In the past three years, NALP member Ben Carruthers, owner of Carruthers Landscape Management Inc., in Dallas, says the company has become more “HR-focused” than ever before. He’s been working with Human Resources “Harvester” Steve Cesare, of The Harvest Group, on a number of ways in which the company can improve their employee onboarding process—among […]
When it comes to hiring more labor, NALP member Lisa L. Kuperus, vice president of Farmside Landscape & Design in Wantage, New Jersey, says it must be a multi-faceted and ongoing effort. In this tight labor market—and with the industry’s struggle to receive H-2B workers—there is no time to become complacent. “We absolutely must have […]
Motivating employees and making them feel like valued members of the team has always been at the core of how Jason Musch, owner and president of Dutch Valley Landscape Contractors, has run his business. He says “without our employees, we are nothing.” Even so, in the past, the Chicago-area landscape maintenance company has experienced problems […]
Employee retention has never been much of an issue at McHale Landscape Design, a $20-million full-service landscape and maintenance company based in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. In fact, the company has many long-term employees who have been with the business for two decades or more—including McHale’s 50 foremen. But Kevin McHale, president, says he was getting […]
Let’s face it: As a result of the lack of knowledge available to people about the landscape industry and the career potential within, its image is tainted. This is particularly true with younger generations. “Students and parents think it’s a dirty job and that you don’t make any money in landscaping; we just have this […]
Like so many other landscape professionals, Mark Borst, owner of Borst Landscape & Design in Allendale, New Jersey, says the labor pool in his area often feels quite dry. It’s an ongoing struggle to find qualified workers. That’s why, about seven years ago, Borst began experimenting with employee referral rewards. Since that time, refining the […]
Like so many other landscape business owners, Bret Achtenhagen, president and CEO of Bret Achtenhagen’s Seasonal Services in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, was struggling with attracting, hiring, onboarding and retaining quality individuals to add to the company’s production teams. As a result, Achtenhagen says the company was growing faster than its ability to develop foremen and other […]
Landscape business owners often feel like there is an “us versus them” mentality when it comes to employees. They feel like everyone is just in it for themselves. Nikos Phelps, founder of Utopian Landscapes LLC based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, says that he sensed tension building in his company and took a step back to ask […]
If recruiting employees is one of your greatest challenges, you aren’t alone. Many landscape business owners say recruiting—and retaining—good talent is an ongoing source of stress. As a result, achieving success in this area might call for some out-of-the-box thinking. Doing just that, Timberline Landscaping in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has created a gap year opportunity. […]
As Oasis Turf & Tree has grown rapidly (on average 16 percent a year), so has their need for finding great talent to fill job openings. In fact, on average, the company has had to add six to eight new employees each season. This is in addition to four new production routes. With each new […]