Hiring within any business can be a challenge. As Chairman, it is my pleasure to share a few things that are working well for us in hopes that it will help you in your efforts to recruit and retain top employees.
At Sapp Bros., we have decided to forego many of the traditional recruiting methods and have focused on finding the right employees through referrals. Today, nearly half of our new hires—43 percent—come from referrals.
I can say from experience that if you can create an incentive program for your employees to refer quality candidates, your life will be so much easier because all of a sudden you will find yourself with much better applicants. To encourage employees to refer applicants, we offer a fairly robust bonus and pay it pretty quickly, because we want them to receive the recognition and reward. We also post a flyer with all of the open job opportunities every two weeks so our employees know what positions we’re looking to fill.
We also encourage our employees to keep their eyes open and let us know if they see somebody who would make a good employee. The wife of one of our managers recently passed along her experience with exceptional service at Burger King and we targeted the manager, asking him to work for us. Although he wasn’t interested, he suggested we reach out to his brother. We did, and I’m happy to say in another 60 days he will be managing one of our locations. That hire came simply because we identified someone who embodied the characteristics we want to see in our employees.
To supplement our referral program, we recruit on Facebook and, in some areas, we utilize job boards. We have also had success with recruitment open houses to fill certain positions, such as in our shop. We recently held an open house looking for mechanics for our location in Peru, Illinois, and had a plethora of people to choose from. That fulfills our immediate need, but also gives us a list of candidates we can turn to in the future if positions open up.
Once we have new hires in the door, the first week is critical. We strive to communicate our expectations while giving them the opportunity to provide feedback as well. During that time, we also watch to make sure the employee is going to be a good match. If they’re going to fail, it is better to fail fast.
To keep employees, we pay them well and we offer a discretionary profit sharing program. Our fiscal year ends on September 30, and those who were employed on December 15 of the year before are eligible to take part in the program. Throughout the year we use it as a tool. We sit down at least twice a year or quarterly to go over people’s scores, let them know how we feel they are performing, and share what they’re eligible for in the profit sharing. The worst thing you can do is open your envelope and see what you’ve received with no feedback as to how you performed.
If profit sharing is not for your business, you can always offer a performance incentive to reward specific behaviors or goals.
Overall, the cumulative effect of these strategies has given us an employee turn-over rate that is well below the industry average. What recruiting and hiring strategies have been successful at your locations? I encourage you to share your insights at the Great Ideas! Session for Independent Operators at The 黑料社区Show.
Photo Credit: Jules Clifford/NATSO
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This article originally ran in Stop Watch magazine. Stop Watch provides in-depth content to assist 黑料社区members in improving their travel plaza business operations. The magazine is mailed to 黑料社区members bimonthly. If you are a member and not receiving Stop Watch, submit a request to be added to the mailing list. Not a member? Join today or submit a request to receive additional information. |
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