Staff morale the key for Jahroc

WINNING the ‘best of the best’ category at the recent Furnishing Industry Association of Australia Awards was a culmination of more than 20 years’ hard work for Jahroc Furniture founder Gary Bennett and business partner David Paris.

The national awards recognise outstanding achievement in the furnishing industry in areas such as innovation and design, value for money, excellence in manufacturing, as well as supply and retail.

Jahroc Furniture had its origins in Scarborough in 1987 before Mr Bennett relocated to York six years later. The small business is now housed in a space called Jahroc Galleries, on the main street of Margaret River adjacent to Karri forest.

In a move to value-add to clients, Jahroc Furniture recently undertook a unique collaborative approach with leading artists, offering customers an opportunity to observe a cross-section of genres through the company’s expansive galleries, to visualise how pieces might work together in their own home.

The six-employee business has grown substantially over the years, however, Mr Bennett found the isolation of the South West and difficulties in retaining staff remain lingering issues two decades on.

“Obviously being in a small business in regional WA there have been many issues to deal with such as isolation from the major Perth market, obtaining finance for projects, and obtaining and retaining staff,” Mr Bennett told WA Business News.

“Even prior to the recent resource boom, finding, and keeping skilled tradespeople was a real issue.

“Of course we’ve always trained apprentices but in that period of our journey we were based solely in York.

“Once our young apprentices finished their time they wanted to be in the city where all the action is so they’d leave and you couldn’t blame them.”

Mr Bennett said recruiting a skilled tradesman to move south with their families often proved a challenge particularly with limited schooling opportunities in the South West.

“Then along came the mining boom and it became almost impossible to find staff. It didn’t help that I’d made a lifestyle choice and moved to Margaret River where I opened a second gallery,” Mr Bennett said.

He said although sales were booming with two galleries, lead-times were getting stretched, which made it difficult to run the business because of the constant recruiting and training of staff.

Salaries grew dramatically to the stage where they nearly doubled over a four-year period.

This came at a time when timber prices also doubled due to what Mr Bennett said was poor handling of the Regional Forestry Agreement by the then Labor government, which ultimately drove up costs.

“We were getting hammered,” Mr Bennett said.

“Of course we did all the usual stuff such as taking on business analysis consultants, coaches etcetera, but at the end of the day we couldn’t compete with the city or the high wages that mining companies could pay.

“We found ourselves recruiting people on 457 visas from the UK, Germany, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

“Ultimately we thought this is crazy let’s close an outlet so we can get rid of some sales.”

Jahroc Furniture closed in York after building a new workshop in Margaret River with the help of staff, who ultimately took on a sense of ownership of the gallery.

“The idea was to create a really nice work environment so the buggers would never want to leave,” Mr Bennett said. “We created a nice barbie area and good kitchen and our staff love it.”

To deal with the loss of sales through the closure of the York gallery, the company undertook collaborative projects with artists such as Larry Mitchell, Shaun Atkinson and even poet John Kinsella.

“The idea being that we needed to increase the value of each sale so we wouldn’t need as many, resulting in less required labour and timber,” Mr Bennett said.

He said since the move, sales have increased and workplace morale is at an all-time high, with tenure amongst staff also increasing.

Mr Bennett said in order to survive the tough times small business owners must remain passionate.

“If you find you’re losing your passion stop and find it because you’re no good to you, your business, your staff or your customers without it,” he said.

“Our staff love where they work now and don’t appear to be wanting to leave any time soon.”