Dear Lawn or Landscape Business Owner,
Is the Spring season starting to feel more and more like a burden than a huge opportunity?
Frankly…we are concerned about what’s going on.
In three recent conversations, I’ve had to talk landscape business owners off the cliff…that is…each was considering quitting their business because of employees quitting them.
In each case, due to repetitive turnover, the business owner was ready to throw away their entrepreneurial dreams. They felt like they couldn’t keep the right people or replace ones that had quit. High turnover had polluted their minds, dampened their spirit, and each was on the edge of emotional burnout.
Business owners need to stay energized and positive. Negativity is not good for a guy or gal trying to make a living landscaping in the Spring! So let’s get down to business.
What can YOU do right now to keep your team together?
Step 1 – Improve Your Employee Communication Plan
Many of your employees leave for one reason, they don’t feel important.
You can turn this around immediately by having a daily huddle (5-15 minutes) with your team.
Keeping each person informed about where they are going, what they are doing, who they will be working with, who they are working for, how long the job should take, what materials and equipment are involved, and what to do when things go wrong creates an instant improvement in employee engagement.
The more organized you are for this short morning meeting, the more likely you will gain respect from your team. Listen, an organized morning huddle will start your day with positive energy throughout your team.
Two tips to make the morning huddle effective:
- keep it short and …
- the information you cover MUST be put into writing. Written work instructions (like route sheets or work orders) are more powerful tools than backpack blowers!
Speaking of improved communication, watch your language!
Practice the habit of saying PLEASE and THANK YOU when you are talking with your employees. Being kind is a simple idea. But it’s an idea that pays big dividends.
Here’s another two-tip tool for improving employee retention:
- Provide praise and recognition for a job well-done in public.
- Save the criticism, discipline and corrective coaching for private meetings.
Think back to your days in high school. The team that won the game was recognized over the loudspeaker in the morning announcements.
The kid that got caught skipping school was given his discipline in a private meeting in the principal’s office.
Here’s another important tool for keeping employees longer…
Break the habit of using foul language, disrespectful tonality or hurried brush-offs when you talk with employees. Make sure that if an employee has something to say, give them a minute and listen. If you don’t have time at that instant, just let them know when you CAN continue the conversation.
These simple ideas could instantly improve your employee retention.
I recently saw Tom Peters, author of the mega-selling management book, In Search of Excellence, speak at a seminar. Tom slowly walked through the crowd of 500 people, as we sat at round tables, talking about his 40+ years as a management consultant for large businesses.
Tom said, “I’ve been reminding people for over 40 years of the exact same thing! Say Please and say Thank You for one reason: it works!”
So make sure you don’t overlook the little things that can make a big difference in how your team feels about working for you.
We want you to keep your team together when you need them the most. Keeping them informed is a great place to start. Being kind and respectful is just good business.
Sure…people will come and people will go IF you stay in business. That’s ok. You must brush off the feeling of rejection and focus on the next employee relationship.
Print this little lesson out or save it on your phone so you can look back and practice these communication tips.
Let us know how you are doing.
Stay energized!
Tony Bass, founder
866-923-0027
PS – When you’re ready…
There are three ways we can help you enhance your systems for finding, recruiting, hiring and retaining super star employees.
- Purchase a copy of our little-known book titled 50 Ways to Find, Recruit, Hire and Retain Super Star Employees. The print book comes with an audio (4) CD set read by the author. Yes, there really are 50 unique ways to enhance your employee systems and we share the details, the scripts, the job offers and little-known government programs to help you get big-time tax credits for hiring certain workers. Click here to purchase.
- Get immediate digital access to The Automatic Hiring Machine training program. You can learn the 11-steps to build a recruiting system that automatically sorts, sifts and selects the very best employee prospects from the lazy and unreliable duds. Click here to order online and get started this weekend.
You can hire us to help you build your very own Automatic Hiring Machine. If you are super-busy and want to move forward quickly, we can help. Please understand that we reserve the right to limit our services via our non-competitive exclusion zone in some markets. Order the Automatic Hiring Machine implementation service by clicking here.
