The BEST Blog from Best Human Capital and Advisory Group

Ask HR: How to Motivate Teenage Summer Employees?

July 1, 2025

As originally published on gardencentermag.com. BEST is excited to partner with our friends at Garden Center magazine on their “Ask HR” column. Click here for the original article. THE QUESTION: I hire teenagers for summer work in my garden center. Some are great, and some are distracted by being a teenager. I want to communicate better with them and maybe even build future employees. Do you have any tips? THE ADVICE: First Thought— You are helping

Ask HR: We got a bad review after an employee having a bad day snapped at a customer. What do I do?

May 19, 2025

As originally published on gardencentermag.com. BEST is excited to partner with our friends at Garden Center magazine on their “Ask HR” column. Click here for the original article. QUESTION: Customer service is key in my business. Recently, an employee was having a bad day and snapped at a customer, who gave us a bad review on Google. I feel empathetic about what she was going through, but her behavior was unacceptable. I think firing her

Navigating Two Roads - Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Should I Stay or Should I Go? Searching for a New Position in Uncertain Times

April 15, 2025

Tariffs, inflation, uncertainty— each word evokes fear and stress, especially when looking to make a career move and search for new possibilities. While we preach patience and loyalty as a general approach to life, career, and business at BEST Human Capital, we know some employment situations are not tenable. We also realize that some circumstances are limiting as they don’t allow for desired growth, and you may also feel boxed in with the current business

Planning for Life After Business: Achieving Your Freedom Point

March 14, 2025

Spring marks the peak selling season— and a time to dream about the future. For many horticulture business owners, 80–90% of their net worth is tied up in their business. Yet, according to the 2024 State of Succession and Exit Planning in the Horticulture Industry survey, 54% of owners lack a formal business valuation. To turn your retirement dreams into reality, you need to determine your Freedom Point— the moment when selling your business provides

Compensation & Benefits in the Horticulture Industry

The Never-Ending Puzzle of Compensation & Benefits in Horticulture

January 20, 2025

For all the wonderful attributes our Green Industry brings to our world and the careers of its employees, we continue to be highly challenged in attracting and retaining qualified talent. There are many Human Resource solutions to improving and retaining talent flow. Unfortunately, no one magic answer will fit all companies or their employees. Additionally, one topic in the equation is often uncomfortable or sensitive to discuss: compensation. In developing an attractive compensation and benefits

The Benefits of Improving Transparency in Hiring

November 20, 2024

Like all other aspects of business, hiring and recruitment continue to evolve faster and faster. Implementing AI, such as in the hiring process, will increase the efficiency of the process itself. There are hiring changes that are not technologically based occurring that, when properly applied, are proving to have a positive impact on attracting talent, increasing the retention of new hires, and helping companies become a preferred place for careers. At the top of this

Who Wants to Be a Leader?

July 24, 2024

Do you have a specific career vision of becoming a company leader in the horticulture industry someday? Are you working on adding professional skill sets to enable you to take on C-level or leadership-level roles? As a company, have you invested in a definitive training and development program aimed at developing your next leaders? There is a leadership void in the horticultural industry that will critically need more leaders now and progressively into the future.

Trends Challenging Successful Hiring: Relocation

June 21, 2024

To Relo, or Not to Relo for Hiring— That is a Major Question Nothing in this world is certain except death, taxes, and change— constant change is happening faster than ever in business today. There are many drivers of change, including the impact of technology on what different generations value in their careers. Hiring is no different, and several significant trends impact the process. There is no foolproof method for hiring talent. Each company, position,

How to Attract Young Professionals to Horticulture and Your Company

February 6, 2024

It’s a fact of life – “I don’t understand this younger generation” is a phrase used by every preceding generation since the dawn of recorded time. However, we live in unprecedented times since there are now (5) generations currently in the workforce – Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X (Gen X), Millennials, and Generation Z (Gen Z) where once there were maybe three. Two people in the same company, often in the same role, can literally