Is this the key to success?

At a recent Nordyne distributor meeting I chanced to meet an interesting fellow, Michael Riley, of Riley Sales, Inc., Plymouth Meeting, PA. In addition to being

He tells prospective entry-level employees, "Show up, you've got a job. Show up on time, you'll get a raise. Show some interest in my company, you'll get promoted. "

According to Riley, he hires two people for every one warehouse position he needs to fill. Why? He says, "Fifty percent of new hires will simply fail to show up for work one day. Maybe they'll stay up too late for a Monday Night Football game. Maybe they'll just decide to do something else. But one morning, they'll let me down, and I'll need to hire a replacement."

It seems a poor statement on our industry to have such low expectations for a new hire's performance. But, maybe that's what our industry is coming to. Show up and you'll get a job. It says nothing about showing initiative, being aggressive, being the best at what you do - just show up and you'll be better than 50% of the job applicants.