When it comes to building a great team, hiring and maintaining talent are equally important. Without one, you wouldn’t have the other–and vice versa. So, how do you make sure your landscape company doesn’t end up with mediocre employees with high turnover rates? It starts with these six tips.
Tip #1: Build a people-first environment
Outside of pay (more on that later), a company’s culture is one of the most important things potential applicants are looking at when researching new jobs. Why? Because people aren’t robots. They want to feel connected to the place they work and having leaders who enforce this type of work environment will experience some major benefits. From increased productivity to more engagement, people-first workplaces are a must for retaining great talent.
Tip #2: Let people speak their minds
No matter how big or small your business is, it’s important your employees feel free to speak up. So long as it’s not disruptive or disrespectful, this type of free speech allows everyone to feel valued and that their opinion matters. Team-wide meetings with open Q&A’s or company surveys are a great way to foster this environment. And remember, you have to be open to listening for your team members to want to speak.
Tip #3: Show appreciation
This one is simple. Celebrate your employees, congratulate them on a job well done, write them a thank you note, and offer incentivized bonuses. Employees want to know their contribution is being noticed and small acts like a public shout-out to bigger acts like a cash payout can make a real difference to your team.
Tip #4: Skip the micromanaging
We’ve all heard this one before. Micromanaging is the quickest way to dampen your employee’s productivity, but it’s also a surefire way to encourage your high-performers to start seeking other job opportunities. Going back to tip number two, yours is not the only voice being used. Let others take responsibility, create processes, and solve problems. We promise that using more brain power is always better than relying on one.
Tip #5: Invest in high performers
It’s pretty easy to determine which of your employees go above and beyond with every task. Using skill advancement, productivity rates, and results accrued as your metrics, identify who is your A-team. From there, create opportunities for them to continue developing. From educational courses and mentors to new roles and assignments, this continuous effort to better your best employees will serve to benefit both you and them.
Tip #6: Provide some flexibility
While some employees in a lawn care company can’t enjoy the flexibility of working from home, you can still offer flexibility in other ways. For example, the summer is notoriously the landscape industry’s biggest season–so why not offer some additional time off to prevent burnout? Talk with your employees and see which areas they’d prefer more flexibility. Is it a later start time? And earlier finish time? A specific day of the week off? Have an open discussion and land on solutions everyone can benefit from.
Find the Best Talent
People want to work for companies that treat their employees well. Once you’ve established yourself as the lawn care business who values their people and shows it through action and compensation, you won’t have a hard time finding top-tier talent. But where do you start? Luckily, we’ve covered how to hire the best talent–and we know you’ll benefit from these tips.
For more help on creating a team that helps take your lawn care business to the next level, speak with one of our coaches today.
If you’re looking to grow your business, join a peer group to have 24/7 access to our expert coaches. From talent recruitment and retention to bookkeeping and industry trends, we can help you achieve your landscape business’ goals.