Elementary school teachers know full well that if you offer children incentives – be it a gold star, a hall pass or extra credit on a quiz – they’ll work as hard as they can to earn it.
The Lawn Mowgul’s employees certainly aren’t children, but they too understand the value of putting in a hard day’s work and being rewarded for it.
Because of their unique payment policy (See “Piece by Piecemeal”), “I don’t give guys bonuses,” says Scott Olden, president of the Dallas, Texas-based company. “But we do give our employees coupons when they do something good. Every coupon is an opportunity to win something in the monthly drawing and everybody has an opportunity to get something extra.”
At the end of each month, The Lawn Mowgul holds a party honoring the employees. During the four weeks before the party, employees have opportunities to earn raffle tickets by exhibiting key behaviors the company values.
“We track complaints and there’s a guaranteed number of tickets you receive depending on how many complaints we’ve heard,” Olden says. Employees with zero complaints receive the most tickets while those with five or more complaints fall below company standards and receive no tickets. But there are other ways to get in on the raffle.
“Every morning, we have a drawing of index cards that have traits on them that we think are important to our company,” Olden adds. “For example, ‘Are you in uniform?’ That’s worth a coupon and anyone not in uniform won’t receive a ticket that day. Is your truck clean? Was your work list completed yesterday? These little reinforcements are just random and every morning we draw one.”
Having no equipment damage, showing up to work early, or having mower blades sharpened are other ticket-earners. Olden is also considering enclosing raffle tickets in invoices so customers can reward crews on-the-job, as well. Employees hang on to their tickets until the party at end of the month.
“At the party, we raffle off about $700 to $800 worth of prizes like televisions, microwaves, paid vacation days, and the ever-popular cash prize,” Olden says. “We survey the crews beforehand about what types of items they would like to see in the raffle. We have several H-2B visa workers in the company and they value calling cards and some basics that they didn’t bring with them, such as pots and pans.” Olden occasionally includes prize-winning games like free-throw shots for $10 a piece.
“Other companies don’t have events like this,” Olden comments. “This kind of recognition really reinforces our company’s core values and keeps everyone’s mind on doing great work. When the employees are happy, everyone’s happy.”
The author is Assistant Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at lspiers@lawnandlandscpe.com.