Meet our New HR Manager, Molly Hancock!

Big news! We have a new HR manager at our corporate office in Denver, Colorado. We’re proud to introduce Molly Hancock and welcome her to Footprints Floors.

Molly’s here to make sure that our executives and corporate employees have an organization that runs smoothly as our flooring franchise company continues to grow.

The Need for Outstanding Human Resources

Footprints Floors is still young, in spite of the tremendous growth and success we’ve experienced over the past several years. Molly is coming on board now to help us get some fundamental HR management practices established before we grow even larger.

“There are things that a small company just kind of does,” Molly said. “But as you grow HR is needed. You get to a point where you need an expert to tell you how to do things in the right format for compliance purposes. And if they decide to add benefits down the road for their employees, that will be a huge thing that I’ll take from the very beginning.”

Molly won’t be working directly with our Franchise Owners. But the effects of her work will be felt by everyone.

Even though her focus is our corporate team, Molly’s been reflecting on everything our new Franchise Owners have on their minds and thinking of how to make things easier.

“It’s not my responsibility as the HR person to make sure that Franchise Owners are compliant,” Molly said. “But I do plan on maybe creating some kind of welcome packet that gives them the ideas of what they actually need to run a business.”

“They just started their own business,” she continues, “And they’re wondering, ‘Am I making the right decisions?’”

“So, it would be an employee handbook to simplify the process. With tax forms and all the things that are important as they bring on employees,” she said. “So no, I will not be having contact, but I do have plans.”

Welcome Home, Molly!

Molly is a Colorado native, but she’s been away from home for over a decade. “I’m originally from Colorado,” Molly said. “I grew up here but then I married a military man and then I lived in Maryland for 10 years, which allowed me to really diversify.”

“Moving to Maryland, which is so diverse was great for me personally and in my work career,” she continued. “I had a daughter over there and then we moved back here in 2019, to be with my family here.”

Molly was able to work remotely after her move, but eventually wanted to put down firmer roots.

“I worked for a Maryland-based company for two years out here in Colorado,” she said. “So, I’m happy to be with a well-known successful company here in Colorado that I can base myself into. That’s probably the most exciting part.”

The Perks of Small Business

Maryland is home to several federal contractors, like Molly’s previous employer. And federal contracting means HR work has to be taken seriously.

“I was with a smaller company over in Maryland, but it was larger in comparison to Footprints. I managed around 85 to 90 employees. I was there for nine and a half years so I really built my career there. It was in a completely different sector,” Molly said. “We did human resources and staffing for the government. We hired fully cleared personnel. When you have a federal contracting company, there are so many more HR laws that have to be complied with.”

“It’s nice to be with a smaller company now where I get to be my own HR person and run the department with the skills that I’ve gained in the last 10 years,” she added.

Molly’s a pro, to say the least, and she’s bringing those high federal HR standards over to Footprints Floors. She has some key objectives outlined for further developing our corporate department.

“They’ve already been doing a great job here. My main goal to start is to streamline the processes,” she said. “They don’t really have these. With new hire orientations, they just send everything through email, have you sign it, and then, ‘Here’s your start date!’”

That’s completely true. Founder Bryan Park bootstrapped this company like a classic lean-running entrepreneur. In the early days, having the formalities of HR in place wasn’t the priority. But we’re growing up fast and ready to get those in place.

“I plan on developing a new hire orientation at corporate, depending on if they’re in Colorado or not, if they’re not in Colorado, I’ll do those virtually. Technology today allows me to do everything,” Molly says. “Just to put a face with the company as they start and get them involved in that way. And then also to define an exit interview process as people leave.”

We’ve started including more virtual services, but this is generally for our Franchise Owners. With Footprints flooring Franchise Owners operating all over the country, we definitely need a way to reach corporate talent wherever they are.

Vision for a Bright Future

Molly is building a solid foundation for this company’s growth. And she has a vision for the long-term future.

“Just streamlining for now. But if they add [corporate employee] benefits, I would be very excited about that,” she said. “And I think that’s kind of why they brought me on because we might be in the realm of adding benefits, but we actually need an HR person here who understands that.”

Well, Molly has free reigns to develop our HR according to her best judgment and there’ll be plenty for her to do later on.

A Warm Welcome

In the meantime, she’s been getting to know our team and has already meshed with us well.

“As an HR rep, my goal is to know every single employee and their families and really give them that personal touch,” she said. “And when I know them personally that makes them feel good, it makes them feel appreciated, and so forth.”

Molly actually does have a personal family connection here. Her brother-in-law is our Franchise Development Manager, Jon Jarvis.

Jon thought she’d be perfect for our new HR role and introduced her to the company. And Molly fit right in.

“It’s been great. I’ve felt welcomed and like I’ve been here forever already. Everyone is just so warm and welcoming. They made me feel like I made the right decision and I’m very happy with coming onboard with Footprints,” she said. “I hope that I exceed their expectations in the HR realm.”

We feel we’ve made the right decision as well. We’re pleased to welcome Molly Hancock into the faith-based, Christian Franchise, Footprints Floors Family. Getting Molly on board is the latest step in our journey to building a thriving national flooring franchise.

If you’d like to learn more about Footprints, how we operate, and what our values are, then please visit our franchise website.