#77 DESIGNING THE STORE */ ( revised 6/3) "part one concepts" the blockhouse

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Nick Hudson, or his associate, is available for presentations, orally or verbally to the industry. Mr. Hudson, or his associate, is also available for consultations to garden centers, both onsite and offsite. If you have an interest in a presentation or a consultation, please contact nickhudson@earthlink.net.

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Nick Hudson knew about how to build a nearly perfect garden store. He knew what did and did not work.

It took him years tramping around his little place to discover annoying quirks in the day to day activities of the business, so many special needs for the movement of plants and plant care products that required doors in the right place, lighting in the right location, and parking lots that were set up properly. It was the little quirks that could cause a lot of work; faulty buried irrigation valves that had to be dug up in the middle of an aisle, check outs that caused massed confusion and flowers delivered that had to be placed on the roof because there was nowhere for them to go.

He had seen a lot of big garden stores, places that some famous architect had planned, who had never worked in the business and had seen the problems. He spotted the mistakes right away. He wrote them down in his little brown notebook. It was time to design green garden gates. It was time to open the notebook

In deciding the look for green garden gates, the group of four, together with our new manager, Dana Scofield, settled on some basic principles;

1. The design of the buildings will be simple, classic structures, which will blend into any community in the United States.

2. It will be easy to embellish or add to the structures to fit the flavor of the community and geographical location.

3. The structures will be cost effective, efficient with high re-sale appeal. They can be repeated over and over in any location of the country.

4. The structures will be totally functional and pragmatic for the present use and any number of other future uses.

5 The structures will be “green”, with a minimum carbon footprint in the initial building as well as in the daily operations of the store.

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The “Mall” look or the “Disney” look

There are two distinct designs of garden stores that interested us for green garden gates. Both of them can be successful.

The first is to cover the entire customer area completely. This can be done by a range of permanently enclosed greenhouses or by using retractable greenhouse/shade house structures. The customer can then move from one venue to another, one display area to another out of the weather and in comfort. This is the shopping center “Wal-Mart concept. There is one way in and one way out. The environment is completely controlled. False little storefronts can be constructed inside this huge area to interest the customer.

The second is used by Disney in their theme parks. Customers move from one structure, one area of interest, one theme to another and are caught up in each distinct presentation. They moved from a neutral environment to a particular feature “world” all through their park.

We, at green garden gates want our customers experience the ultimate adventure and discovery in gardening, plants and plant care. Rather than a big overall covering, we want a series of structures that invites this adventure and discovery. We have chosen the “Disney” concept for this core reason. The long term cost of building separate structures may or may not be more cost effective than the “Mall” covering, but we believe this concept gives our customers a gardening world that we want at green garden gates.

"There’s little more satisfying than walking into a store, picking up the (metaphorical) scent of something we’ve been hunting for and then tracking it to its lair. Too much signage and point of purchase display take all the adventure out of the shopping trip; stores shouldn’t be willfully confusing or obscure, but they should seduce shoppers through the aisles with suggestions and hints of what’s to come”

“Why We Buy”

By Paco Underhill

The Greenhouse Look or a Flower Market look

Our customers will only have a brief glance from their vehicles as they pass quickly on a busy street. How we present green garden gates to them in this glance makes all the difference in their decision to shop or just drive by.

Many garden stores have stuck with the traditional greenhouse look. They place a greenhouse structure as the showplace of the store which is highly visible to the passing vehicle traffic. This is especially appealing when the main building is very close to the street. At first, when the store is new, the greenhouse looks terrific. As it ages, the greenhouse look starts to get tired, often dirty, and routine. Of course, at that point, there is very little the owner can do for a makeover. The owner is stuck with the greenhouse. To a lesser degree, there is the notion that customers often associate greenhouses with florist shops and fresh flowers. We want to be much more than that. To add to that little problem with these greenhouse themed buildings is a subtle feeling with some customers and a bit disturbing to us; greenhouses mean florists mean expensive.

The other concept is that of a flower market. The structures have more of a warehouse look with the emphasis on not just plants, but the entire range of gardening products. There can be plenty of display of color and texture of plants with this flower market look, but the presentation is not limited to a bunch of Boston ferns, often the same Boston ferns for many months, in a big greenhouse.

We have a different business model at green garden gates that requires additional thinking about "the look". First, we are closed for business at times of the year. That means that the greenhouses will be empty and abandoned an out of business feeling. Then there is the matter of maintaining the greenhouse during those closed months; extra heating may be required to keep them safe. Second, we are extremely close to the street traffic for the impact of a greenhouse. Customers would have to look carefully though gates and past a parking area to get the “hit” of a flower filled greenhouse. Third, we want the ability to change with the retailing times. We are hesitant about the investment in greenhouse structures and the cost to change the look in the months and years to come.

We have decided on a flower market look but have added a hint of “greenhouse” in our “bookends” buildings. The upper sides of the structure and the entire roof will be large panels of glass. The building will stay lighted night and day during the season. We believe that this combination will convince the customer that we are in the plant and plant care business.

It’s the color stupid

In our travels to garden stores, we have been stunned by the lack color in the structures of these businesses. Many of them have as much appeal to the gardener as a radiator shop!

HELLO, we live and die by color in the gardening business. Oh yeah, the petunias are in bloom and the flowering cherries have blossoms, but the place looks like it is making boat trailers to the customer passing by.

We are determined that green garden gates will be a place of color from start to finish; the buildings, the adornments, the signing, the uniforms and our plants and plant care products. In each of our stores, depending on the predominant color themes of the geographic region, we will have a standard color palette as we use with the style of the structures.

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In the following entries, we sketch the buildings and grounds of green garden gates. These are the first concept designs. When we are completed, we will draw upon the technical and design expertise of an architect, a builder, and an artist to refine the sketches for color and form as well as the efficient and cost saving practicality of our concepts.

We start with a simple box. We call it the blockhouse. It is the signature for all the green garden gates. Customers new to the area will immediately identify the building. Consequently, they will relate to the quality, selection and service of the business that occupies that building and those structures. The blockhouse will be prominently positioned on the site for the maximum exposure to the public.

It is a two story square building, with an interior measurement of about thirty feet by thirty feet. It is a clear span stick built structure with no bearing walls. It will be on a concrete slab with no crawl space.

Many garden store owners make the mistake of building large tempered structures, sort of monuments to themselves. These grand buildings make the cover of trade magazines but end up costing a lot of money to construct and maintain and are targets for higher property taxes. We believe that there is no need to make this unnecessary investment in the garden store business. Most products can be easily and effectively displayed outside in sheltered, enclosed spaces

The 900 square feet on the first floor will be the retail garden store. The ceiling height on the first floor is ten feet to allow for the look of spaciousness. Entrance and exiting to and from the retail first floor is from the side after the customer enters into the structure built on each side. This retail area is the only public area that will be heated and air conditioned.

Security is important to our business. We want as few entrances and exits as possible for our structures. Customers do not enter directly into this first floor . Rather, they enter the complex and then into the first floor. It is hard to control customer traffic flow during the season. Too many doors just will add to securing the business. We also believe that there must be some area of the business that is heated and air conditioned for the comfort of both the customers and staff and this first floor area is designed for this

The first floor houses garden and garden related gift items that require special attention away from the harsh outdoor under cover environment or require extra security.The first floor contains an indoor checkout area that passages into the outdoor checkout area of the store built onto the blockhouse. It has an adjacent small office for conducting daily administrative activities. The windows that do not open in this first floor. The number and style of windows will depend on the design “flavor” of the community.

These windows do not open for security reasons. Windows that open just add one more concern and allows for possible losses of energy during the days and nights. The combination indoor and outdoor checkout area gives the flexibility for one staff member to handle both indoor and outdoor transactions on slow days of the season.

The second floor houses the manager’s apartment. It measures the same, 900 square feet on the interior walls. The ceiling height is eight feet rather than the first floor ten feet. It also is heated and air conditioned. Entrancing and exiting to and from the second floor is from an interior private staircase that leads to several areas; to the first floor retail area, to the outdoor area, and to the garage adjacent to the blockhouse. All the windows open in this second floor to take advantage of the weather conditions of the seasons. The second floor of the blockhouse will have a large outdoor deck attached for the manager's personal needs.

The signing for green garden gates on this blockhouse will be prominent from all directions that are visible to the public. A large red light will be mounted on a pole on top of the roof that signals to our gardening customers that a freeze is possible that night.

#76 CHOOSING THE MANAGER * (revised 6/3) "meet dana scofield"

“People come to work for Nordstrom’s for four reasons. First is the opportunity for growth. Second, freedom. There are almost no barriers to doing your job. Third, feeling that you are part of something meaningful. Selling clothes is not what we do. It is filling people’s needs and making them feel better emotionally. Fourth, feeling valued. The more people are valued, the more connected they become. It perpetuates itself.”

From the book
“The Nordstrom way to customer service”

Now that the group had developed a template for what they want in their manager and decided on the compensation, it was time to go looking.

They want to stay local if possible. A person who already knows the territory, the lay of the land, has roots in the neighborhood, and is comfortable with the local flavor will be ahead of the game from the get-go. If that was not possible, they would expand to a wider region and then nationally for their choice.

The group put the word out to all professional employment agencies within a two hundred mile radius and placed small advertisements in the regional garden magazines. Additionally, the group contacted the major national and regional garden store consultants to put them on the look out for potential managers. They stayed away from any massed circulated want ads fearing to many unqualified applicants that would have to be waded through.

But, the most important task, a task that they had been working on for the past several months was to move through selected categories of local independently owned and operated retail businesses in the Tulsa market observing and scouting potential sales employees and floor managers. The categories for observation were businesses that required employees to handle a number of complicated skills at once, stores that moved merchandise quickly and efficiently, and stores that had a short window of opportunity to sell through products. The categories were garden stores and other plant and plant care stores, cosmetic and apparel stores, fresh fruit and produce stores, and medium sized high volume hardware stores.

From the scouting, the group had narrowed their search to forty candidates. Now it was time to put these people to some tests. It was agreed that Sarah Banks would stay away from this second phase of scouting and face interview the candidates. The others would be anonymous in order to pose as customers in the stores.

The group used a series of “set-ups” for the candidates. They would approach them as customers and put the candidate in some sort of awkward position demanding an immediate answer to some problem, complaint or inquiry about the products being sold. They were to observe the outcome and score the candidate on his or her performance.

Sarah would contact the twenty highest scoring scouted candidates and interview them personally. She outlined the job requirements and the potential compensation for the manager position and posed a series of questions to them then narrowing the selection to ten potential managers. On the second interview, a psychologist was hired to administer a written and oral personality profile examination to these ten.

Five candidates were retained for the final interview that would be conducted in person with all four of the group. The candidates were asked to give an oral presentation regarding their life, their work, their success and failures and their dreams for the future. At the completion of these interviews, the group decided on their choice for their first manager of green garden gates.

Please meet Dana Scofield…….

A tall, athletic, thirty five year old young woman with an engaging smile and an electric charming personality. Dana was a Nebraska farm girl, a cross country runner for her small town high school and a young actress in the little town summer theater group. Dana is the middle of four children. Her father and mother graduated from the University of Nebraska then moved back to the family farm to raise four children. After graduation, Dana spent two years at the University of Nebraska Drama School and later received a certification of excellence from the Culinary Institute in New York City.

Dana is a single mom with a young nine year old son, Nathan. They live, at present in a furnished apartment in Tulsa. On weekends and evenings they both can be found on the walking and jogging paths along the Arkansas River in Tulsa. On holidays, she is with her brothers and sisters laughing, preparing food, helping her mom harvest the garden and with her dad getting her hands dirty, full of grease, repairing the farm machinery at the Nebraska home place.

Dana started her working career as a management trainee at Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Texas. She was quickly positioned and became a top sales person in the shoe salon at the main store. Three years later, she resigned her position and moved to Tulsa so her son Nathan could be near his father who lived now in Oklahoma. She was quickly recruited and hired as an assistant manager of the Tulsa branch of Sooner Soles, the largest independent retail shoe stores in Oklahoma. Because of her work with Neiman Marcus, She was chosen to be part of a team that would re-invent the business from the manufacture and sales of work boots to a full line sports and casual footwear boutique. She gained experience in buying, marketing, customer relationship plans, and design. Sara has been the manager of the flourishing Tulsa branch of Sooner Soles for the past four years.

Please meet Dana Scofield, the manager of green garden gates of Tulsa. She joined the four at the table ready now to build the store.

#75 CHOOSING THE MANAGER * (revised 6/3) the formula for compensation

#76 CHOOSING THE MANAGER “the formula for compensation”

“Our store managers make more than our office people. Some of our office people, especially some with MBA degrees or CPA certificates sometimes wonder about this. But I have warned them, don’t bitch to me because this is the way that I want it. If you want to go out, start at the bottom changing tires and work into a manager job, then hop right to it. If it weren’t for those men in the stores working their butts off in all kinds of weather, missing meals. God awful hours, etc, you would not even have a job.

Les Schwab

Les Schwab Tire Centers

From his book

“Pride in Performance”

We believe, at green garden gates, that our store managers are the most valuable employees of our company. We just would not have a business if it were not for their hard work and commitment. Here is the compensation package that we have developed for them.

1. Base Pay

The base pay for a store manager is 32,000.00 per year, regardless of whether the store is in operation or has closed for the season for that year. After three years, the base compensation moves to 40,000.00

This base never changes, after three years, no matter how long the manager is with the company. We believe that as the store develops and becomes more profitable, other compensations will increase dramatically.

2. Residential compensation

The store manager is required to occupy the residence at the site for three consecutive garden seasons. The furnished residence is provided to them rent free for this period. In addition, water, garbage service, internet access is provided free of charge. The manager is only required to pay for gas, electric utilities, and television cable at the residence. The value of this package is estimated at 12,000.00 per year. When the manager leaves the residence after the three seasons, moves elsewhere, but still is manager of the store, a sum of 10,000.00 per year will be added to the compensation package. The furnishings of the residence provided by green garden gates will stay with the residence

This 10,000.00 allowance is only fair to the manager, since an other residence will have to be purchased or rented that would drain the base salary if it were not in place.

3. Moving Allowance

A moving allowance (which includes all related on the road expenses) is provided for the manager. If the distance is less than 500 miles, the allowance is 1000.00, If the allowance is greater than 500 miles, the allowance is 1500.00. If the manager does not use all the allowance, 50% of the retained money is returned to green garden gates. The remaining 50% can be retained by the manager for personal income. If the moved is from out of the country, an amount will be determined on each individual circumstance. All receipts for the move are the property of green garden gates. Estimated value of this compensation is 1200.00

We encourage the manager to economize on the moving expenses and we reward the manager for doing so.

4. Vacation Pay

The manager is given two weeks vacation pay starting at the beginning of the employment. The two week vacation is never increased no matter how long the manager is with green garden gates. The vacation days can only be taken from July 4^th to March 1^st of the next year. Estimated compensation: 1200.00.

This store manager cannot be away for vacation and absent from the store during the gardening season. We know that some companies increase vacation pay with length of service. Since our manager is compensated during a long off season and her hours of service required by us is reduced, she is able to vacation during this period.

5. Medical, Dental, Vision, Prescription Compensation.

A single comprehensive policy is provided to the manager, of which 80% or a determined amount of money is paid by green garden gates. Direct family dependents are allowed on the policy but that part of the premium is the responsibility of the manager. Children under 18 years if age and under the direct care of the manager must have health insurance while the manager is employed with the company. Green garden gates will compensate for these dependants by paying 50% or a determined amount of money of their premiums. After three years with the company in the capacity of manager of a larger position, that 80% contribution is reduced to 40% of the premium. The dependent premiums remain at 50% or a determined amount of money paid by green garden gates. The policy provided for the manager and dependants is the general policy of all green garden gates employees. If the manager chooses other health insurance program outside the company program, the premium contribution by the company is a matter for negotiation. Estimated compensation: 6000.00

It is vital that our managers and their direct children dependents have a good health insurance program. The worry over paying for illnesses and accidents causes undue stress on the manager and will interfere with his or her focus on the success of the store.

Why do we reduce our percentage of compensation to the manager as the years progress? We believe that the manager, as she receives more compensation, is in a better position to contribute more to her health insurance. We need to use this money for the other employees who are not so fortunate as the manager.


Note on insurance compensation: This is a financial trap for owners of all businesses. The rising costs of health care makes it difficult to predict. It may happen that a company is not able to afford a fixed percentage of the premium. Give yourself some wiggle room here. DON'T OFFER JUST PERCENTAGES! Always leave the option of contributing a dollar amount to health insurance.

6. Personal Time Days

We give to the manager a bank of 10 personal time days each year that can be used for any reason; illness, death in the family, required personal events or other emergencies. If there are any unused days after December 31^st of each year, 50% of those days are paid directly to the manager and 50% of the days are relinquished back to green garden gates. The time is not accumulated each year. Estimated compensation: 1100.00

We encourage of managers to attend to necessary personal issues if the need arises. We do not, however, want these days to be “banked” and accumulated year after year. We invite our managers to be vigilant with these personal days and reward the manager if the days are not used.

7. Use of a company vehicle.

The manager has the use of the company vehicle for personal use for a reasonable period during the three year period while the manager is in residence at the site. Care must be taken to avoid overuse of this privilege. Fuel for personal use must be compensated back to green garden gates. All licensing and insurance and upkeep will be paid by the company. Estimated compensation: 1000.00

There are just some times when the company van will be quite helpful to the manager in his or her personal chores or travel. We want the manager to use this vehicle in a reasonable fashion. Commuting the child back and forth continuously to a soccer game is not reasonable. Using the van to move furniture is reasonable. A ten day trip to Disneyland is not reasonable.

8. Product Discounts

The manager is allowed a 40% discount from the regular retail price of all products in the store or cost plus freight whichever is the lesser amount. The discount is for the manager but can be for others. However this privilege is limited to immediate family members, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers. Estimated compensation: 500.00

9. Bonus Fund

There is a bonus to all employees if the store is profitable. The bonus is paid to all employees in two installments. The first is 60% of the earned bonus during the third week after the closing of the store at the end of the season, usually in mid November depending on the geographical location of the store. The remaining 40% is held and paid out in July of the following season. This bonus compensation is about 25% of the remaining net profits of the store after all other employee programs have been funded and the retained earnings for the company. ( see entry # 120 for details) The estimated compensation for the store manager each year for the first three years is estimated at about 10,000.00 per year. A breakdown on this formula is in entry #119.

This bonus can make a huge difference in the morale of the manager and the employees. The tough times of springtime gardening selling just don’t seem so bad with that big July check for their remaining previous season bonus is in their pockets.

We hold out 40% of the bonus for a couple of reasons. First, if the employee decides not to return the next season, the premiums the company has paid during the months the store is closed, will be deducted from their final bonus check.

Second, employees are required to notify green garden gates if they are not returning the next season by January 31st following the season closure in November. If the employee does not notify ggg on or before that date, The employee forfeits all claims to the remaining bonus from the previous season. We have a firm date on notification because we need to recruit early for the upcoming season.

Under no circumstances will the employee be denied the remaining bonus dollars if they our employment. The money belongs to them, they earned it for their work the previous season. We will deduct the medical premiums we have paid during the down time and award them the bonus money regardless if they left our employment.

A. Long term retirement/ investment compensation.

The ggg trust fund

Green garden gates contributes to a trust fund for each employee and the manager of the store at the rate of about 15% of the employee’s monthly salary. The employees and manager are not required to match any money given by the company. This fund, called the ggg fund, is the property of the employees. However, no draws can be taken by the manager from his or her contribution to the fund until the value of the fund exceeds the yearly operational costs of that store. Owners of green garden gates use the fund money for property investment in store expansion. Upon retirement and resignation from green garden gates, the company pays the fund balance to the manager in yearly payments over a five year period. For the first 10 years of employment, there is a substantial penalty in the amount of the accumulated fund if the manager or employee has been found to be dishonest in his or her position with green garden gates. Potential compensation: 5000.00 per year, first three years

“The most forgotten man in any business is the man who works, does his job day after day, doesn’t cause any problems, seldom misses work, and doesn’t demand or ask for unreasonable things. He is not only the most forgotten man. He is the most abused. We are going to make it possible for a man to work 30 years on the hourly job, and still be a successful man. We need these men; they are often times the backbone of our company”

Les Schwab

“Pride in Performance”

B. Elective Compensation

B1. Christmas business ownership

We, at green garden gates, are not interested in developing a Christmas business. It is our intention to close the store in the late fall and resume operations in the early spring to prepare for the gardening season.

The manager has the opportunity to sell Christmas related products and services at our store. We will charge the manager a reasonable fee for the use of the facilities during that period of time. The manager is responsible for all other expenses and financial exposures related to this Christmas business, purchase of inventory and equipment, employee hiring, taxes and payroll expenses, advertising, any lines of credit, insurance for that period, and clean up of the facility. The salary of the manager continues during this period of time. The business is to have a separate federal and state tax numbers. All billing is to be tied to those tax numbers. All of the profits from the Christmas business belong to the manager. We have an understanding with the manager that customer service and customer relations are to have the same standard as green garden gates. The manager is allowed to use the “green garden gates” logo for this Christmas business. The manager cannot expand the Christmas business in other locations and cannot be a party in any way to a Christmas business other than at the store location. Green garden gates management has the right to inspect the business operation to insure that the company standard is in keeping with green garden gates formula. Potential compensation: 10,000.00 to 20,000.00 annually.

We believe that this is the opportunity for the manager to earn additional income during the off season of the store. It is a great learning experience for the manager in understanding the challenges of business ownership that will give them more skills in managing green garden gates.

B2. Off season part time employment

The manager of green garden gates has the opportunity, when the store is closed for the season, to be employed in an outside part time job to gain further income. The part time work can be a maximum of 20 hours per week or 4 hours per day. We, at green garden gates, expect the remaining work day or work week, a minimum of 20 hours per week, to be devoted to preparation of the store for the upcoming season. Under no circumstances can this part time work interfere with the operations of green garden gates and cannot conflict with the interests of green garden gates. Potential additional income: 2000.00

B3. Educational advancement

The manager has the option to pursue educational advancement that directly relates to skills needed for his or her position at green garden gates. This may include seminars, college courses, and special programs offered by the industry and approved by green garden gates. The company will reimburse the manager for expenses for this training, travel, tuition, meals, and lodging. Potential compensation: 3000.00

We believe that there is personal and professional value to the manager for this training while employed by the company and after his or her career with green garden gates.

First 3 years of employment

Immediate estimated yearly compensation 63,000.00

Elective yearly compensation 15,000.00

Total compensation package per year 83,000.00

Estimated yearly long term accumulated ggg fund 5,000.00

Total Compensation package 87,000.00

After 3 years of employment

Immediate estimated yearly compensation 75,000.00

Elective yearly compensation 25,000.00

Total compensation package per year 100,000.00

Estimated yearly long term accumulated ggg fund 15,000.00

Total Compensation Package 115,000.00

Future Compensation

The manager may elect to have a long term 20 year career with green garden gates. He or she may be chosen to move to a larger higher volume, higher profit store in the network or expand the present store to a much higher level or performance. Here are some estimated numbers for future compensation of that manager.

Long term employment with green garden gates

Immediate estimated yearly compensation 86,800.00

Elective yearly compensation 25,000.00

Total compensation package per year 111,800.00

Estimated yearly long term accumulated ggg fund 100,000.00

Total Compensation Package 211,000.00

#74 CHOOSING THE MANAGER * (revised 6/3) "watching for the right combination"

At green garden gates, there are many qualities we look for in choosing our managers. We observe the candidate in his or her present workplace, we, both anonymously and at the interviews placing the candidate in situations and evaluate their responses. We closely examine their backgrounds. Here are some of the qualities that have been gathered from consultants and garden store owners, as well as the thoughts of Bill Gates of Microsoft that help form a template for choosing these managers.

Will the candidate like our industry?

It is hard to imagine that a chemist who spent a career in a quiet lab will be happy in the retail garden store business. We need some clue, some background in their work history that they enjoyed retailing as a whole, an outdoor working environment, the interaction of people and fellow employees and the sale of gardening plants and products. It is difficult for a manager to be productive without enthusiasm.

Can the candidate hire employees effectively and terminate employees skillfully?

Green garden gates is a strong team of employees, sharing, communicating and committed. If an employee cannot measure up, will the candidate spot the problem and deal with the issue quickly and decisively? Many employees just do not have this attribute when they are chosen to move up to a management role. They are miserable and often afraid to pull the trigger with an employee.

In almost every case, the manager must recognize unhappy employees and plot a strategy to either rescue them or terminate them quickly and efficiently.

“One of my employees was a checker for several years. She was wonderful at her work, but she grew unhappy in her job. She came to me at the end of the spring season and wanted more challenge and opportunity. We talked about what she would like to do in my garden store and we settled on a new job as a florist in that department. She took to the job like a duck to water and stayed with me sixteen years, happy and content. I would have lost her if we did not move her to meet her skills.

Garden store owner
Nevada

Will the candidate see the attributes of an employee, focus on the positive and use their skills at green garden gates or will the candidate just write off a perfectly good but badly directed person?

Can the candidate create a positive and productive environment?

Our goal at green garden gates is to provide an atmosphere for our employees to want to come to work each morning and enjoy the satisfaction of an important contribution to our stores each day.

Can our candidate make it interesting for the employees? Does our candidate have the skills to fashion a combination of approaches to achieve this? We are looking for the light in our employees eyes. We are a failure if all we see is a robotic movement of “children of the corn”. It may mean a flexible work area, job assignment or hours of work. It may mean a program of financial incentives for particular products purchased or tasks completed. It may be as simple as providing a more equipped lunch area or recreational options on their lunch hour.

Can the candidate define “success” to the garden store staff and motivate them to work toward that success?

Success to green garden gates is not the first sale of a new customer to our stores. It is the second, third and continuous visits that make us win. To get our customers back to our doors requires a comprehensive plan with a “bottom up” contribution of the garden store staff, defining achievable goals and setting realistic standards. Why did this customer walk away and bought petunias at another store? Did our customer get enough information to feel comfortable in choosing our products? The garden store staff, in the trenches, day in and day out, will know the answers to these questions and in most cases will know how to solve them. Can our candidate listen, understand and act by correcting and adjusting?

Does the candidate like people and communicate with people well?

This is very hard to fake. If you do not enjoy interaction with people, it will be hard to manage them well. Good managers need relationships with a fair number and wide range of people, including the employees of the manager. A manager must encourage these people to tell him or her what is going on in the store and how he or she is doing.

Can the candidate build morale?

Make it clear there is plenty of goodwill to go around and that it is not just you, the hotshot manager who is going to look good if things go well. Can this person give his or her employees a sense of importance of what they are working on-its importance to the company and its importance to our customers of green garden gates? The retail garden industry is full of very high highs and very low lows during the season and beyond. Is the candidate able to keep morale as the highest possible level through good times and bad?

Will the candidate sometimes take on the nasty projects?

A manager must do more than communicate. The last thing employees want is a boss who just doles out stuff. The manager needs to get in there and take some of those crappy little jobs.

The following are the five P’s of leadership by a consultant, Wally Bock. We use this model also in deciding on our first manager of green garden gates



1. Pay attention to what is important

The job of a leader and a manager is to concentrate on what is important so that it gets take care of. Then let the rest of the stuff take care of itself. If the manager is a perfectionist, that is going to be very hard to do. We realize at green garden gates that there are limited resources of time, energy, people and money. Go for the big stuff, the most important stuff first. The trick is finding that 20% that gives the most bang for the buck. Once is it found, pay attention to it.

2. Praise what you want to continue

Praise is a reward for something done right. Use praise to continue in this path. Praise is most effective when it is used inconsistently. If praise is routine and canned, it loses its force. Most people have come up in the world where they did not hear praise enough. Seek out the opportunities to praise.

3. Punish what you want to stop

This is the tool used to get people to stop stuff. If something is harmful to the business, there needs to be a consequence. Be careful with punishment. Remember the hot stove guideline; “A cat who sits on a hot stove will never sit on the hot stove again. But, he won’t sit on a cold stove either!”

If you zap people too much with negative consequences, the just don’t quit doing the bad stuff, they quit doing pretty much everything. That is why “rule by fear” companies have a devil of a time getting people to take initiative. Employees been zapped so often they are not willing to risk it.

4. Pay for the results you want

Pay and praise are the things that get the engine of progress going. Don’t limit your thinking about pay to just money. Pay people with time off, recognition, choice assignments, small gifts, and special bonuses to encourage positive behavior. One client carried a pocketful of gift certificates as he wandered around his trucking company. When he found an employee doing something that he wanted to encourage, he would whip out a gift certificate and hand it to the employee on the spot. That action created even and drama that makes for good communication and a positive workplace.

“The owner of the garden store where I work is pretty cool. Every year around Mother’s Day when we are working are butts off, he slips a hundred dollar bill in our hand and says thank you for all the hard work.”

Garden store employee
Maryland

5. Promote people who deliver the results for the store

Many companies forget about the people who really turn the wheel. They stick to the old behavior of promoting people who “go along to get along” or knows somebody. Go into any company, Listen to the stories the employees tell about who gets promoted. That will tell you about everything you need to know about what the real organizational priorities are. We want those stories at green garden gates to be positive about the great things bosses and managers do. If most of the stories are negative, buddy, we have a problem.