Photo: Green Lawn Fertilizing
For 21 years, Green Lawn Fertilizing, based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, has held the leadership philosophy of putting their people first and it has been a major factor in their success.
Founder/CEO Matt Jesson says he learned his people-first mindset from many individuals, including his parents, high school and college football coaches, and his previous employer and founder of half.com, Josh Kopelman. Kristy Jesson, Jesson’s wife, who has a background in HR and recruiting also taught him the importance of surrounding himself with others who truly care about people.
“She gives full support every day to support building a people-first culture and doing whatever it takes,” Jesson says.
What Is People-First Leadership?
Jesson defines people-first leadership as building their core values around their team members and making sure every day the company is getting better for everyone. This includes making sure their team has everything they need to be successful, such as training, trucks and equipment.
“I wake up every day thinking about how we can do more!” Jesson says. “I am always asking questions. What can we do more to support our team?”
He says they work to be humble, deeply caring, and always learn and grow.
Jesson adds that every day, he is working with the senior leadership to ensure they have everything possible to be successful. He has 10 goals for all the leaders at his company. They include having a positive attitude, maintaining a professional image, improving every day and doing whatever it takes for their customers.
Leaders are also expected to coach their team every day, have consistent weekly one-on-one meetings with team members, know their numbers, always be recruiting, build a learning plan to be better leaders, and thank team members every day.
“My goal has always been to work with a best-in-class leadership team that is humble and leaders who want to be part of a deeply caring culture where success is measured by helping others grow both personally and professionally.”
He says that helping others grow is the ultimate trophy in life.
People-First Culture at Green Lawn Fertilizing
Starting out, Jesson says going from $0 to $5 million was a battle as he worked to establish his original leadership team, which believed in a people-first culture as well.
“Every penny was being used to invest in the right people, coaches, equipment, systems,” Jesson says. “We did not have the experience and have the access to learning networks like we do now.”
Now, they have a senior leadership team of 12 individuals and 350 employees who understand their mission, vision and values, and in 2024, Josh Willey was promoted to president and COO.
“The senior leadership team, all our managers, and all the team members we have at Green Lawn/Green Pest believe in our mission, vision and values, and that is why we grow and continue to build an industry-leading company every year and why we have won Best Places to Work award for six years in a row.”
The company emphasizes safety by hosting weekly and monthly contests and also has a yearly F-150 truck giveaway based on safe driving. They also host various team-building events throughout the year, like Hershey Park family day.
“At whatever the cost is, we listen to our team through meetings and yearly employee surveys to figure out how we can get better!” Jesson says.
Jesson says one example of their people-first leadership in action is how they have not increased the cost of their team members’ benefits in over seven years.
“This year alone, our medical benefits soared, increasing our total over $500,000, and not one penny of increase is being passed to our team,” Jesson says.
Green Lawn Fertilizing also invests in their team members’ education with two different leadership paths, their leadership development program and their technician advancement program.
Jesson says their technician advancement program gives technicians who do not want to lead people opportunities to gain industry certifications and increase their compensation. The leadership development program takes frontline employees through a yearlong program designed to prepare them for leadership. Both of these programs help create opportunities for both personal and professional growth.
This year alone, they’ve had over 15 employees graduate from their leadership development program, 25 employees complete different levels in the technician advancement program and another five attended executive education at Stanford, Wharton and Harvard. They also send team members to attend 20 conferences per year to learn.
Jesson notes that if the business grows and wins, everyone in the business wins as they make major reinvestments into the team.
“This year, we had over 60+ managers achieve 100% bonus payouts,” Jesson says. “We set achievable yearly goals, so if the business wins, our leaders win.”
Navigating Challenges and Planning Ahead
Jesson says the first couple of weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic were the most challenging time for him as a leader.
“I made the decision we would do whatever it took to support our employees regardless of the financial strain it would put on the company,” Jesson says.
He says they made rapid investments to change and provided steady leadership to the team, which allowed them to be successful.
“We had close to 75 team members work at home overnight,” Jesson says. “In less than a week, we had to build a new phone system, provide laptops, and a new communication process to be successful remotely.”
They also had to provide their field team members with different safety equipment and training. He says in less than 30 days they had evolved into a new company, thanks to everyone stepping up.
Green Lawn Fertilizing also has major long-term goals over the next 20 years to grow beyond $100 million and $200 million in revenue. They utilize a five-year rolling budget that they update multiple times per year in strategy meetings. Jesson says he works with Willey and CFO Alex Tartar to ensure they’re making the proper investments, building a culture that is the best place to work, and experiencing double-digit growth.
“Planning helps us figure out how to continue to scale the company efficiently and provide new opportunities for our team members to grow,” Jesson says.
Advice for Other Leaders
For other leaders looking to put their people first, Jesson recommends listening to your team.
“Send an anonymous survey to listen to your team on how your company can get better,” Jesson says. “Make investments for team members to be successful.”
You can also get an idea of where to improve by looking at your Glassdoor and Indeed ratings, as your online reviews say it all. Jesson stresses that your team has ideas and wants to be heard.
He also advises calling up five business leaders and asking them to spend the day with their company to learn.
“Surround yourself with leaders that have a people-first mindset, who put others first, (and practice) servant leadership,” Jesson says.
