Recruitment and Marketing

     For this assignment I want to talk about going from the worst place I have ever worked at to the best and what makes them so different. First off there were indicators to how the job was going to be from the first interview. For sake of amenity, the worst job will be referred to as the Brewery, and the best Plant Nursery. 

        At the Brewery I had two rounds of interviews but the first manager was unorganized and barely conducted an interview before dismissing me to come back for the second round. Where the branch manager, who was brought in to “clean up house”, openly mocked and demeaned staff to me throughout the interview. I was hired on the spot and I accepted because I needed the work but the unprofessionalism I saw only got worse the longer I was there. There were health code violations, HR cases constantly (some against managers), coworker’s coming in high or drunk, and that is on top of the location not being the best. Where we were supposed to have two weeks of training, one behind a laptop and one shadowing I was barely given three days training total before being made to train someone even newer than me. Restaurants are not known for being the nicest places to work, and I have seen some bad ones but this was a different level. Which is disappointing because the Brewery Chain is generally well liked but I worked at the statistically worst one in the entire country. That is literally why the branch manager was there in the first place. She felt secure enough in her job to constantly berate everyone because the corporate leaders already saw the location as a massive problem. The only showcase I would use that place for is a what not to do deep dive on restaurant operations. From what I understand after I left a lot changed only one of the five managers is still employed there, most of the staff is new and they have not served a cockroach in a salad for over a year. 

        Compared to the Plant Nursery it is night and day. I only did one interview but it had two parts. The formal sit down part to discuss my experience, motivation to work there, hours, salary, etc. and a walking part around the grounds to see my comfortability with tasks and interaction with staff. By the time we were walking I was pretty sure I was going to get the job as it seemed more like a mini orientation but it was not formal so I considered it part of the interview. So while there is drama, and not everything goes right there is a distinct lack of safety, social, or legal violations. My managers are professional and never speak unfairly to employees.

        In contrast to the other national chain this plant nursery only just opened a sister location so the business model is a lot smaller and easier to regulate employees. Not to say that all small businesses treat employees well or that big corporations are incapable of it but that is just how it worked out for me. This also created two very different marketing strategies. One based around our local community and one based on manufactured “everyone who works here is family”. Employees know the difference between insincere tactics and genuine connection in the workplace and trying to force a dynamic on an already irritated group of people is not the solution. 

        If I was CEO I would want something similar to my current boss's brand or the Box Lunch brand of sincerity, philanthropy, fun, and community. Building a place to grow around and into for employees and customers alike. I would prefer to be seen as supportive but logical for branding which would allow for clear priorities for the company mission while contributing to employees' lives as well.