NALP Talks: Industry professionals weigh in on best practices

Scott Jamieson of Bartlett Tree Experts kicked off the NALP Talks session at LANDSCAPES in Louisville, Kentucky, with an overview of how he views safety and strives to have safety drive the culture of the company.

After a tragic accident ended in the death of an employee doing a side job, Jamieson realized safety didn’t go with his workers when they left the jobsite.

“Our job isn’t to prevent accidents,” he said. “It’s to minimize exposures.” At Bartlett, the company culture revolves around identifying exposures, and it’s something Jamieson hopes employees will carry with them now, even off the jobsite.

“We look at the job ask ‘What could kill you today?’” The company talks safety at the beginning of all meetings, and Jamieson said employees now go above and beyond when looking out for others, whether they work together or not.

“Culture always wins over strategy,” he said. You can plan a safety protocol, but it won’t have an impact unless it’s part of your company’s culture.

Jim McCutcheon, owner of High Grove Partners, stressed the importance of saying no when it’s necessary. He said that while it may be tempting to chase the companies who have higher revenue, it probably isn’t what’s best.  

“You have to absolutely know how you make money,” he said. “If you don’t know, how do you think your workers are going to know?”

McCutcheon said sticking to your best money-making service is often a better, more profitable option. Bidding on a large, expensive job may be tempting, but you need to consider if you’re in it just for the profit. Your “bread and butter” jobs may suffer when they attention and time are removed from them to focus on the large job.

Frank Mariani, president of Mariani Landscapes, said what makes running a company of more than 500 employees easier is focusing on creating opportunities for the employees.

“I knew when I took over the company, if I wanted to keep (key employees) I knew I had to grow the business,” he said.

One way he creates opportunities for his employees is utilizing ISO certification.  Mariana hired an outside expert to run the certification, and after 18 months the company was ISO certified.

“Anything you decide is part of running your company, you can match to an ISO standard,” he said.