CEOs: Labor Is Your Number One Challenge and Your Number One Competitive Advantage
Todd Treml, Chief Executive Officer at Touching Hearts at Home, outlines a 30-year journey leading franchise growth across retail, B2B, B2C, and senior care. He explains franchising as a distribution model for entrepreneurs. He recounts scaling from two stores to 1,200 locations. He shares why home care work delivers dignity and compassion.
Labor sits at the center of every outcome, from client experience to revenue growth. In senior in-home care and beyond, the difference between losing ground and gaining share comes down to how leaders recruit, onboard, and retain people. The cost of churn shows up in service continuity, training expense, and brand reputation, which makes hiring quality and retention strategy directly tied to growth.
Todd Treml, Chief Executive Officer at Touching Hearts at Home, explains why culture, purposeful work, and responsive systems convert applicants faster and keep top performers longer. Todd’s approach is practical and measurable, turning retention into a daily discipline that compounds over time. By treating speed, training, and recognition as operating levers, he shows how people systems translate into market share and a better client experience.
“It goes without saying that labor is a major challenge. So, don’t put barriers in place. Be lightning fast in your response to people that want to work for you. Those companies that are prepared to recruit and retain the right way, they’re the winners in business.” – Todd Treml
The interactive podbook below contains:
- Todd Treml’s introduction video
- Full Episode video, audio, transcript, and article
- 8 Summary Videos + 1 Summary Article
- YouTube Short Post
Article: “CEOs: Labor Is Your Number One Challenge and Your Number One Competitive Advantage”
This article is based on an interview with Todd Treml, Chief Executive Officer at Touching Hearts at Home
Make Hiring Speed a Competitive Advantage
Todd’s first principle is removing friction so good people join quickly. He emphasizes a strong brand reputation and a streamlined path from application to first shift. “Make it easy for them to apply. Make it easy for those individuals to onboard with us. Don’t put barriers in place.” He adds that response time matters: “Be very fast, lightning fast in your response to people that want to come to work for us.”
The aim is to simply convert more qualified applicants before they choose a different employer. As Todd puts it, “Those companies that are prepared to recruit and retain the right way, they’re the winners of the business.” Speed signals respect, reduces drop-off, and builds early trust with candidates who have options. Leaders can track response times daily and make quick starts, the norm rather than the exception.
Retention Is Built on Culture, Training, and Purpose
Retention starts the moment someone applies, then deepens through the first 90 days and beyond. Todd highlights the basics that work across roles and locations, including warm welcomes, quick onboarding, and ongoing training. “Once they’re here, making sure the training is excellent, training them properly, and then ongoing training,” he says. He also stresses consistent connection wherein “regular check-ins, making sure that you’re checking in with your team, and making sure that the feedback loop is going constantly.”
Purpose keeps people engaged when the work is demanding. “The most important thing that we can provide them is purposeful work,” Todd notes, especially when competing with large employers. Recognition and flexibility round out the formula of “celebrating wins, flexible schedules, and being open to remote work.” These practices help teams feel seen and supported, which translates into steadier service and higher morale
Lead From the Front and Recruit A-Players
Todd models hands-on leadership. “I personally recruit the people that I want to bring into my company,” he says, because top talent deserves direct attention from the CEO. He treats recruiting as a leadership responsibility, not a function to outsource, and it sets a clear standard for the rest of the organization.
Transparency and clear paths are part of the promise: “You have to be very transparent and you have to give them a career path.” Todd is pragmatic about compensation while centering culture. “As long as you’re competitive, pay isn’t the number one issue in terms of retention.” What keeps people is acknowledgment, growth, and trust. Leaders who show up early and stay present in development create a workplace where high performers choose to build their careers.
Use Technology to Free Time for Higher-Value Work
Technology in Todd’s playbook is about reclaiming time for priorities that drive outcomes. “Technology can make us more effective and productive in our day-to-day operations,” he explains. “It’s not a replacement situation. It’s just a reallocation.” The goal is to move people away from repetitive tasks toward client care and coaching.
That includes practical tools, AI that removes mundane tasks, and virtual assistants who support recruiting and onboarding. The result is more human time spent on conversations that matter. “The best companies are figuring it out,” Todd says, treating productivity as a retention strategy that reduces burnout and improves service. When teams do more meaningful work, they tend to stay.
Conclusion
Todd’s message is straightforward: people power everything. “What this comes down to is people,” he says. Culture, support, and trust are not soft ideas. They are the mechanics of retention and growth that show up in service quality and renewal metrics.
Leaders who simplify hiring, invest in training, and use technology to give time back to teams will win tomorrow’s market. Treat retention as the new growth and build systems that make it visible, measurable, and repeatable. Over time, these habits compound into market share and a stronger brand.
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Steven MacDonald
Steven MacDonald is the founder of Content Strategies, CEO of a MarTech SaaS Company, fractional CMO consulting with leading B2B companies and former Director of Strategy and Client Service at top ten digital marketing agencies.
Steven MacDonald
Steven MacDonald is the founder of Content Strategies, CEO of a MarTech SaaS Company, fractional CMO consulting with leading B2B companies and former Director of Strategy and Client Service at top ten digital marketing agencies.
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