A Survey of Human Resource Management Practices in Florist Crop Production Firms

As small finns grow from employing just a few people to employing 10 or more, there is an increasing need for more fonnalized human resource management practices. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent managers of florist crop production finns used formalized human resource management practices in their businesses. Managers of 104 florist crop production firms in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan participated in a telephone survey designed to gather information on specific personnel management practices. The study revealed that while some finns are using fonnalized personnel management practices, the majority are not. Those who use formalized personnel management practices tend to be, but are not exclusively, larger firms. Larger finns for the purposes of this study were considered to have 10 or more employees and comprised 47% of the firms in this study. Managers surveyed were also asked to report their concerns regarding personnel management. Overwhelmingly, the concerns voiced tended to be in the areas of compensation, particularly health insurance, and recruiting a qualified work force.