Psyched Up for Training

Can you sustain your training program to last longer than a commercial break – for thirty minutes a week, fifty-two weeks, one whole year? Maybe a little peer pressure would keep you going, or perhaps a Training Challenge, like the one organized by JP Horizons and sponsored by Shindaiwa.

In its third year, the program offers training outlines that companies download from their computers. These bullet points serve as “cheat sheets” for weekly training meetings. Companies lead the half-hour programs at their respective locations, report back to JP Horizons each week, and then are ranked on the Web site. Those with perfect records at the end of the program are entered in a prize drawing to win $3,400 of Shindaiwa equipment, explained Beth Paluch, vice president, JP Horizons, Painesville, Ohio.

“We cover everything from personal development and interoffice procedures to how to plant a tree to irrigation, pest control, personal appearance on site – we cover every aspect of the business,” Paluch summed up, adding that the skeleton outlines serve as ideal topics for maintenance meetings, involving more than company presidents in the training process. “One of the magical parts of the program is that you are getting everyone involved – it’s not just the owner doing the training every week.

“It also becomes a fantastic team-building program,” she added. “It increases moral and helps companies retain and recruit employees. A lot of our companies use it to promote to their clients that they are involved in the training program.”

Companies can sign up for the Training Challenge at an Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) presentation on the “Psychology of Training,” led by industry consultant and JP Horizons president Jim Paluch at the Green Industry Conference in Nashville, Tenn., November 13. The three-hour program introduces the importance of training, and then allows attendees the opportunity to sign up for the challenge.

Additionally, companies can join the challenge throughout the year through several state associations and specially arranged teleconferences, which allow 10 to 15 companies to begin the challenge at one time. Some large companies with multiple branches have chosen to “challenge themselves” by joining the program independently. So far, more than 275 firms in 32 states have tested their training endurance.

“It impacts the industry by raising the level of professionalism,” Paluch pointed out. “It opens the eyes of everyone in a company of who they can be and [the program] has developed leaders in this industry. There are people who have stepped up to be a part of the training program who have grown in their companies as a result of that.”

For more information on the Training Challenge, log onto www.jphorizons.com and click on “Training Challenge,” or call the ALCA office at 800/395-2522.

The author is Managing Editor – Special Projects for Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at khampshire@lawnandlandscape.com.