Selling furniture is hard enough. Finding the right sales associates to sell that furniture can be just as challenging. The same with hiring and holding on to delivery drivers, accountants or people in any other position at your store, for that matter.
Faced with low unemployment and rising wages in other industries, furniture retailers are scrambling to find quality employees to staff their stores, says Rene Johnston-Gingrich, vice president of training development for Profitability Consulting Group. “It’s the single-biggest issue across the board when we talk to retailers,” says Johnston-Gingrich. “And as long as the economy continues the way it has, it’s going to be an issue.”
Don’t wait for vacancies
Gingrich says hiring needs to be a high priority for furniture stores regardless of whether they have an opening or not. “Because sooner or later you will have an opening, so you’re going to want to move fast if you want to find the best candidate out there,” she says.
Johnston-Gingrich will share with furniture retailers strategies for hiring the best employees in an increasingly shrinking job pool at the Home Furnishings Association’s Resource Center at Las Vegas Market on Monday, July 29, at 4 p.m. The Resource Center, located in B1050, is home to seminars and vendors geared to helping furniture retailers grow their business. Furniture retailers do not have to be members of the HFA to attend seminars.
In addition to offering strategies for hiring employees, Johnston-Gingrich will discuss ways to retain them, too. “There are proven ways to find the best talent and keep them,” she says. “It’s all about developing your staff and giving them the tools to grow and succeed. That’s what we’re going to talk about.”
For more information on Johnston-Gingrich’s’ seminar, the Resource Center or the HFA, contact the Home Furnishings Association at 800-422-3778.
