Archive for Leadership

The Company Grape Vine?

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

Every Landscape Contractor knows that his or her company has a company grape vine, which allows rumors to spread throughout the company. These rumors can be innocent or they can be very destructive to a company and the employees working there. It seems that it is human nature to gossip about things, but the issue is that it can hurt the company morale and lead to very uncomfortable situation for employees. How to handle the company grape vine is a interesting question. The grape vine can serve a useful purpose, when sending information out to the employees, however you can never count on the rumors to be accurate. The old game we played as children, when a line of people would whisper a phase in your ear and you pass it down the line, by the end the phase was nothing like the phase at the beginning.

The best method to stop the company grape vine is to be as open with your employees as possible. This doesn’t mean that you share every piece of information with the employees, but you share information with them that affects their jobs. For example: a sales board that will list the projects sold, or a calendar that list all meetings in the company. Conduct a company meeting once a month to address things happening in the company or a newsletter that will include things happening in the company. Allow time in your monthly meeting with employees to include a question and answer session were employees can ask questions of you. This openness will help stop the rumor mill from getting started, as many of the issues will have been addressed in the meetings.

This leads to an other issue that company owners face and that is “open book management”, in which the management team and ownership share all the information about the company, financial, operations etc. I am not a fan of open book management when it opens all the information up to the employees. I feel that in small business it is a owners right to determine what information is shared. Unless you are a public corporation with shareholders, it is the ownership’s decision to share whatever they want with employees. I do however, believe that employees should be educated about things like profit and business matters in running a business. An educated employee is less likely to spread rumors about the company when everyone has the same information and knowledge. I believe  a modified form of “open book management” is a good thing, but there are things that should never be shared such as human resource issues, banking information, personals issue about ownership, these are out of bounds.

The company grape vine will never completely stop, people will always find a reason to talk about issues that they find interesting even when they have little or no knowledge about the subject. But as managers or owners we can reduce the amount of rumors by educating our employees and being honest and direct with them.

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5 Qualities of a Good Boss!

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Monday, June 4th, 2012

Good bosses are as rare as fine wine. It takes a number of qualities to become a good boss. But 5 qualities that make a good boss are as follows:

Understanding Leadership and Management

Demonstrates passion

Having a Vision and a Mission

Demonstrates empathy

Desire to serve

Understanding the difference between leadership and management is important for every boss to be successful. Leadership is the ability to look beyond the situation at hand and see a larger and more important goals. Management is about directing others to complete a task. A good boss must  demonstrate the use of both of these vital skills. Knowing the difference is what separates a good boss from a average boss. Leadership and management are often confused, but the true boss knows when to lead and when to manage.

Demonstrating a passion, or a calling for what one does is a quality not seen in many bosses. A good boss has that passion and is willing to show that passion or calling to the people around him or her. This passion is contagious and will spread through a company like wildfire for all to see. The passion is what drives the engine of commitment and desire for the customers, the employees and most of all, the boss. That desire to be the best, or provide the best product or service comes from the passion. It creates an enjoyment of life and a desire to obtain the quality of performance.

A good boss has a vision and a mission that fuels that desire to achieve a level of success for every day activities. Knowing where one is going and how to get there is important for a good boss. This road map, so to speak, is what keeps the good boss on track and allows him or her to explain and demonstrate the goals and objectives to others around them. This by no means suggests that a good boss goes through life without bumps in the road, but instead creates guard rail on the road of life that allow him or her to maintain the direction and desire to meet the vision and mission that they established. 

Empathy is important to a good boss because they understand and can feel the emotions that others may be experiencing. This quality is important in working with others, knowing that not every day is going to a  crown jewel of life. We all experience set backs in our careers, life and in day to day activities, but a good boss is there to offer words of encouragement and advise. Knowing that life is not just about the me , but about the us. Getting employees to follow is sometimes wearing someone else’s shoes.

In any business the desire to serve is so important. Serving customers, serving employees and serving one’s self is important. Maintaining a desire to serve will go a long way in creating a winning attitude and a successful business environment. Rotary has a motto of “serve above self”, which says it best, the desire to serve and willingness to help other is important to a good boss. Understanding one’s place and role in a business is what makes a team work, knowing that the service is the responsibility of all is going to make a successful business. The good boss knows this and works to demonstrate that willingness to serve in everything he or she does.

The five principles described above are what separates a good boss from an average boss, but also are principles to live life. You define what you think makes a good boss and practice those principle in your every day life.

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What Is The Most Valuable Asset In Your Landscape Company?

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Friday, June 1st, 2012

What is the most valuable asset in your Landscape Company? Most contractors would say the equipment, or the facilities. Certainly, at first glance it would appear that the truck and equipment that we invest in are the most costly  asset we own or perhaps the building and grounds that we use to store the materials and equipment are more valuable, but the truth is that your most valuable asset is the employees that work hard every day to satisfy our customers. If you think about the importance and dependence that our industry has on our labor force it is incredible.

For many businesses it may not be the labor force, but as contractors we could not function without the employees, their dedication to our industry is phenomenal. I hat to say that most of us take them all for granted. They come to work day after day and do their jobs with little of no fanfare from the owners and managers as well as most of our clients. The only time we hear about our employees is when the customer calls with a complaint.

But the investment in training  year in and year out is just that, an investment. In the cooler climates where winter layoffs are a part of the norm, we always hope that they return, but put little effort into discussing the issues they face with them. As we face the issue of the Guest Worker Program and the lack of action to address this large issue for most Landscape Contractors, what will you do if you lose that source of employees in the future? Many contractors are not even thinking about the consequences of the repeal of the program. It is time to consider the action that you will need to take if Congress doesn’t act.

Many people believe that there are sufficient workers in the United States to meet the needs of our industry and others like us, but the reality is that not many people are interested in working that hard to earn an income. I don’t have the answer for you, but I know that our industry needs to begin to develop a strategy that will secure a workforce for the future. Many of the national Green Industry associations are working to help prevent the loss of the Guest Worker Program, but I am not sure that their voice is loud enough and strong enough to get the job done. When you read studies that suggest that a degree in Horticulture or Agriculture are worthless degrees, it makes me wonder whether we have lost our drive to perform hard labor?

It is clear that the new day is  coming and you, as a Landscape Contract, need to appreciate what you have and recognize that your labor force is the most valuable asset you have. Begin to develop a strategy to find a new workforce source. But also let your employees know that you appreciate their efforts. Show your employees that you do care, demonstrate to them that you see them as an asset. Now, not everyone will understand what you are saying, but those that do get it are the employees that you need to invest in.

Think about about what is your greatest asset and how are you treating that asset?

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Checklist for a Crew Leader

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Thursday, May 31st, 2012

Checklist for a Crew Leader:

When it comes to a check list for any position, one must consider the desired results of the position. In this case it includes people management, equipment use and care, customer service, paper work and safety issues. The following is a list of activities that you might want the Crew Leader to check on a daily basis. 

Check Truck and Trailer before leaving the yard for safety.

Check fuel levels in cans and equipment.

Check on route for the day with Account Manager or Supervisor

Meet with crew members before leaving the yard for update on the day’s activities

Select quickest route to first job site.

In truck to first job site, assign tasks to crew members when arriving on job site.

Check in with customer at each job site, ask about any special requests.

Walk site and look for issues that need to be addressed.

Check on crew members to insure work and performance quality.

Walk site at end of each job to insure quality.

Complete paper work for this job site, including time and specials notes.

Check that all equipment is loaded and secure on the truck and trailer.

Travel to next site and start the process over.

At the end of each day turn in daily time sheets.

Fuel equipment and truck for next day.

Weekly safety meeting conducted by the crew leader. 

This list should contain all the steps that you want your crew leader to take each day to insure that the customer is satisfied, the crew safety is assured and the crew is being as productive as possible. You may have items that you want to add to this list, which is great, but keep in mind that the idea of the checklist is to be simple and something that is fuseful to you and the crew leaders. It may also be the crew leader’s responsibility to judge performance by crew members and report this information to the supervisor.  Do this as part of a separate job function. The employee management is an ongoing task and will require some special training that you can provide outside the check list. 

As part of the ongoing training for crew leaders, it is important to review this checklist and update it with any additional suggestions that crew leaders may have. Allowing the crew leaders to have input to this checklist will only help to improve the process. You want them to take ownership of this process and tell you what they believe is important. I might suggest building the checklist as a team, allowing their perspective to the list may be very helpful.

 

 

 

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How Do You Know If Your Employees Believe In The Company Culture?

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

How do you know if your employees believe in your company culture? As we all complete the spring rush our employees are tired and looking for a break in the season to recover emotionally and physically.  This is the time that you will find out who is a believer in the culture and who is only there for a pay check.  As an owner it is hard to face the reality that not every employee shares in the vision of your company.  But as the leader you must continue to hold the line and push your beliefs and the culture you have created.  Now is the time to separate those that elect to go their own way. Not supporting the company’s vision and culture is a clear sign that this individual is not a team player.

As a manager there are times in our careers when we question whether or not we are taking the team in the right direction, we even question our own beliefs and convictions.  It is at that time that we need to dig deep and reiterate our beliefs and conviction to the team. We get tired also and question whether the fight is worth the effort, but we know that we need to continue to teach, educate and lead our employees down the road that we believe is the right direction.  Leaders all have times of self doubt, but the true leaders get back up and start with the same vision and direction for the team. Leadership is a lonely job and no one is ever going to change that, but believing in a vision and directions is what will make your company great.

This is also a time of learning about your employees.  Who is supporting your vision, who is living the same vision that you are?  It is time to take notice of those individuals because they are the future leaders of your company. Many contractors ask, “ how do we find good leaders in our company?” and this is the way, by watching who is supporting the company’s vision and mission. Those are the individuals that you can build a team around, those are the employees that you can look to build a company with, they are your next generation of leaders.

It is also time to make hard decisions about letting some employees go. Not every employee will share you vision, but it is important to demonstrate that you see the employees who have stepped forward to assist in making your company a better company to work at.  I am not suggesting that you fire anyone who does not believe in the company’s vision, because we cannot have a company of  all leaders, we need employees that can follow as well. But make the distinction that you have leaders and followers and you know who they are.

I have always believed that employees don’t come to work to do a poor or bad job, but rather circumstances change how they view their position in life and in your company. You can only offer an opportunity to grow and become a better citizen or employee. Make the most of your opportunities, watch, listen and help those that elect to support the company’s culture.

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Don’t Be Taken Hostage By Your Employees!

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Over the years in the I have found that many contractors allow themselves to be held hostage by their employees. An example that  I would offer is the following:  A new crew member is hired from another company with experience as a stone mason. He starts working with the new crews and is constantly making comments like, “you don’t know what you are doing, this is the right way to install this stone”. Then comes back to the shop at the end of the day and tells his boss that he wants more pay if  he is going to have to train your foreman. First, the new employees obviously does know that the company has developed guidelines for installation of patios and walls and that your foreman has been following the guidelines for years. Secondly, stere is no “we” in this conversation, only “I”, this does not fit the company culture.  Third, your crews should be trained to operated as a team, the new crew member needs to learn your way to install stone, he is now working at your company, not his past employer.

Creating standards for construction or maintenance is helpful in creating a sameness in your company, it will eliminate errors in workmanship, it will promote a similar or signature look to your work and it is a method to insure that the construction or maintenance techniques are sound. If someone comes into your company and wants to change everything without consulting their supervisors, then maybe this person does not belong at your company.  Too many times business owners dismiss this type of behavior because they find it difficult to replace the person, but the reality is that this individual does more harm than good to your team’s morale. It destroys the culture of team and by allowing this person to continue in this way and it will create problems of a larger proportion, when the crew member wants to quit. Too many times we dismiss this behavior and create a larger problem than the one we started with.

You hired this employee to be a stone mason and to build things the way you have taught your employees. The idea that the employee thinks his way is the only way in egotistical, and self serving. Is this realy someone you want in your company? Yet, so many times owners look the other way and fail to recognize that they are destroying the morale of the crew and the company. I will agree that looking for good employees is hard and skilled employees, even more so, but you need to protect the culture that you are trying to build in your company.

Working at your company means that you have a culture of “WE”, working together to complete the project and not by changing the systems. It is up to you as the owner to manage your company the way you have designed and develop your systems. It is most important that the loyal employees see you defend your culture and insist that all employees follow the systems.

Too many times as owners we ignore this type of behavior, because we don’t want to deal with the real issue, but think about how it looks to your other employees, it is their company also. Don’t allow yourself to be held hostage by your employees. Walk the walk and talk the talk, you will earn the respect of your employees and create a winning culture.

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Categories : Leadership
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Building a Winning Landscape Team and a Great Company

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

What makes a great landscape contracting firm?  Is it the owner, the management staff, the employees or maybe the customers?  It is all of these individuals that contribute to being a great company.  But how do you make that happen?  All of us have a company in mind that we think is the best landscape company and we would like our company to be like the other company.  Let’s start by making some assumptions.  First, the ownership is interested in creating a great company and plans to pass the company on when the time is right.  Second, the employees and management staff believe that they can become the great landscape company we all think about.  Third, there is a passion ans desire to be this company, felt by all in the company.

So let’s define a great company before we go any further in this discussion. A great company is one that gives back to the community through participation in community activities, be it  a tree planting day or a donation of a landscape for a new playground.  It is a company that people want to work with, where the happy days out number the sad days, where the employees have a common mission to be the best, where the equipment is clean and looks good every day, every one is in a uniform and looks eager to get to work. It is where the customers want to have this company do my landscape, the company that your customers talk about a cocktail parties.  It is also a company that has a heart, an understanding about people and the need to treat them all equal.

Now how do you make this happen?  It starts at the top with a well written and defined vision and mission statement, then it is walking the walk and talking the talk every minute of every day. You, as the leader need to demonstrate what it means to be a great landscape contracting firm. Now it is time to get your management staff involved and on board, this will require some time and active training and retraining.  Company meetings with all the staff and a genuine effort to train the staff.  Don’t waver from the core principles that have made you what you are.  This will not be an overnight revelation, but will require constant reinforcement with all your staff.

During every meeting with your staff you need to talk about being the best company and demonstrate that you are committed to the change. Let your customers know the change you are trying to make in your company, get them involved by insuring that your staff is providing exceptional service . Survey your customers and ask them to define what makes a great service provider in their minds.  Using this to teach your staff what you customers are saying about their wants, needs and desires and how you can meet those desires.  Be proactive and make sure that  when the opportunities present themselves you’re  the right one to handle the job. Use posters hung in the office, in the shop area and in the morning gathering place to repeat the message. The average adult learner needs to hear or see something 7 to 12 times before they recognize a new concept.

This is a journey, it will take time and energy to get the buy-in that you need to make your company great. Insure that everyone is buying in, one bad apple can spoil the whole group.  Demand that you get buy-in from everyone on your staff, without it you are facing an uphill battle. You are creating something that will take on a life of it’s own, but in the end everyone will benefit from the change.  Create a culture is not always easy, but worth the effort in the end.

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Hiring to Strengthen the Bench for Your Landscape Firm

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

As business owners, we all have strengths and weaknesses, but how we deal with these issues can be the difference between success and failure of our businesses. Not every business owner is good at every aspect of their business.  To deal with this we need to consider what  our strengths are and hire to offset the weaknesses. First, however you need to do an honest assessment of your skills and your likes and dislikes in the business. It is not only what you like or dislike but also what  you enjoy doing in the business.  Is sales or operations your love, then hire someone to do  other jobs in your company.  But ignoring the issue will not make it go away but only create more frustration in your life.

I once worked for a owner who was great at sales, but claimed that it was awkward for him to sell because customers always want preferred scheduling and treatment.  He never hired anyone else to perform the sales aspect and was frustrated because sells were not improving.  This is a classic example of the point, hire for your weaknesses, build a team.  As we know having all quarterbacks won’t make a good team.  Sometimes it’s not easy to see what the deficiencies are in your company, but look at what talents you have and start building the team from there.  Sometimes it takes an outsider to see the deficiencies in your company, don’t be afraid to hire a Consultant or a Business Coach to work with you on this issue.

As part of your management team assessment have them list what their strong points and weak points are in their own eyes. With this information you can develop a clear view of what positions you need to fill. I believe that too many times in smaller to medium size companies we fail to see the problems or just ignore the problem because we think that it will cost too much to add a position, when in reality the position can pay for its self with increased efficiencies. You may want to consider this for your entire team.  Have the managers rank your crews and your office manager rank the office staff to determine what short comings may be impacting your company’s performance. The team is only as strong as it’s weakest link.

While I can hear you saying, “I don’t have time for this now”, I would respond by saying that you can’t afford not to identify the weaknesses that may be impacting performance in your company.  Whether you decide to address these weaknesses now is another decision that you can make based on the nature of the weakness.  But by identifying these issues now will allow you to start thinking about the fix, it may also be more easily done than you think. When the economy is down is when these issues tend to surface, being ahead of the game is in the best interest of the company and may offer the chance to make an improvement now while the season is young.

This is a classic example of work on your business, not in it. Identifying issues like this will help your company becomes more resilient to economic conditions. It will also improve the overall profit of the business if you make the right hiring decisions. Waiting is not an option, it is important to your success that you identify the issues as soon as possible.

Business can seem like a puzzle at times and finding the right pieces to the puzzle can strengthen your company’s position in the marketplace. Hire the right players for the right position, don’t wait.

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Manage Your Landscape Firm Through Vision and Culture

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

I recently wrote a blog on the current changes to the economy and how they are harming most Landscape Contractors (May 7, 2012 blog, titled “Facing a Down Economy as a Landscape Contractor”).  In the blog I suggest that you must stick to your plan and make whatever adjustment you need to make to insure a profit for your company.  As part of any plan is your vision and mission statements for your company, which should be the creed of your company. These two statements should set the tone for your employees and your customers and the way you intend for your company to conduct business, no matter what the economy conditions are.

I recently ran across an article by Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, discussing the turn around at Starbucks and the reason for that recovery.  Mr. Schultz outlines three things that have contributed to the turn around. Create a value proposition for your customers, customer choice is based on authenticity and the transition to social media is a way to market and communicate with customer.  These same concepts apply to the landscape contracting business and what we face as the economic conditions continue to slow, with little or no recovery insight.

Creating a value proposition for your company is a defining statement to your customers, defining what your company believes in and why. As consumers continue to struggle they are looking for value in what they purchase. Consumers are forced to make buying decisions based on their ability to afford the product or service.  We as contractors, need to give them the reason to buy from our company and not the competition.  We need to explain why we are the better value in these tough times, giving them a reason to buy from us.

Customer choice based on authenticity; what does that mean?  It means that the customer is looking for a trust worthy company.  They can trust your company to provide what you promised.  Secondly, the consumer must see the value in your service to continue buying the service in the tough economic times we face today.  This is a culture that you must create in your company giving employees the understanding that they own the consumers confidence in them and through their actions the consumer will recognize the value of the service and continue to buy that service no matter how tough times get.

The way in which we communicate with our customers has changed from just five years ago, today the social media is more widely accepted form of communication. The personal touch through personal visits is no longer the only way to communicate.  You may have customers that will only communicate through the use of social media. You need to accept this and encourage your employee to learn and use this method of communication. We must learn as company leaders that we must remain abreast of the changing methods of communication, as part of your culture you need to promote the newest methods of communication. Today the contact with a customer is more immediate, we are on a job site and we are able to send a text message to our customer letting them know the latest update on the project. For good or bad, we as owners are putting more and more communications in the hands of our employees and we better be confident that our employees are communicating the correct information to the customer.

It is so important today to instill in your employees the power of communication and the value that  communication creates for the company and the customers. Insuring that your employees understand the company values and culture, so that each employees speaking to a customer is saying what you would say if you were on the job site.

 

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Managing Your New Landscape Crew Leaders

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

As I said in yesterday’s blog, the Crew Leader is taking on new roles in the typical landscape company.  Along the way you will have to change your management of the new style Crew Leader to get the most reward.  What does that mean, how will I manage them differently than I did in the past?  The new Crew Leader is learning the role with on the job training taking the place of the experienced middle management you had in the past.  Communications will be different, there will more questions  at first.  Meetings will need to be held more often than in the past, until the routine becomes more natural.

This new style of management and structure will require more meetings to teach the culture of your company’s customer service philosophy.  Take time to discuss the different situations that the new Crew Leader may discover, explaining how the company wants the Crew Leader to handle the customer complaints and requests.  They will need feedback from the management to understand the culture.  Don’t rush the process, it will take time.  Have patience with your new team, expect a number of questions and take the time to discuss the question with all the Crew Leaders.

The communication style will be much different that with your old middle management.  Having someone at the office at the beginning and end of the day will be important to the new Crew Leaders, they will want to talk with someone about the day.  The newness of the position and the unknown will cause a lot of discussion, try to accommodate the new Crew Leaders with someone who can listen and answer questions.  Hold weekly meetings allowing the new Crew Leaders to ask questions and relate experiences on the job to the others.  This will improve the learning curve.

It will also require you to train the Crew Leaders in the art and skill of crew management.  For the first time in many Crew Leader’s experience, they are in charge, not just the crew leaders but managing the customer and their expectations, but also the results the crew produces.  This is a real change in culture for the Crew Leader, but also the crew.  Teaching the art of selling your crew on the new concept is important, we don’t want any issues to surface on the job site.

Your selection process for Crew Leader will have to adjust to the new style, you are no longer looking for just a leader of the crew, but someone who can manage and communicate with the customers.  The language barrier must be overcome.  Help your new Crew Leader with phrases that can be used when dealing with customers. In the hiring process you will be searching for true leadership skills and sales skills. You are looking for a new style of leader and manager.

Getting the new Crew Leader to buy into to the new style of management is also important.  Take the time to explain why you are expecting more from the Crew Leaders. They will want to understand why you have made the change and what the expected results are for the company and the new Crew Leaders.  There must be a reward system for the new Crew Leaders as well, more than just increased respect from the crew members. Develop a plan of reward for the increased effort and communicate that to the the Crew Leaders.

The new management style is necessary to accomplish the new expectation of the Crew Leader.  Take the time to plan and develop a strategy that will reward their accomplishments and success.  In the long term this will pay great dividends to your bottom line.

 

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