Annual Conference Preview: Q&A with a Laundry Recruiter

J.R. Garcia, a 30-year industry veteran who’s turned to helping laundry operators recruit staff, will address recruitment/retention issues during a breakout session at TRSA’s 110th Annual Conference in Naples, FL, this Oct. 10-12.

Garcia has a storied background in laundry management and is well-known across the industry. A U.S. Navy veteran, he began his laundry career in 1992 as an electromechanical technician with the Walt Disney World laundry in Orlando, FL. He worked his way up to the top job, director of textile services, and later held executive posts elsewhere, including PureStar Group and Crown Linen LLC. Last year, Garcia and his wife, Tania Thollebeke, who also has worked in laundry management, launched Laundry People Finders, a search agency based in Montverde, FL. Garcia agreed to take questions from Textile Services Weekly to give readers an overview of the issues he’ll address in detail during his Oct. 11 talk at the Annual Conference at the Ritz-Carlton Tiburon Golf Resort in Naples.

What’s your sense of trends in the area of laundry recruitment/retention? Are things getting better?

I do feel that, overall, the situation has improved in the last year. One contributing factor was that “The Great Resignation” started slowing down in 2022. Another contributor has been that laundry companies have found ways to continue pushing up the salary and wages to stay competitive vs. other industries. And this one is strictly my opinion. I have noticed a less-restrictive approach to hiring maintenance/technical talent. For example, many hiring managers that once required a specific number of years working on a specific manufacturer’s equipment, at a certain level and so on, have re-leveled minimum requirements to give themselves a better chance.

Is filling technical and engineering jobs still the toughest challenge for recruiting laundry staff?

Yes and no. Yes because most of the positions that I work to fill are maintenance/technical. And yes because I am usually unable to fill all the positions that are requested. But, also, no, because if one is open to a journey-level technician coming from another industry that has robust industrial experience and has performed well on the electro-mechanical assessment, their fill rate can go up substantially.

The common fix for laundry-labor shortages is to hike wages and benefits. Is that enough?

Some recruiting woes have nothing to do with pay and benefits. There are recruiters and hiring managers that are either overwhelmed with other responsibilities or are otherwise just not very effective. I was taught early in my career that if you want to influence a result, you start by measuring it. I suggest that metrics be developed to begin to understand what is really happening, which positions are always open, how long does it take to fill them, how effective are the recruiters, etc. Also, meet regularly with those responsible to review results.

As for retention, some say success is about “leadership” as much as pay/benefits; what constitutes great leadership?

A great leader is a person that treats people with respect, with dignity under all circumstances. I used to work for a guy a long time ago that said that he knew that he was an “environmentalist.” What he meant was that he knew that it was his responsibility to create the right environment where people want to come to work. What I have found gives me the most success to retain people is even though they know the demands are tough, the environment is great.

For more information and to register for TRSA’s 110th Annual Conference, visit www.trsa.org/annualconference. Register by Sept. 1 to save $100 and secure discounted pricing on your hotel room by booking by Sept. 8.