From handshakes to hard work, understanding the nuanced differences between the American and Latinx cultures can lead to a more productive workplace.

This was the message during the webinar “Lost in Translation: The Five Things Businesses Must Understand About the Latinx Culture.” The education was sponsored by the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association and went live earlier in November. Given that Spanish-speakers and Latinx employees make up roughly half of the landscaping industry’s workforce, understanding ways to bridge cultural gaps became imperative to speaker Bernie Carranza, the manager at Lotus Farms Chicago. Latinx is a more recent term that replaces the “a” or the “o” in Latina and Latino to make the term gender-neutral. But before Carranza told attendees some of the lessons he’s learned as both a manager and member of the Latinx community, Donna Vignocchi Zych, ILCA president, opened up the webinar.

“I deeply believe that this seminar isn’t just about getting more performance out of our teams,” she said. “It’s about bridging an essential gap and how our different cultures interpret words, actions, gestures, hierarchies and traditions. When employees feel safe, they have the ability to excel and better their collective lives.”

Here’s some of what was discussed during the webinar:

Diverse cultures.

First, it’s important to understand exactly what demographic of people you’re referring to when you say “Latinx.” In this case, it’s anyone from a Spanish-speaking country.

In his experience, Carranza said people who were originally born in one of these Spanish-speaking countries identify themselves as Hispanic, while those born in the U.S. with familial ties to other countries label themselves as Latinx. He made it clear, however, that they can ultimately determine how they’d like to be identified.

The presentation was more geared toward Latinxs who had not acculturated to American culture. Many are from Mexico; the complicating factor is that their experiences and cultural influences are different depending on what area of Mexico they’re from.

“The employer, when appropriate, should discuss with their Latino employees the cultural differences that exist and how to make everyone comfortable,” he said. “There are differences in simple, everyday interactions. The more we become familiar with these, the (better) communication we have.”

As it pertains to showing these employees respect, simple things like hand gestures and body language go a long way. Directly looking at someone’s eyes during serious conversations can be viewed as a challenge to his authority, and handshakes for Latinxs are supposed to be soft to the touch rather than firm and rigid. Greetings in American culture are brief and to the point, while in Latinx culture, they’re more warm, welcoming and expected.

Employers should talk about those differences and clarify with the employee that they're not trying to upstage them with direct eye contact, for example.

Education.

Latinxs prefer cooperative learning environments rather than competitive. As an example, Carranza recalled helping other cousins through school lessons growing up rather than trying to outdo them. This carries into the workplace, as training at a company should be done in more of a group setting than individually.

Carranza recommended allowing for smaller meetings to go on during larger meetings for those who learn most comfortably in a communal way. In his experience, these smaller groups lead to more productivity from his Latinx workers as they explain to one another what they’ve learned. Another challenge is understanding that Latinxs “don’t know,” even when they do, Carranza said. This means that they’d rather not embarrass somebody leading a meeting by upstaging them with the correct answer, even if it means sitting on vital information. This can be avoided by encouraging them to speak up often.

“We should encourage them to ask questions,” Carranza said. “Our style is more formal. What that means is that if you’re the presenter, if you’re the authority of the person presenting, there is this tendency to not interrupt you.”

Understanding ambition.

Latinxs often credit their achievements to fate or religious circumstances rather than their own ability, Carranza said. “We look down at our shoes – we downplay our successes,” he said. “When something good happens to us, we don’t credit our own hard work.”

He said because of this humility, Latinxs are often labeled as unambitious. Some miss out on raises or bonuses because of this trait. Their politeness can lead to Americans viewing them as subservient.

As Carranza put it, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and sometimes, people with bad manners get what they want. Latinxs’ ambition for career progression is demonstrated quietly, he said, and “the key for you is recognizing that ambition and directing it.”

Carranza said sometimes, Latinxs struggle to speak up when things get difficult because they have adopted a culture of hard work and pride in their company. He said it’s up to employers to listen to employees and ask them proactively how the work is going.

“Working hard is in our culture, it’s in our DNA,” he said. “What can we do? We encourage them, we empower them.”

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Landscape Workshop recently acquired the landscape maintenance and enhancement operations of Great Oak Landscape Group, based in Atlanta. Great Oak founder Tim Christie will be joining the Landscape Workshop team as general manager of Atlanta operations.

“We are incredibly excited to have Tim and his team of talented managers and landscapers join Landscape Workshop,” said J. T. Price, Landscape Workshop CEO.

“Tim worked with several of LW’s operational leaders in the past. We knew we wanted him on our team.”

Christie started in the landscape industry as a crew member over 30 years ago and founded Great Oak Landscape Group in 2000 in the garage of his home. Christie built Great Oak to three locations in greater Atlanta with 40 employees. Landscape Workshop, meanwhile, ranked No. 43 on Lawn & Landscape's Top 100 list last year.

“I’m excited to stay on in my new role as general manager for Landscape Workshop and to expand on what Great Oak Landscape Group has accomplished in the Atlanta market," Christie said. "The people I know at Landscape Workshop share the same values of customer service and responsiveness that my team and I do, and I know we will be a good fit.”

Landscape Workshop is a full-service grounds management company that has been providing professional service and expert maintenance for outdoor commercial spaces since 1984.

With the addition of Great Oak, Landscape Workshop now serves 10 Southeastern markets in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and the Florida panhandle. Landscape Workshop is backed by Carousel Capital and McKinney Capital.

The Bradley law firm served as Landscape Workshop’s legal counsel in this transaction.

Founded in 1998, 3e operates in the Richmond and Blacksburg areas and provides environmental and engineering services to the public and private sectors. Those services include: site assessment and remediation; water resource and stormwater management; landscape architecture; Geographic Information System (GIS) services; wetland delineation; mitigation design; stream restoration; threatened and endangered species consultation; brownfield redevelopment; certified drone surface modeling; National Environmental Policy Act document preparation and a variety of other services.

The acquisition was made by Wetland Studies and Solutions, a Davey company, which is a subsidiary of DRG. The 3e offices in Mechanicsville and Blacksburg, Virginia, will become new offices for WSSI, also based in Virginia.

“Davey Resource Group and WSSI are excited to welcome the employees of 3e into the Davey family,” said Ken Joehlin, vice president and general manager, DRG Environmental Consulting. “3e brings a broad range of expertise and experience partnering with municipal and government clients that will enhance the environmental consulting services WSSI offers to clients in Virginia. This acquisition also strengthens Davey’s commitment to providing diverse consulting solutions to our clients.”

Like Davey, 3e has been employee owned. Under employee ownership, staff members are given the opportunity to become owners through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), an employee benefit plan that gives workers ownership interest in the company through stocks. Davey has been employee-owned since 1979 and is the ninth largest employee-owned firm in the U.S.

3e has 36 employees working out of offices in Richmond, Blacksburg and Newport News. All employees will continue employment under the WSSI brand. Andrew Kassoff, president of 3e, will continue as director of WSSI.

“Davey Tree is a leader in the tree care and environmental consulting industry, and we are thrilled to join the Davey family,” Kassoff said. “This is a great opportunity for our clients as well. The only major changes they will notice will be an expansion of our talent, expertise, and an increased diversity in the services we can offer. Also, 3e employees will benefit from Davey’s legacy and culture of employee ownership. We are truly excited for what the future holds.”

WATERTOWN, Wis. – Scott A. Hoffman has been named CEO of Fisher Barton, a Watertown-based group of eight businesses that has operations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Texas and Vietnam.

Hoffman, who previously was vice president of the municipal products group at Neenah Enterprises, Inc. and president of the Wise Company, a Memphis-based seating system manufacturer, fills the post that has been held on an interim basis since July by Craig Smith, who will return to his position as president of Fisher Barton TST in Sun Prairie.

Hoffman has more than 30 years of leadership experience, largely in casting, stamping and precision machined products in the heavy truck, marine and foundry industries and has a track record of success in sales and marketing, supply chain and product development.

“Scott’s record of leadership and demonstrated expertise in the manufacturing sector make him an ideal person to lead our organization,” said David Wilkey, board chair of Fisher Barton. “He understands the advantages that a well-run family business offers both to its associates and customers as well as to the communities in which it operates. We are pleased to have him join our team.

“We also appreciate Craig’s efforts while we conducted a search for our new leader. He has served us well, and we are glad that he will continue to be part of our leadership team by guiding Fisher Barton TST in Sun Prairie,” he added.

Besides serving as president at the Wise Company and as a senior executive at Neenah Enterprises, Hoffman also was a vice president at the Brunswick Boat Group’s operations in Poland and vice president and general manager at Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac.

He also served as president of a Brunswick unit in New Zealand and as vice president of supply chain for the Mercury Marine Group.

“I am honored to have been selected to lead the team at Fisher Barton at this critical time, and I look forward to working with such a talented group of people,” Hoffman said.

“I am especially grateful for the steady hand of Craig Smith during these past four months. He has led the Fisher Barton Group admirably since July, and I am glad we can count on his continued contributions to our growth and success.”

The CEORA is a commercial robotic mower coming in 2022 that will cover more than 12 acres with one mow, the largest total area for any of the brand’s robotic mowers.

CEORA is designed to be a low-noise, zero-emissions solution that will allow facility management companies, municipalities and sports field managers to bring more efficiency and consistency to the overall land maintenance process.

In the future, it can be tailored to specific needs by adding accessories like a lawn striper, fairway deck or line painter and can be paired with other robotic mowers. Husqvarna’s suite of connectivity and fleet services will also allow the operator instant and continuous digital monitoring and control of multiple units.

CEORA joins a line-up of commercial Husqvarna Automower products – Husqvarna Automower 550 and 550H – that are designed specifically for demanding professional applications. One machine can cover areas of more than 12 acres.

The new CEORA will be available with Husqvarna’s recently introduced EPOS technology – a satellite-based navigation system enabling mowing with virtual boundaries. This navigation system delivers an accuracy down to an inch and is used to create virtual boundaries for professional robotic mowers. The new system will increase the flexibility and use of professional robotic mowers in green spaces.

Husqvarna professional robotic mowers with Husqvarna EPOS integrate with Husqvarna Fleet Services, a digital fleet management control system, and make the management of large lawns and green spaces easier.

More details about the pricing for the new Husqvarna CEORA will be available in the summer of 2021 and mowers will start shipping to customers in early 2022.

DALLAS – Robin Autopilot USA, a robotic mowing technology company, entered into a partnership with TurfBot Mowing, a brand under the Weed Man USA ownership umbrella.

Under the new partnership, TurfBot franchises will offer robotic mowing services powered by Robin’s technology. TurfBot franchises will have access to all of the tools and resources available through the Robin platform.

Ranked as the eighth-largest company on the 2020 Lawn & Landscape Top 100, based on 2019 revenue, Weed Man expanded into the robotic mowing business when it launched TurfBot in 2018 to test the concept, recognizing the benefits of offering battery-powered and emissions-free robotic mowing services to customers. TurfBot currently operates in three locations and plans to expand.

“Robin Autopilot was the obvious choice for us in our search for a partner with cutting-edge technology and expertise that would help us grow in the exciting robotic mowing industry,” said Jennifer Lemcke, chief executive officer of Weed Man. “We believe robotic mowing has a bright future, and we look forward to working with Robin to continue the transformation of the lawn care industry through the wide-ranging environmental and economic benefits of this new technology.”

LandCare tapped Mark Hopkins to lead the company’s newly formed Central Division as executive vice president.

Hopkins will continue to guide the branch teams in Texas and Oklahoma, with the addition of the teams in Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina, while joining LandCare’s executive committee.

Since joining LandCare in 2014, Hopkins served as regional vice president in Texas and Oklahoma, leading his region through six consecutive years of robust growth.

Hopkins helped teams build sustainable portfolios and an engaging environment for team members, plus numerous advancement opportunities to budding young leaders.

Since I first heard about robotic mowing, the reality of it becoming mainstream always seemed similar to being a fan of a bad sports franchise. It’s always, “wait until next year.” Well, it seems that next year really could be the year – and if not this year, we’re getting very close. That was a takeaway from a virtual panel I moderated on the topic with Logan Fahey, CEO of Robin Autopilot; Tony Hopp, CEO of Mowbot; and Jen Lemcke, CEO of TurfBot.

Visit bit.ly/lawnrobotic to view the discussion. Here are a few more takeaways:

Education enhancements.

Hopp says there is still educating to be done on the topic, but he says when he started Mowbot 5 years ago, people laughed at the idea of a robot mowing a lawn. Now, consumers are taking it seriously, although he says some landscapers are still skeptical the machines can mow lawns effectively.

Don’t get stuck.

One of the main issues with robotic mowers is when they get stuck on hills, in holes or under things, etc. But all panelists said the software to detect obstacles is improving at a rapid rate.

“The next big development expected to come to market is the wireless technology for robotic mowers.”

Greener grow.

Robotic mowers can mow multiple times a week, which makes for a healthier lawn because it doesn’t put as much stress on the grass blades. Lemcke said she did a test with two lawns, side by side. Both were treated the same, but one was mowed by a regular mower and the other by a robomower. She said she was surprised at how much greener the robomowed lawn looked.

No stripes.

The mowers aren’t able to mow in a back-and-forth pattern, so it doesn’t produce those striped lawns that people love so much. “My answer to that is with a traditional company, they come in and they stripe your lawn and two days later, you have no stripes. Under a robotic mower, the property is consistently maintained, and it looks perfect all the time,” Fahey says.

Tired of wires.

The next big development expected to come to market is the wireless technology for robotic mowers. This will eliminate the need to install guides wires to create a boundary for the mowers. Fahey expects to see beta-testing from some manufacturers as soon as 2021 on specific types of properties. Hopp says for sports fields and open fields, the wireless technology is here now, but to have it successfully navigate around houses, bushes, trees, sidewalks is where the challenge lies. – Brian Horn

Too many lawn maintenance contractors “wing” it when it comes to determining how much to charge for their services. Calculating an accurate hourly rate is essential if you are going to cover all of your costs and earn a reasonable net profit. Editor’s Note: You can see the worksheet for these scenarios by visiting bit.ly/lawnwebextras.

I’ll use both a bottom-up and a top-down approach to determine how much to charge. By bottom-up, I mean that I’ll calculate all of the field costs (field labor, labor burden and equipment) for this service. Then I’ll add general and administrative overhead and a reasonable net profit margin.

By top-down, I mean that once I calculate what I think is a reasonable hourly rate, I’ll then ask if my market will accept that rate. Will the market support such an hourly rate?

How it works in the field.

First, we calculate how much we need to charge for a day for this package (see my MS Excel worksheet “181.0 Two man mow crew.xls”). The costs for this scenario are as follows:

• The average wage for the crew is $16.00
• Overtime adds 10% to this figure or $1.60.
• We apply a 10% risk factor to the hourly rate or another $1.60.
• Total cost per man-hour is $19.20 (16 + 1.60 + 1.60).
• Labor burden (FICA, FUTA, SUTA, payroll taxes, insurances for workers’ compensation and liability, paid time off, etc.) adds 20% to this cost or $3.84.
• The truck and trailer costs $15 per hour or $120 (8 hours x $15) per day.
• The general and administrative (G&A) overhead cost per man-hour is $12. We use a unit cost per man-hour of $12 because applying G&A overhead as a percent isn’t accurate.
• We desire a minimum 10% net profit margin (NPM) for this package. A 10% margin is equivalent to an 11.11% markup. You calculate the 10% margin by dividing the break-even point (BEP) by one minus the desired NPM (1 - .10 = .9).

Next, we add up all of the costs:

• 8 MHrs on site + 2 MHrs mobilization per person at $19.20 per man-hour totals: $384.00
• To this we add the 20% labor burden or $3.84 per man-hour: $76.80
• Next we add the field equipment costs by multiplying the average run-time hours per day by the cost per hour (CPH) for each machine.
• 5 hours for the 48-inch ride-on mower @ $12 CPH: $60
• 3 hours for the 36-inch walk-behind mower @ $6.50 CPH: $19.50
• 1 hours for the 21-inch push mower @ $5 CPH: $5
• 5 hours for edgers, trimmers, blowers, etc. @ $4 CPH: $20
• Total cost for field equipment: $104.50
• Eight hours of truck and trailer time @ $15 per hour totals: 120
• The total direct costs (TDC) are $685.30
• Add the G&A overhead cost at $12 per man-hour (20 x $12.): $240.00
• This gives us our break-even point (BEP): $925.30
• We then add a 10% margin to the BEP ($925.30 ÷ (1 - .1)) = ($925.30 ÷ .9): $102.81
• Our daily revenue goal for this crew is just over $1,000: $1,028.11

Analyzing our daily revenue goal.

This two-person crew needs to generate just over $1,000 per day in 20 man-hours to achieve a 10% net profit margin. This is a little over $500 per day per person. If this crew can cut an average of eighteen lawns per day, the average price per lawn at 10% NPM is $57.12. At 15% NPM, the average lawn price would be $60.48.

Many (probably most) contractors would have a minimum one man-hour charge to drop their tailgate. In our scenario, it would probably be $50 or 55.

A 20% benchmark for “windshield” time (load/unload, drive time, etc.) is a good goal for such a crew. This translates into an 80% curb-time (time on-site) benchmark.

If you felt confident about your daily amount of curb-time, you could charge a curb-time rate.

To calculate your curb-time rate, simply divide your daily revenue figures by the average curb-time man-hours per day.

• Curb-time Man-hour TDC is $42.83
• Curb-time Man-hour BEP is $57.83
• Curb-time Man-hour 10% NPM is $64.26
• Curb-time Man-hour 15% NPM is $68.04

I’d argue that given the costs in our scenario, a bottom-up analysis of the rates that we’ve calculated shows that they are reasonable and accurate. You have to apply them to specific markets to determine if they will fly in a given market.

Of the many ways we reshaped our organizations last year, the most important turns out to be how we focused on helping our people and our communities thrive through crisis. The attention we gave to health, safety and well-being – and the high level of communicating we did with employees and customers – made every company one where people came first.

There are countless reasons people-first engagement needs to continue as we move into a post-pandemic reset. Boosted morale, a cohesive culture, everyone connected and aligned with digital processes and systems and improved protocols for service delivery, safety and hygiene.

Once people experience engagement, no one wants to give it up. Keeping teams and customers engaged will not only be essential in this new year, but a key metric for ranking organizational health overall and future success.

Many companies approach ‘happiness’ as a benchmark or rely on happiness, i.e., happy customers/happy employees, to improve retention. But happiness is not the same as engagement. Happiness is an abstraction and subjective. Engagement is based on how much people care.

For example, a company that focuses only on happiness does, in fact, generate high levels of optimism; but optimism does not necessarily translate to caring about the wider business or contributing to the bigger picture. Sometimes an employee is happy if they simply take home a paycheck. Engaged employees, on the other hand, do whatever it takes.

A lot of companies spend valuable resources on ‘touchy-feely’ things to foster happiness. Everyone loves good barbecue or a gift. But afterwards, are people left with feelings of engagement or are they merely satisfied in the moment?

People-First Engagement leads to boosted morale, a cohesive culture and improved team organization.

The difference matters. Engaged people drive innovation and are in it to win it. Disengaged people – customers and employees – have an 8-to-5 mentality and do not seek involvement or inclusion.

An example of a disengaged customer, for example, is one that may decline to participate in a service feedback survey. They don’t care enough to further your performance by giving you information you need to improve. For maintenance companies, customers that invest in frequent enhancements is a sign of engagement, as are renewals with price increases.

If your team relishes challenges and jumps in to drive revenue, it’s a sign of good organizational health. On the contrary, if they complain that goals are not realistic, assuming that they are attainable, this is not a good sign.

Many owners sense a loss of urgency in their team. I think some of this is a normal evolution of business maturity, but it is an early warning of declining company health. It is a result of complacency. It’s probably a time to make sure you have some young talent coming up to push those that are starting to get too comfortable.

If engaged people will consistently push your business forward, where do we find these people? Better yet, how do we create and inspire them? How can we lay the foundation for engagement, and shape the experience people have with our companies that not only benefits them, but is a return on investment for us?

Engagement pulse points:

1. Improve satisfaction. Coincidentally, this will also increase happiness and morale.
2. Communicate. Involve people in outcomes, problem-solving and planning, and include them in things that matter.
3. Delegate. Give people room to work and think in the way they work and think best.
4. Create a continual, consistent feedback loop; make recognition and course correction a conversation.
5. Make training, career growth and professional development a priority.