Manager recruits from the pulpit

Jay Cooper has taken his plea for workers to the pulpit.

With about 20 new jobs to fill at Cumulus Broadcasting of Topeka by the end of September, the area market manager doesn't pass up an opportunity to talk about the company.

"You have a diverse economy so you have to find different ways to approach recruiting," Cooper said. "It was the first time I'd ever been on a pulpit."

And it may not be his last. The direct recruiting during Sunday service at Antioch Missionary Baptist worked. On Monday, a call from a church member led Cooper to an individual who was a perfect fit for a Cumulus sales position.

With unemployment rates hitting 29-year lows, business owners throughout the country are scrambling to find and, more importantly, retain good workers.

The Kansas unemployment rate for June 1999 was 3.4 percent, down significantly from 4.1 percent in June 1998, according to the Kansas Department of Human Resources. The national rate was 4.3 percent.

The Topeka area reported a June unemployment rate of 3 percent, down from 4.2 percent one year ago.

Those numbers have created what one Topeka business owner termed the "worker crisis." But whatever you call it, managers and owners are finding it takes more than a help wanted sign in the window to survive.

"It is the worst I've seen it in 20 years," said Dennis Nydegger, Topeka Valentino's Restorante owner. "It's everywhere in the country, even the small towns."

Like other business owners, he tries to cope by offering medical and dental benefits to salaried employees and having the raises "go out a little faster." Nydegger said he leans heavily on employee referrals to find good workers.

Steve Brodie, Plaza West Regional Health Center administrator, also looks to employees' friends and family to fill positions. The elderly care facility recently started giving staff a quarter an hour raise for referrals as long as both people work at Plaza West. That way, Brodie said, it works as an incentive to recruit and retain workers.

Even an executive at Security Benefit Group of Cos., which has been recognized by various national magazines as one of the best places to work, admited finding quality workers is a challenge.

SBG offers a benefits package that includes on-site child care, on-site medical clinic, up front personal leave and cash incentive plans based on individual and company performance.

"People are interested in quality of life," said Craig Anderson, SBG senior vice president of human resources. "I would not want to do what we're trying to do without what we have."

At Grammy's hair and nail salon, store manager Wendy Piper said allowing a flexible schedule and being lenient about day care issues has helped lure workers. Still, she said, it has been difficult to live up to employee expectations in a robust economy.

"They think they are going to make a fortune when they first come out of hair school and that's not the case. "You have to build up a clientele. You have to work at it instead of having it handed to you."

Evidence of the ways businesses are dealing with the low unemployment rate can be found everywhere, from Chili's Grill and Bar where the coasters suggest appetizers and applying for a job, to a flier handed out to Petsmart customers asking for applicants.

McDonald's Restaurants took a more aggressive approach last week by hosting a "hiring blitz" to encourage job seekers to interview at McDonald's from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It marked the first time such a recruitment event has been held.

Karen Tyler, owner of six McDonald's in Topeka, said she hoped to add one to six employees to each restaurant. McDonald's has always paid above minimum wage, she said, with part-timers starting at $5.50 an hour and full-timers $5.75 to $6 an hour.

"We make sure we pay a good wage and treat them well," Tyler said. "We're still finding good folks out there. We're trying to hang on to the great people that work for us."

Many business operators said the key to retention is rewarding employees for good performance and hosting special events. For example, during the Beanie Baby craze at McDonald's employees were given movie passes and Beanie Babies for their extra work.

"Most of it is philosophical things," said Plaza West's Brodie. "In a work-a-day world you really have to force yourself to take time to listen to what everyone has to say."

KanBuild Inc. in Osage City is using billboard advertising on US 75 highway to entice employees to its facility, said Troy Biggs, chief financial officer.

The labor shortage is limiting the growth of that company, which manufactures modular homes. There is enough demand to support a second shift of production, but the company is prevented from expanding because of a lack of workers, Biggs said.

KanBuild offers signing bonuses and finders fee bonuses to encourage employee recruitment. They also are improving a home discount program to increase with years of service.

"A lot of our workers get into houses with no money down," Biggs said.

Last year, the company spent about $300,000 in profit sharing; they are working to schedule a job fair with employees of Superior Essex in Pauline who will lose their jobs when that plant closes later this year; and they are considering offering transportation to employees from Topeka and Emporia.

"We're almost as aggressive in getting employees as we are with customers," Biggs said.

(Staff writer Jonna Lorenz contributed to this story)

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