Contractors Prepare For The Future: Industry Roundtable

Fifteen contractors spent two-and-a-half days at the North American headquarters of Husqvarna Forest & Garden, Charlotte, N.C., addressing these issues at the second Industry Roundtable sponsored by Husqvarna and Lawn & Landscape magazine.

Following are some of the contractors’ thoughts on a wide range of topics:

EFFECTIVE RECRUITING APPROACHES:
"I think the most important thing is to offer a professional organization with a lot of communication and to care about who the employees are as people." - Bill Gordon, Signature Landscape

"We need to look for people who appreciate the immediate satisfaction doing the jobs offers - people who want to put their mark on a property." - Mike Rorie, Groundmasters

"You have to show people the keys to their growth and convey that there is a career path with the company." - Mark Arrimour, Pennink Arrimour.

"We have 2.8 percent unemployment, so the traditional methods can’t be relied upon as much. We recruit at three or four local Hispanic churches." - Chris Kujawa, Kujawa Enterprises

"Remember, a lot of times we’re dealing with people at or near the poverty level. What are they looking for? Stability, a regular paycheck and language familiarity - a sense of doing a good job isn’t as important." - Jack Hasbrouck, The Groundskeeper

"We get college graduates involved in recruiting so we have them recruiting on a peer basis. We send them back to their own schools and pay their expenses." - Tim Lynott, Chapel Valley

"An added benefit to using current em-ployees is that when they are recruiting they’re also selling themselves on your company all over again." - Jim Paluch, JP

"We pay a $250 bonus to employees who recruit a foreman who stays with us for six months. That works well, but you can end up paying often enough that employees see it as more of a right than a bonus." - David Harting, Nanak’s Land-scaping

INNOVATIVE HIRING PRACTICES:
"The approach has to vary based on the position you’re hiring for." - " Brian Moore, The Brickman Group

"The first impression is critical. We always start with a tour of our facility." - Harting

"We have a panel of people - foreman and account managers - interview candidates. It impresses them and shows them how important this position is to the company." - Frank Mills, Hillenmeyer Nurseries

"Hiring has to be pushed down to the field-level people. They’re often the best at measuring whether or not someone will be able to do the work. Also, people will work harder to help someone they’re responsible for bringing into the company." - Phil Lundy, Northwest Landscape Industries

"We think there has to be a formalized process or strategy with assigned duties for who first greets candidates, who follows up with them. Plus, let them know your company is a selective place to work." - David Zerfoss, Husqvarna

"We’re going to put together a list of our employees and their history of promotions to show that people do move up." - Michael Currin, Greenscapes

"I like the idea of having each supervisor come up with a list of three people they would like to have working with them, and then making them personally responsible for pursuing those people." - Harting

"It’s a good idea to have one sheet that summarizes the employee benefits the company offers so you can put them all in front of applicants." - Steve Wood, Husqvarna

INCENTIVE PROGRAMS THAT WORK:
"There has to be buy in from the employees with measurable goals that they believe in and that they helped develop." - Wood

"We tried to develop a program tied into hourly production, but it really cost us in quality." - Gordon

"The key is what we call Expectation Theory. You have to define the job and set specific goals. You can tell someone to plant the color on a project, or give them 16 flats to plant in one day." - Hasbrouck

"The scoreboard is the way we’re going. We think being open book is a no-brainer, and then you can compete internally against the margins, profits and sales. Everybody makes it or doesn’t as a group." - Rorie