SAF has launched two new online courses focused on training new employees and search engine optimization. The courses were developed in response to industry needs.
Struggling with training new employees? Or how to get your website in front of consumers who are ready to buy? SAF has you covered.
Two new courses, “Orientation and Onboarding” and “SEO: The Basics,” are available now in the association’s online learning hub, Career Connection. The courses were developed in response to members’ needs, says Kate Delaney, SAF’s director of career development.
“Whether through our volunteer leaders or even Live Chat conversations onsafnow.tempurl.host, we heard from our members that hiring and training and improving search engine results are two of the biggest challenges facing the industry,” Delaney says. “These courses were designed to help overcome those challenges.”
The addition expands Career Connection’s offerings to 10 courses covering a wide range of topics such as hiring, care and handling, social media, design training, and more.
Recruiting, Hiring and Training
“Orientation and Onboarding” rounds out a trio of courses with human resources expert Glenna Hecht, who consults with florists and is a frequently featured speaker at industry events. The course helps address the industry’s challenge of finding and retaining staff. The first course in Hecht’s Grow Your Team series, “Workforce Planning and Attracting Talent,” provides owners and managers with the tools needed to evaluate their staffing needs in order to recruit effectively. The second course, “Interviewing and Hiring,” gives step-by-step instructions on conducting effective and efficient interviews.
The latest course, “Orientation and Onboarding,” gives practical instruction on how to introduce new hires into the fold of your organization, setting them up for success and making it more likely those employees will stay.
“I like that Glenna puts an emphasis on creating a detailed, day-by-day training schedule with weekly learning objectives,” says Delaney, who ran a flower shop in the Mid-Atlantic for 20 years before joining SAF. “It’s too easy sometimes to rush through training new employees. Glenna reminds owners and managers to honor the training and not to cut it short.”
Each course is $74.95 for members, $94.95 for nonmembers. Register now.
Search Engine Optimization
Search for your business online. Does it show up at the top of the search result list? Does your business’s Google profile appear? SAF’s new course, “SEO: The Basics,” provides the guidance to improve your search engine optimization so customers find your business — not your competitor’s business — first.
With SEO’s ever-changing parameters, it is often difficult for a florist to know how to optimize their website with key search terms that catapult it to the top of search results. In this course, Dan McManus of TeamFloral reveals the methods to do just that. Participants will learn how SEO works and why it makes a difference. McManus also covers the new Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) and how Google uses those profiles in its search result ranking, underscoring the importance of a Google Review generator.
“It can be hard to wrap your head around SEO, and it seems the rules are always changing,” Delaney says. “But Dan’s course makes this complex topic easy to understand, and you’ll finish the course with the skills necessary to make significant upgrades to your SEO.”
The course is $19.95 for members, $24.95 for nonmembers. Register now.
Amanda Jedlinsky is the managing editor of SAF NOW.
