Do your people enjoy the work?

Do your people actually enjoy the work they do and the people they do it with? That question matters because companies where people enjoy the work usually run better. Crews are more efficient. Problems get solved faster. Turnover is lower. Profitability higher. This isn’t soft stuff; it shows up in the numbers. Enjoyment at work doesn’t come from slogans. It comes from how the business is run every day, in the field and in the office.

The Work Itself Can Be Enjoyed. Landscaping has a real advantage over many industries. The work is physical, creative and visible but at the end of the day you can stand back and see what was accomplished. When I first worked in the field, I remember when the jobs were finished, I’d just stop, look at the job from various angles and get a great feeling of satisfaction. I mean I really loved the beauty that was created. Most people who come into landscaping like working outdoors and take pride in what they’ve built or maintained. That enjoyment is already there; it’s in them. The role of ownership and management is to protect it, not crush it with poor systems, bad habits or berating your customers.

What Kills Enjoyment on a Crew. Enjoyment disappears fast when the job is frustrating. Missing materials. Broken equipment. Poor routing. Constant last-minute changes. Unclear expectations. These issues don’t just slow crews down, they wear your people out. Over time, people stop caring about quality and just focus on surviving the day. When that happens, efficiency drops, mistakes increase and labor costs quietly rise. Disorganization isn’t just annoying, it’s expensive.

Leadership Sets the Tone — Owners and Managers Alike. Whether you’re an owner or a manager, your behavior sets the tone. Crews watch how leaders respond to problems. Do you stay calm? Do you make decisions or put them off? Do you solve issues or complain about them? People work better when leadership is steady and decisive. When problems are acknowledged and handled, crews can focus on the work instead of the chaos. That leads to better productivity and better days in the field.

Let me give you a personal example. One of the biggest mistakes that ever happened when I owned my company was when my construction manager came to me and said he had “forgotten” to include a center island in a patio we were building for the world headquarters of a large corporate client. I asked him how much more the job should have cost. He said about $50,000. I was upset. But instead of reacting, I asked how it happened. He walked me through it, and I told him, mistakes happen. The important thing was making sure we put a process in place so it didn’t happen again.

What mattered most came next. My manager owned the mistake and needed to tell the corporate executive what happened because the job was now going to take longer. He explained the mistake but assured the executive that in no way were we going to let this oversight affect the quality of our work. At the end of the job, the manager was delighted. The crew watched how the situation was handled and worked the rest of the year with a level of commitment that helped make up for the loss.

Recognition and Celebration – Keep It Real. People want to know their effort is noticed. That doesn’t mean constant praise. It means recognizing extra effort during a tough week. Acknowledging someone who handled a client issue well. Noticing improvement over time. Celebration matters, too, when it marks real wins. Team lunches, small celebrations or simply spending time with crews go a long way when they’re genuine and consistent.

Growth Keeps Good People. Good employees want to get better. Training, learning new skills and taking on responsibility keep people engaged. Even small opportunities matter. When owners and managers invest in their people, performance improves and turnover drops. People want to be challenged, so challenge them.

Where Owners and Managers Fit. Owners are responsible for systems, resources and direction. Managers are responsible for execution, communication and removing friction in the field. Both matter. And both are visible to crews every single day. Managers don’t create enjoyment with talk. They create it by planning well, communicating clearly, supporting their crews, enforcing standards fairly and owning mistakes when they happen.

When owners and managers work together to make the job run smoothly, people enjoy the work more.

And when people enjoy the work, culture takes care of itself. Efficiency improves and profitability follows.

Cream of the Crop features a rotating panel from the Harvest Group, a landscape business consulting company. Ed Laflamme, LIC is co-founder of the Harvest Group. He can be reached at Ed@HarvestLandscapeConsulting.com.