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How to Build the Best Landscaping Team in the Business

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landscaping team

Are you hiring? You should be. Even if your landscaping business is  fully staffed this season, it’s important to always be looking for new team members.

The best landscape companies are always hiring, even when there isn’t an open job opening available. Don’t wait until you have to turn away business because you’re understaffed to post that job online. You want to dig the well  before you get thirsty. And you want to accept applications from qualified candidates long before you find yourself hanging that Now Hiring sign in the window.

Just like you need multiple channels of marketing and advertising, it’s smart to have multiple streams for  hiring employees. Quality applicants don’t just walk through the door anymore. It takes a multi-pronged approach to build the best landscaping team in the business.

Tips for Attracting Quality Landscape Employees with Outbound Recruiting

The greatest asset of your company is your team. It’s not your equipment or your clients. It’s the people you hire.

You need great employees to have a great business, but finding and keeping  talented people can be extremely difficult. We make the process simple by breaking it down into three steps: Attract, Recruit & Retain.

ATTRACT

What are you currently doing to market your company as a great place for employees to spend their careers? Be sure to position yourself as a valued employer on your website and social media channels. Something as simple as photos that include your team can have a big impact on the message you're sending.

Did you know you can keep  job postings up year round even when you have no openings?  You can and you should. Just be sure to clearly state that the position is currently filled, but that you’re always accepting applications.

While setting up a basic foundation to attract potential employees is great, you can’t just sit around and wait for people to contact you. Hoping and praying that the right applicants find you is like expecting a fish to jump out of the water and directly onto your fishing line. No one is just going to hook themself to your line. You have to actually go fishing.

Put yourself out there and get connected. Landscaping is a relationship business. You need to take a proactive approach to recruiting if you want to build the best team possible.

RECRUIT

At McFarlin Stanford, we’ve noticed that  the most successful landscaping companies take a two-pronged approach to recruiting.  They  reach out to the community in person and online, and they hire professional recruiters to find skilled candidates that fit their team culture.

Don’t wait until you need to hire someone to put yourself out there. Connect with neighborhood churches, intramural sports teams, and schools. Local universities with horticulture programs would be great to partner with, and high schools are always looking for entrepreneurs like you to make a guest appearance to talk to students about your business and its  career opportunities. Show them that the landscape industry includes so much more than pushing a mower. You might even end up with a new intern!

While it’s typically easier and faster  to build relationships face to face, a digital conversation is great too. Social sites like LinkedIn  are a wonderful way to connect with potential employees. Not everybody’s on LinkedIn, but a lot of people are. It’s definitely not the end all be all, but it would be smart for you to make a habit out of engaging with a variety of prospective employees for twenty minutes a day to keep your finger on the pulse.

In addition to building relationships in your community, hiring a professional recruiting company like McFarlin Stanford to introduce you to people with compatible skill sets is like hitting the easy button for building an experienced team.Because we only work with the Green Industry, we have proven success within our established network and can introduce you to the most qualified candidates for the position you need to fill. The best part is our recruiting services don’t cost you anything unless we find somebody, and you can pay your recruiting fees over the course of 12 months. Plus, if the employee leaves or it doesn’t work out for any reason, we’ll replace them at no charge. It’s a win win!

Professional recruiting companies are fantastic, but do you know who the best recruiters are? Your employees! Implementing a cash referral bonus program is a great way to recruit and retain your team.

RETAIN

Once an employee makes it to six months with your company, chances are they’ll stay for several years or more. And if they last a year, they’re in it for the long haul.

Do you know what that loyal employee would absolutely love? To have a say in who they get to work with, to feel like they’re positively contributing to the company culture, and to get a nice crisp $100 bill in front of their coworkers for referring their friend to come work with them.

Hands down, the very best place to find new talent is through your existing employees. Reward them for introducing you to talented people; then reward them again when their referral celebrates 90 days, 6 months, and 1 year at the company. Make thanking your employees for their referrals a part of your company culture.

Creating a cash incentive program will not only get you fantastic new team members, but will keep your existing employees happy too. And keeping a great employee satisfied in their current position is a whole lot easier than constantly hiring because of high turnover.

Are you ready to hire more employees?

As your recruiting partner, we’ll introduce you to industry specific candidates that have the landscape skills and experience you need to create a successful landscaping team.

Email us at recruiting@mcfarlinstanford.com to start growing your landscaping team and your business.