First impressions are priceless. The way an organization is perceived can very well make or break a client’s interest in its services. This is why companies invest money in trucks, uniforms and equipment – these things help convey a professional image to prospective customers. But, after reeling in the client with an image of quality, the challenge to delivering services commensurate with the client’s expectations. Of course, not all companies do this the same way, but there are a few common practices that any company can adopt to improve the quality of its services.
SETTING STANDARDS. Because quality is such a subjective term, employees must know and understand the company’s definition of quality. They must be trained on the proper techniques to use to perform efficiently at a level that is acceptable to both the owner and the clients.
“When it comes to quality, you can’t just watch a video to learn how to do something,” asserted Joe Goetz, president, Goetz Landscape & Irrigation, Centerville, Minn. “You have to be out there doing hands-on work. After you show the crew how to do something, you let them try it and then you give them feedback on their performance.”
Because Goetz realizes that not every employee hired will have all the knowledge necessary to work on large accounts, he is starting a new program this spring where each new employee will work with a training manager.
“This will be more of a one-on-one or one-on-two approach so that the training will be more individualized,” Goetz explained. “When they’ve passed the checklist of things that we’ll require them to know, they will be able to go out with the crews. We believe that will help quality and efficiency.”
Until the new employees pass that list, they will be assigned to smaller jobs, such as planting trees, installing rocks and edging. “The emphasis here is more on quality, not on time,” Goetz acknowledged. “As they get trained, time becomes more important. We’re taking this approach to emphasize the culture of the company and to explain to them what quality means and what it looks like.”
At New Garden Landscape Management Co., Greensboro, N.C., foremen stress horticultural excellence and expect that from each employee. “Everyone does landscaping differently, but potential employees need to want to do it our way,” declared Jon Essick, operations manager. Essick explained that a lot of emphasis is put on selective pruning at New Garden because managers want employees to understand the plants and how they grow. Formal pruning seminars are held in the spring, but supplemental training continues year-round on the job to be sure that each plant is being pruned correctly.
At R.A.R. Landscaping Co. in Baltimore, Md., employees attend a field-training day before beginning work. “Field training is held prior to the grass cutting season,” related Allan Davis, vice president. “We give the employees all the safety equipment they’ll need and set up stations where they can learn to use all the different types of equipment they’ll be using. That seems to be the most effective jump start for us.”
Davis explained that most of his employees are obtained through the H2B visa program and that although these employees don’t have to pass any tests during the field-training day, foremen work with them until they feel comfortable using the equipment and will continue to work with them on the job until they are proficient.
Davis maintained that it is this training, along with the ongoing training in the field, that will prevent quality from suffering when foremen push the crews for productivity. “And if we get a compliment or we see a crew doing a good job, we celebrate that,” he emphasized.
Once employees understand a company’s quality standards, the next step is choosing clients who share them as well. “Before going into any contract, whether it’s maintenance or design/build, we complete a needs-determination process,” explained Ed Reier, vice president of operations, Tecza Environmental Group, Elgin, Ill. “Not only does that help make clear what the customer is looking for, it also determines in both of our minds if we should work together. Because we’re a quality-conscious company, if we come across a prospective customer who isn’t attuned to quality, I’m up front with them and we won’t even enter into an agreement with them.”
The needs-determination process consists of a detailed list of questions for the potential client that each sales person tailors for his clients. The questions are meant to help both the client and the sales person establish the scope of the work to be performed. “If the expectation is ‘mow and go,’ that’s not typically our customer,” Reier declared. “Sometimes a client doesn’t know what his expectations are and this process helps to determine that.”
Essick agreed that customers with high expectations are preferable because the company’s name and reputation are at stake. “About 90 percent of our potential clients trust us because we’re the experts,” he emphasized. “If I can’t educate the other 10 percent about the benefits of hand pruning and turn them around, they’ll need to find someone else.”
| HAVE A FIELD DAY |
Using the H2B visa program has its advantages, but one disadvantage is that the employees might not be familiar with common landscaping equipment. This unfamiliarity can cause productivity problems and can adversely affect quality. To combat this problem, Allan Davis, vice president, R.A.R Landscaping Co., Baltimore, Md., explained that the company holds a one-day training event, which they call “field training day.” About 60 employees, primarily Mexican, are brought together prior to the grass-cutting season and are introduced to each other and walked through the orientation process, which includes filling out paperwork and watching training videos in Spanish and English. The employees are then given all the safety equipment they will need over the course of the season, such as goggles, gloves, ear protection, etc. and are then taken around to stations manned by foremen, who are all bilingual, where they can learn how to operate different pieces of equipment. “The field training is for our mowing maintenance crews so they learn how to use walk-behind and riding tractors, line trimmers, stick edgers and blowers,” Davis explained. At the end of the day, which usually lasts about 10 hours, all the employees are expected to be familiar with their co-workers and the operation of all of the equipment. Even returning employees participate in this training as a refresher or to help newer employees learn the equipment. “This is a way for them to get fired up about the upcoming season,” Davis enthused. – Cheryl Green |
PROVIDING MOTIVATION. Once employees know what’s expected of them and have the training to meet expectations, motivating them to perform is the next key to achieving quality. Many companies have found that offering performance-based incentives works well to motivate employees.
At New Garden, an extensive evaluation process ensures that one-third of each foreman’s jobs are assessed for quality and efficiency each quarter by six other employees. The 10-point evaluation covers weed control, pruning, overall plant health, the irrigation system, cleanliness of hard surfaces, trash removal and mowing, among other things. The six employees assessing the property give each area a score of one to 10. The average of this score accounts for 70 percent of the $300 incentive the foremen can receive each quarter. Other factors that affect the bonus amount are random truck checks and sharing safety information with the crew.
“The guys really bought into this, and what makes it work is that at the end of each quarter we post the scores,” Essick explained. “The guys really try to beat the other guy. It’s a friendly match, but peer pressure is pushing the quality and efficiency.”
Although the incentive only applies to foremen, Essick believes the crews are motivated by the training program offered so they can one day become foremen. “I have a lot of Hispanic employees and sometimes they think moving up is related to how hard you work instead of what you know how to do,” he maintained. “The whole idea is to teach them skills they’ll need as a foreman. They can move through it at their own pace.”
Just as the 10-point evaluation scores are posted for everyone to see, Essick also posts each employee’s skill level. He believes that this motivates employees to produce quality work and learn enough to move up in their skill level.
Until lower-level employees move up to the foreman level, they are eligible to receive a $50 bonus each quarter through the company’s Gold Card Program. When an employee goes above and beyond his expected performance, his foreman will write up a gold card and post it on the bulletin board for everyone to see. One employee is then drawn at random each month to win the money.
Peer pressure works as a motivator for Mark Stupcenski, director of operations, Russo Lawn & Landscape, Windsor Locks, Conn. Next year, the company will visit each property twice a month and score it, Stupcenski related. “I want to put something down on paper that will be visible to everyone to create some competition.”
Russo Lawn & Landscape also gives out annual bonuses, but Stupcenski doesn’t think this program motivates lower-skilled workers because they typically think in the short term. To motivate these employees, Stupcenski said his company is going to institute an employee-of-the-month program and tie that into a weekly or monthly bonus. “If you’re the guy with the weed eater, you look toward the end of the week, not the end of the year,” he related.
BE YOUR OWN COMPETITION. When employees and management are at the top of their game and work together, quality is inevitable. However, Goetz warned that when assessing his company's ability to provide quality services, he tries not to get caught up in what his competition is doing, and advised other contractors to do the same. Each company is unique, so the focus should remain on developing training programs and communication standards that best fit each organization, he said.
“We just try to do the best that we can do,” Goetz concluded. We know that we can make or break our own company.”
The author is Internet Editor for Lawn & Landscape Online.