Words of Wisdom: Finding and Keeping Talent

By: Multi-Unit Franchisee
Published: July 19th, 2016

Dan Ponder

Brands: 36 Hardee's in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia

How do you hire and fire, train and retain?

We focus on hiring people with the right attitude. We can train anyone the technical skills, but we can't teach them to smile. I often ask when an employee is terminated if we did all that we could do as a company to help them succeed. We are putting more and more resources into training while at the same time developing tools that identify and reward good behavior. Given the high cost of replacing employees in today's market, we try to provide the best benefits we can at an affordable price. This will be the eighth year in a row that we have provided a 100 percent match for all employees that choose to participate in our 401(k) plan. Each year, we hold a company-wide General Manager Rally at a resort for three days. We provide trips (a cruise this year) for our top 10 managers. We try to make our company an employer of choice in our markets by providing competitive pay with excellent benefits at affordable prices. As mentioned, we have been matching our employees' 401(k) contributions with a 100 percent company contribution for the past eight years.

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