December Issue Preview: Fixing the Revolving Door

COLUMBUS, Ohio - During Five Seasons' second year in business, the company had what president Bill Leidecker described as "200 percent turnover." It couldn't recruit and retain the right kind of people to do the job.

The main challenge was finding people to do a quality job so that the Columbus, Ohio-based company's reputation wouldn't suffer.

At the end of that year, Five Seasons decided to revamp its employment application to aid in the interview process. They added a section with specific questions relating to the industry, such as "Do you have experience with a riding mower? If so, please explain." This, according to Leidecker, gives them a better determination of an interviewee's specific level of landscape experience. "That way we know what type of training this person has so we can have a better understanding of how that person will fit into our company - if at all."

This also helps Five Seasons figure out whether or not the interviewee has picked up bad habits at other industry companies and may not adapt as well to Five Seasons’ service expectations, Leidecker said. Typically, Five Seasons prefers hiring people without relevant experience, training them how to do the job and then moving them up in the company. "That way has worked out best for us," Leidecker said.

To learn more about Five Seasons Landscape Management, see the December 2001 issue of Lawn & Landscape magazine.