome food court. They had massage therapists on site. You could sit in one of these little eggs that's like a little huddle, and you kidnap like all of the stuff, right? So for all of us on the outside, I'm sitting there going, How do I get a job at Google? How do I get that? Like, I but I would have to move to California at the time. That's not gonna happen. But so their brand from the outside, and you know, pictures of the employees that looks like that would be a super cool, kind of popular place to work, right? Employer branding, on the other hand, is the internal, like the HR group, right, inside Google going, how do we appeal to the market of applicants? Like, how do we build our brand to look cool and want people to come and work here? So, employer brand is how somebody sees the company, employer branding is the company attempting to positively influence those of all of us.

SPEAKER_04 12:43

So, what we were talking about earlier is one's kind of external, outward facing, and one's internal. Now turn around. Now I'm in the inside, and that's my employer branding.

SPEAKER_03 12:58

Right, right. So you are the shop owner, a flower shop owner, and you're you've got a great Instagram, you've got um TikTok, you know, everything. And from the outside, people are looking and going, wow, that looks like a super cool place to work.

SPEAKER_04 13:14

I've got a great website.

SPEAKER_03 13:15

I've got you know their people look funny, they look fun. I think they're flower click members, I think. I wanna, I wanna, I wanna work here. So that would be you are the Google, right? That's how people see you. But on the inside, you or you have a really great manager that is also into marketing, you're actually marketing your business not only to sell product, but to appeal to your audience, thinking people might want to come and work for you. So here are the seven employer branding statistics, and each one of these do have a study to back it up. A lot of them are from LinkedIn or LinkedIn studies, and we can absolutely send you all of these if you want, um, or you can just believe us. Um, so I'm gonna say number one, okay, and then we'll just kind of go back and forth. So, number one, 72% of recruiting leaders worldwide, they agreed that employer brand has a significant impact on hiring. That makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. So this was a LinkedIn study, and it said hiring managers, talent professionals, whatever you call it, um, working that say lack of awareness or interest in employee brand is one of the top five challenges. So, what they were saying is if I am a business owner, I own Lori's flower shop, and I'm not really marketing outwardly to look appealing for people. Maybe they come in my store. This, I mean, it could be as simple as this, and it's just cluttered. It just doesn't have a cluttering, and the person working at the front desk is or at the front station is like, hey, how are you? Like, not super friendly, you know, it's everything. It wouldn't make me go, oh, they look like really fun people. I want to work there.

SPEAKER_04 15:18

That makes a lot of sense in a flower shop for sure. Because right people can tell when they walk in that shop, the culture of the shop, which we've talked about many times, yeah, is that do I want to be a part of this? Oh my gosh, look at them. They're having fun back there. And look at the beautiful work they put out. I want to be a part of all of what they're showing here.

SPEAKER_03 15:38

Right. And they say that something that's important is for the job candidate, their ability to positively recall the interview or the environment or the situation is very powerful. I mean, you and I talk about this all the time when we do a podcast or we're doing a presentation. What are when people click end and walk away the next day? What are the boom, boom, boom? What are the three things they're going to remember? It's kind of that same concept, right? If I'm looking, even if I'm looking for just a part-time job, which a lot of employees in our industry just are doing, and I go to three different interviews in the same day. Yep. What how are you going to impress upon my mind that's going to even last the next day? How is your shot? So the, I mean, this is fascinating to me.

SPEAKER_04 16:32

It really is. This one was fascinating to me too. And that's 92% of the people would consider leaving the job that they're currently in if they were offered a position in a company with an outstanding reputation. So maybe you have somebody in your flower shop who is marginally happy, right? They're like, they like what they're doing, but gosh, the competitor who is the best outward facing, right? And they're like, wow, I would love to work there. And I know so-and-so who works there, who loves her job and talks about how great it is on the other side, right?

SPEAKER_00 17:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:12

And I mean, my gosh, that's huge, Lori. 92% would like, okay, bye-bye. And it doesn't have to do with money, it has to do with the the brand.

SPEAKER_03 17:24

Brand. I have, yeah, I have a real life story about this. I ran into um a friend who owns a flower shop in my area. I mean, in the Houston Woodlands area. And I was talking to her, and I was asking um about just how things are going. But anyway, we got around and she asked me if I was aware of the new kit on the block, the new store. This was a while back. And I said yes, I'd actually gone into it. It's a whole different vibe there. It's um the location is perfect. I mean, it's a gets a lot of walkbites right by, like three lunch hotspots and one big brunch hotspot. Um, it's just a lot of light, a lot of fun people. Anyway, it's a really cool store. Um, well, she didn't love that answer because she had lost one of her long-term main employees and same amount of money, but a whole, like, wow, to be able to work there. And that shop, their their Instagram is off the charts. They're always doing um things at our town center, so they're getting out there, they're doing and they'll post about it. Oh, we volunteered to do this, or we were so they just did like a whole thing for like Montgomery County Food Bank. I mean, so they're always getting themselves out there, yeah. So people see their brand and they see their stuff, and it's kind of a big deal to work there, yeah. But so that would be it.

SPEAKER_04 18:59

I mean, yeah, it's that grass is always greener, and sometimes they might get there and it might not be that exactly, but in their mind, they're like, Oh, this is this is the greatest place for me to be. Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

All right, number three. Well, this one you and I think is probably higher in our industry. 70% of employees say that their sense of purpose is defined by their work. So it goes, and this is by McKenzie and Company. Um, employees will choose a place to work based on their beliefs and values, being clear about why your company exists and aligning that with your employees' personal values starts at the top. We talk about this all the time. We do all the time when you're hiring somebody, and when I even in all of our sales training classes, under it's so important in that interview that you make sure and share your vision, what your vision was. Even tell your story. Tell your story about how you started this shop, you know, or what it means to you. Let's give them an opportunity to share in that vision, or also give them the opportunity to go, uh, you know what, this isn't for me. And they don't come back, and it's okay. You only have one hour interview with them, you didn't waste a lot of time and money. But but their purpose is identified for the Lord. Make sure that aligns. And maybe that employee is, you know, going to college or grad school, and they're wanting some part-time money to be, I don't know, a doctor, you know, whatever they're doing, build into them on that, help them achieve those goals, right? Right. They're gonna be better employees. The worst that's gonna happen is after five years, you know they're gonna leave and you celebrate them, or they might completely switch and fall in love with the business. You never know.

SPEAKER_04 20:52

We've heard those stories, we've heard those stories for sure. That would have been me.

SPEAKER_03 20:57

Yes, and Tim Farrell talked about that. He was supposed to be an accountant, he was an accountant, not an accountant.

SPEAKER_04 21:02

He's still an accountant, and he's a wonderful shop owner, so it's well. So then the number four companies with a strong employer brand receive more than twice as many applicants as companies with a poor employer reputation. Wow, that is huge.

SPEAKER_03 21:21

Crazy. It's absolutely crazy because you know, from their concept, and again, one of the shops that I've been talking to a lot about this, they're a relatively big shop. I'm telling you, they must have a great employer brand because they get a lot of applicants, and it is, it's a numbers game, right? You want to get as many as you can, and then you start sort of filtering through them and you hope that if you hire four, hopefully two will stick. And yeah, you know, that's that's reality, right?

SPEAKER_04 21:54

And if you don't have a good reputation at all and you're hiring, you're still gonna have a hard time getting people. To come in, even fill out an application or take an interview with you because it's like, yeah, well, I don't know, I haven't heard really great things about you.

SPEAKER_03 22:07

Yeah, yeah. And I know for you know big corporations, that's why they talk about it's super important to have a really good um careers page on your website. But for us, you know, in our industry of flowershop owner, brick and mortar, you're not, but but you can take that same concept and make sure your social media looks super inviting, exactly, right? And you're sure. So you just kind of take that and go, all right, well, I don't have a whole plat uh platform about my careers, but that's what I would use. Um, the next one is well, this is absolutely true. 86% of HR professionals say recruitment is becoming more like marketing.

SPEAKER_04 22:51

And that's kind of the fact that you're talking about putting on Instagram, putting on Facebook, let people know how great your brand is, and then say, hey, by the way, we're hiring. Yeah, stop in. We need to add to our wonderful staff, you know, something like that.

SPEAKER_03 23:07

Of it as a marketing campaign. I mean, it's get get the rest of your staff on board too. You know, I mean, think again, you would know this better than I did, but when it's time to hire someone, in in my mind, it's usually the owner and the manager. Oh, I gotta place an ad, or I gotta do and gotta figure it out. Make it a collaborative effort. Go, hey, guys, I I would love if we could get two part-time employees. What are your thoughts? How what are some ways like make it a group effort?

SPEAKER_04 23:38

And then they might even do a post on social, right? They could be on Facebook going, hey, we're looking for a part-time person to help us make these beautiful designs or to do something here. Yep. And like, whoa, gosh, this person must like working there.

SPEAKER_03 23:53

Yep, exactly. And then the last one uh that we are going to talk about, and it really kind of is a culmination of a couple of these different ones, and again, it was another LinkedIn study. It says a strong employer brand leads to a 28% reduction in turnover and a 50% reduction in cost per hire. That's unbelievable because even startup cost. I don't it it expenses. I mean, it is, it's money out of your pocket, and it's so frustrating when that person lasted seven days.

SPEAKER_04 24:35

Well, even more frustrating if they last three months, oh right or four months, because now I've got all that invested in them. Yeah, yeah. And then are like, you know what? No, I'm not here. And the other one that we kind of lump are lumping together with that is that poor branded companies have to pay higher salaries, yes. So they have to pay more to get them there to stay and work. Yes. Then there's that turnover because they don't want to be there anyway, right?

SPEAKER_03 25:05

Because at some point, you know, and I don't want to say all the money in the world, but it's not about that because let's go back up to the the one 92% would leave if a job at a more reputable place. So it's it's just fascinating. Um, I think one of the takeaways, or maybe the takeaway from this would be we have to rethink our hiring strategies. If it's not working right now, if this is something you're struggling with, and maybe you're not, if you're not awesome. If you have tips, right, email us, let us know what your tips are, right? But I think for many shops right now, especially going into, you know, we're getting ready to have Mother's Day, summer months, high schools are out, colleges are out, maybe people, you know, you maybe you're gonna have a bigger pool to pull from. Now's the time to rethink your strategy and your employer brand.

SPEAKER_04 26:09

Yeah, really think about that. How you're portraying how it is to come work at your flower shop.

SPEAKER_03 26:16

Yeah, yeah. And uh so anyway, that was our that is our article review of the day.

SPEAKER_04 26:23

There we go. Thank you very much. So very interesting for sure.

SPEAKER_03 26:26

It is interesting.

SPEAKER_04 26:27

I learned something.

SPEAKER_03 26:28

I did too. Um, so I have something to say, it has nothing to do with flowers, but I don't have anything off the top of my head that's inspiring me, but I do want to tell you that what's not inspiring me.

SPEAKER_04 26:43

Okay, what is that today, Lori? What is not inspiring me?

SPEAKER_03 26:46

I can't tell you because you and your daughter both, I believe, are inspired by these, and I tried them because I strived to be like you and Ellie Joe looking for, and I failed because so she was here last week, you know, and we had so much fun, and of course, we had an evening at Target because it's what we do, we love to go to Target, and she told me I that I needed to try these nails, these fake nails. I noticed you had those on, yes. Well, well, you will notice I have some on. So you cannot see this, but there are several missing. And they've only been on two days. Two days, and so here's here's where I think I went wrong. Number one, purchasing them. These are not something that I was created to wear. Um, but also I got this medium length length, and I should have done some sort of I there were no shorts available, so I thought medium. Well, to me, medium, I look like I think my mom would call me a harlot back in the day. That was be a word she would use back in the day, but they look super long, and the minute I put them on, I got claustrophobic. Like it's like I give them off. How do I what if they never come off? What if these things are on for the rest of my life? How and I can't type. How do you all type in these?

SPEAKER_04 28:21

I cannot wear those that you have on the the medium. I I buy the ones that are real short if I'm not going to get my nails done, which actually, Lori, I have not done since the pandemic started. I know you haven't. And so I do the the glue on the I think I use the Kiss as the brand, and I put them on, and mine are called real short because they are short and I can still type. Okay, those I could not that was where I failed. Yeah, that was your failure because Ellie has these beautiful, they just look so fancy, and she can type, she uses her the little pad of her finger, and she can type into it.

SPEAKER_03 28:58

I have made so many mistakes the last two days, and so now I spend my days constantly trying to rip these suckers off. And when one pops off, I get so excited and I just squish it like a bug. I squish it and I bend it and I throw it in the trash with all of the hate in my heart. I put it in there. Oh wow, crazy. So they are not for me, they are not for me, and I will just have my nice little flat stubby you have beautiful nails without those, so you really don't. I do. I inherited, I am not saying that to compliment myself, but I'm saying that because I inherited my grandmother's. She always had beautiful, strong, long nails.

SPEAKER_04 29:39

And I have to say that I have a complex about my nails, and I don't know if I've shared this story on our podcast before because I have like little squatty nails, and my hands aren't real long. And in high school, Kent Severson, boy, he told me I had toad hands.

SPEAKER_03 30:00

Oh stupid Kent! And I've never gotten a telling you owe her an apology. That is just mean. You do not have toad hands.

SPEAKER_04 30:10

Well, they look better when I have nails on them because my nails are not pretty. So then I when I have nails on, then I don't look like I have toad hands.

SPEAKER_03 30:18

That's hilarious. Isn't it crazy though? That kind of stuff sticks with us.

SPEAKER_04 30:22

I'll never forget that.

SPEAKER_03 30:24

Yeah, well, I don't speaking of things of Vonda that you love, not Kent, I'm not the Kent guy, I'll tell you that. But I just saw, you know, my I go down my rabbit hole of animal tick tock. Oh, yes. I love. I'm learning. I could I really feel like I could be a vet and just give me the certificate. I don't want to go to school for it, but I feel like I could just be one. I don't think I need any more education than TikTok. Just fascinating. I almost sent it to you last night, and then I watched another one and completely forgot to send it to you. Do you know there's this woman that has turtles, which you love turtles? Oh, my turtles, yeah. Two little turtles. Every fall they bury them like 18 inches down, and then they bring them back up in April, they put them into hibernation from like November to April, and they just brought them back up because of course I'm not gonna miss turtle tick tock. Oh no, I didn't bring that because I'm like, those suckers are gonna be dead. They were not. There's two of them, they were alive, they are box turtles, and she was saying not every turtle hibernates. Did you know that?

SPEAKER_04 31:48

I guess I did not. What part of the country were these hibernating boxes?

SPEAKER_02 31:53

I want to say Michigan, but I could just be making that up. I don't know why I think Michigan.

SPEAKER_04 32:02

We're gonna leave at this point and all of our clickers go check that out.

SPEAKER_02 32:07

Yes, yes, if you know, let us know.

SPEAKER_03 32:10

Please. Thank you so much for listening to our podcast. We hope you enjoyed spending time with us because we enjoy spending time with you. If you did, make sure you hit that subscribe button or add the business and pleasure of flowers to your Google morning routine or your flash briefing on Alexa. We look forward to seeing you next week.

SPEAKER_04 32:32

So please come back and join us and discover how a bit of knowledge and one small change in your mindset can take you to new levels in your life and business.