Textile Services recently interviewed Donald Maida, vice president of TBR Associates, a division of Tingue, Brown & Co. on the challenges and opportunities associated with recruiting and training managers, including candidates promoted from within a company and those brought in from outside. In addition to spending a decade as a laundry management consultant for TBR and as an independent adviser, Maida learned much during 11 years in laundry operations management. Below are excerpts—edited for brevity and clarity— from our discussion of management-training initiatives.

How do you attract good supervisor candidates?

The first thing you need to do is put ...