One of the biggest mistakes lawn and landscape business owners make is believing they have an employee problem when what they really have is a recruiting system problem.
Think about it this way. If your mower leaves streaks in the lawn, you don’t blame the grass. You inspect the mower. Yet when landscapers can’t find employees, they blame young people, the economy, immigration policy, schools, the recruiting app, the competition or Fedzilla.
Those factors may matter, but they aren’t under your control.
Your recruiting system is under your control.
Most landscape companies recruit with crappy, politically-correct, boring HR lingo. Their ads sound like this:
“Landscape Laborer Needed. Must have transportation. Must work in heat. Must lift 50 pounds.”
That’s not a recruiting ad. It’s a list of demands…or maybe it’s an anti-recruiting ad for playing the H2B applicant game.
The best employee recruiters think like marketers.
A customer doesn’t buy because YOU need a customer. An employee doesn’t apply because YOU need an employee. Both respond to a message that answers one question:
“What’s in it for me?”
The best recruiting ads lead with opportunity.
Instead of advertising for a laborer, advertise for a future crew leader.
Instead of saying, “Help Wanted,” say, “Build Your Future Outdoors.“
Instead of saying, “Now Hiring,” say, “Fresh Start Working Outdoors.“
Instead of recruiting for today, recruit for the person your company will need a year from now.
This simple shift changes everything.
Most landscapers think they need better applicants. Not necessarily. What they really need is more applicants.
When you receive only five applications, you’re forced to settle. When you receive one hundred applications, you get to select.
The difference between average companies and exceptional companies is often nothing more than the size of the candidate pool.
Technology can help too.
The old system involved answering phone calls, scheduling interviews, and getting ghosted.
The new system uses attention-grabbing ads, your online video introduction, automated interview schedulers and a short phone interview to screen candidates before they ever sit across from you. The lazy folks don’t follow the process. The serious candidates rise to the top with very little effort on your part.
And remember this: business owners who hire employees are creating opportunity. You are teaching skills, creating jobs, and helping families put food on the table. That’s important work. In fact – you’re a hero in my book!
After nearly four decades of hiring employees, I’ve come to one conclusion:
The landscaper with the best recruiting system wins.
Not the biggest company.
Not the oldest company.
Not the company with the most equipment.
The company that consistently attracts, screens, hires, trains, and develops people will eventually outperform everybody else.
If YOU are an employer, you may be one new hire away from adding another crew leader capable of adding $350,000 to $500,000 in new revenue.
So keep learning. Keep recruiting, keep hiring and keep teaching. It will make you a wealthy landscaper.
Tony Bass, Founder
PS – If you want to improve your employee recruiting system, there’s two ways to get started right now:
- Here’s access to the Get More Landscape Employees – Case Studies webinar training event: – Get immediate access for Free https://superlawntrucks.com/get-more-landscape-employees-case-studies/
- Get your copy of The Lawn and Landscape Business Owner’s Guide to Finding, Hiring and Keeping Great Employees. This step-by-step guidebook and online resource will help build a recruiting and hiring system you can count on for years to come. Click here to purchase.
