Labor Solutions: Feb. 2001, Desperately Seeking Labor

Imagine this scenario if you can: At your weekly management meeting, the sales manager confirms that your company has won the prestigious new commercial contract everyone had been hoping for, and you start on the property in three weeks. Now, all you need are the laborers to do the work. So your maintenance manager places a ‘Help Wanted’ ad in the local paper, a bumper crop of applicants show up for the interviews, you hire the ones you want and go to work.

Sound like something out of a best-selling fiction novel? Well, this can be reality, according to Marty Grunder, president, Grunder’s Landscaping, Miamisburg, Ohio.

The key for Grunder has been the content of the ‘Help Wanted’ ads his company places. Here is an example of one Grunder ran for a manager:

Director of Maintenance Services Lazy, obnoxious slob needed to serve as director of maintenance services for national award winning company. Ideal candidate must not be able to chew gum and walk at the same time nor be able to tell the difference between taxus and taxes. We are also looking for someone who thinks Bradford pears are excellent trees and likes Canadian thistle. This is a salaried, management position that comes with full benefits. Sense of humor required. Please forward resume to …

“I have the philosophy that a lot of times you have to be different from everyone else,” Grunder explained. “What we were doing with our ads wasn’t working, and I wanted a way to advertise that might create some interest.”

Grunder looks for his company’s marketing or advertising to meet at least two out of three criteria - being fun, cheap or different. “The ‘Help Wanted’ ads met all three criteria,” he pointed out. “And I think people notice the ad more because if you’re reading ad after ad you keep seeing the same things, like ‘experienced,’ ‘self starter,’ and ‘salary commensurate with experience.’ We’re saying the same thing, but we’re saying it differently.”

Other contractors borrowed Grunder’s approach. Rich Beebe, president, Beebe Landscape Services, East Windsor, Conn., hired a new bookkeeper from an ad that described a position that didn’t require bank reconciliation, good attendance, basic accounting principals or organizational skills. “I wanted to try this approach because all of the other ads in the paper look the same,” he explained. “I also wanted to have some fun and let people know that we’re a fun company to work for.”

Beebe’s bookkeeper ad generated nearly 60 inquiries and at least 30 resumes, and despite some reservations his managers had about the ad, Beebe plans on using the technique again. “We had one person who responded and actually thought we were serious about the ad,” he recalled. “We’d definitely do this again because people don’t expect to see something like that. Our ad was certainly out of character for our business in general.

“People said they had to read the ad twice in order to understand it, but then they thought this seemed like a fun place to work,” continued Beebe.

Both Beebe and Grunder worried that the ad was too unique and could negatively impact the business. “Occasionally, one of our ads will make some folks uncomfortable, so I think it helps to be a cocky or confident person to do something like this,” acknowledged Grunder. “Our ads in the past were more conventional, but we always included the line ‘sense of humor required,’ and that gave me confidence to do this.”

Grunder’s unconventional approach carries throughout the company’s recruiting efforts. For example, you won’t see simple ‘Help Wanted’ signs in front of Grunder Landscaping’s offices. Instead, the company’s 3-foot by 5-foot, stand-up sign encourages passers by to ‘Get paid to get in shape. Apply now!’ or ‘Get paid to have fun!’ The company even received tremendous publicity because of the sign when the local news channel did a story on it.

Grunder said the key to developing successful ads is thinking of the perfect person to fill a position and developing an ad that will attract them. “This isn’t rocket science,” he asserted, explaining how a contractor he knows runs ads for crew members in Spanish because he’s looking to hire immigrant labor. “If you want Hispanic employees, why run an ad in English?”

Of course, there are no guarantees. “Our success attracting employees comes from the combination of taking a chance and working hard enough at recruiting,” Beebe related. “You need to have the right company culture to pull this off, and that means you’re a serious company that also likes to have fun.”