When Lindsay Gainor was named vice president of HR and talent management of franchised moving company TWO MEN AND A TRUCK this spring, it was a full-circle moment: Years ago, her grandfather gifted her a move by the company as she transitioned back to civilian life from military service.
She joined the company after more than a dozen years in HR, including overseeing people operations at nearly 40 corporate-owned McDonald’s locations and heading talent management for financial services firm Acrisure. Now, Gainor is focused on driving HR excellence at the rapidly growing TWO MEN AND A TRUCK, which was acquired by ServiceMaster Brands three years ago and today has a fleet of more than 3,000 trucks and more than 430 locations.
She recently spoke with HR Executive about how she’s helping the organization and its workforce connect to its mission of “moving people forward.”
HR Executive: What initially sparked your interest in HR?
Gainor: I was actually working in the restaurant industry and ended up leading training during a new restaurant open. I fell in love with the development side of HR. So, I went back to school and decided to pursue it more formally.
HR Executive: You first interacted with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK as a customer. What was your experience like?
Gainor: It was awesome. I had a newborn, my family was just returning back to civilian life after being in military life and doing a cross-country move. I was also working full-time and in grad school. I had a lot on my plate, and they took care of everything and were so service-focused.
HR Executive: What was your day one priority when you took on the vice president of HR role?
Gainor: I wanted to understand the people in the business. Doing that meant focusing on building relationships and building that knowledge of the business units I support. That was my priority. I think a lot of people come in [to HR leadership] like a bull in a china shop, trying to get things done. But there’s a lot to learn, and I think it’s important to have those relationships and that foundation.
HR Executive: In terms of employee development, where are you focusing your efforts?
Gainor: In HR, we always want to do it all, so it’s hard. Right now, we’re focusing on our leader population, looking at frontline leaders throughout the organization. We feel like they have the greatest domino effect for the rest of the organization. They benefit from development, and everyone who reports to them benefits. For the individual contributor side, we’re really focusing on new hire programs to help people feel connected and get up to speed in their role as quickly as possible.
HR Executive: How are you leveraging employee feedback and involvement to guide your strategy?
Gainor: We do monthly connections in each of our business units to garner their feedback. We ask for this in our monthly huddles, and it’s completely unvarnished. We also solicit feedback in our quarterly results rallies. We’re very transparent about where the business is and what our priorities are. In our senior leadership meetings, we’re also soliciting feedback. We’re focused across all levels, and we’re working toward a more formal engagement survey next year, though I believe more frequent, informal feedback loops can garner better results.
HR Executive: What skills have you honed throughout your career that will be most beneficial in this role?
Gainor: I think mostly the importance of focusing on the strategic alignment with business activity. In HR, there’s no shortage of things to do to bring value to the business, but using that lens of the business priorities to whittle the list down to the things that will have the greatest impact on the business is key. We have to understand how the business operates and what our business partners are challenged with. And how that connects to those business priorities.
HR Executive: What does the next year look like for you and TWO MEN AND A TRUCK?
Gainor: I’m really focused on creating stability. In the macro environment right now, there are a lot of people in the wait-and-see mode—for a lot of reasons, including the economy, politics—so, how can we in HR create some stability and a sense of community within our organizations? That’s key.
HR Executive: Outside of your work, what are you passionate about?
Gainor: I would definitely say my kids—like probably every mom’s answer ever! I’m so passionate about my kids. We have sports, they’re bilingual, so I’m focused on just helping them grow and succeed. Outside of that, I’m very passionate about sustainability, especially around our national and state parks. I’m very into hiking and backpacking—off-the-grid things that help me unplug.
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