By Carol Miller
You've probably noticed the bright-orange booths near the front of the store at your local Wal-Mart. Or the orange-red ones at Target. They look like the library carrels you studied at in college. Inside each desk is a space-age-looking phone that has a typing pad in front. Not your usual product display, so what's for sale? Jobs!

Retailers have resorted to creative means to lure employees. A couple of years ago, more than the usual number of help-wanted signs began popping up in vendor windows. Today, huge hiring banners hang from all kind of businesses, and some even announce the wage as an added inducement.

What the large discount stores have done is gone beyond the announcement stage and offered shoppers a way to apply -- and quickly accept -- a position with the company. The carrels offer shoppers a chance to fill out applications, and if the customers are suitable for the job, they can stick around for an interview. They can come home with a job as well as vacuum cleaner bags and a table lamp.

The large discounters have found a way to eliminate large human resource departments. The screening process is done by a computer, then the human resource staff steps in to interview applicants. Garden centers do not usually have the same kinds of human resource problems. You certainly don't need to invest in an expensive system to simply screen applicants. But the carrels do have a benefit that garden centers can use.

By making jobs a front-store commodity, the discounters are hiring people that already know the store's merchandise and mood. Instead of tucking human resources away behind a maze of hidden corridors, human resources is coming out to meet potential applicants.

If you are struggling to find employees, why not market jobs the same way you would anything else your store has to offer? Begin thinking of how you display your best merchandising and think of how you can adapt those tactics to your jobs.

POP display at checkout. Use a humorous approach by placing a countertop display box at the checkout stand. Divide the box into rows, each titled with an available position. Write a brief sentence describing the job's best selling point, such as earning extra cash for part-time jobs or a competitive salary. Each row then can have rolled applications tied with a ribbon. Place the box toward the back of the checkout line, and keep the application brief. Get name and phone number, but not much else. Place a box at the cash register where the customers can slip in their applications.

Cross-merchandising. You place statues in water garden displays because many people associate garden art with elaborate garden features like ponds. Why not place a sign in a vignette display that says, "Help create designs like this! Apply to join Acme Garden Center staff." Or at the orchid display in the greenhouse, try "Learn how to care for delicate plants. Apply for a job with Acme!" Always follow through by providing mini-applications just below the signs. If you don't supply an action to accompany the appeal, you may lose out on good applicants.

Promotions. When you have a special, you announce it in your newsletter and place ads in the local media. While it pays to place a want ad, you can reach a more targeted audience if you publicize the jobs the same way you would any special event in the store. In your town's newspaper, place a fair-sized ad in the home and garden section, complete with attractive plant graphics. Or buy air time during the local radio gardening show. You don't expect people to learn about sales by happening on the store. Why use that tactic when trying to find employees?

Store event. Do you have special evening festivals at your garden center? Luminaria night at Christmas, a summer musical event or a fall festival? Take advantage of that event as an opportunity to draw attention to jobs at your store. If you have booths offering food and drink, place a small booth promoting jobs. Place signs in prominent places announcing available jobs. You've got a crowd in your store that loves the gardening experience enough to socialize in a garden center. Somewhere in that crowd are ideal employees.

In the past couple of months, Home Depot has taken this concept a step further. The company has begun a prime-time television ad campaign, appealing to home hobbyists to support their interest by working at Home Depot. And they set up a toll-free hot line: (800) WORK-4HD.

Carol Miller is editor of Garden Center magazine.

© 2000 Branch-Smith Publishing