Above water

 

“I’d say 95 percent of our properties are lakefront properties,” Jennifer Davies says. “Maybe 75 percent of them have really been affected, so we’re getting in, getting a bit of work done, but we can’t finish projects.” Their plans to start the construction on the greenhouse site was also delayed.

 

There’s also been a surplus of phone calls coming in from people in the community hoping for some help getting their lawns back in shape. Davies says she and her husband, Bob Naylor, have had to prioritize current clients instead of taking on anyone new.

The influx of work requests coupled with the lack of a full labor force has left the owners of Pratt’s turning down a substantial amount of work.

 

“We’re really still focused on recruiting,” Davies says. “We can’t not be focused on that right now. We just can’t take a lot more work on so which is unfortunate, because our phone rings off the hook.”

 

With job fairs at local colleges proving to be unfruitful, Davies says they are in the early stages of looking overseas for more workers. She’s not quite sure how the process will work, but she knows other businesses have had luck with it.

 

And, with the added cost of renting a house for the summer for potential employees, the couple is eager to get the rooms filled. Yet, they remain empty and the owners are eating the $14,000 in total rent costs for the season.

 

The Harvesters are hoping to see the couple beef up their recruiting efforts by enhancing their referral program. In the past, they have offered a $100 bonus for recruits. Davies has been tasked with implementing the new tiered system, which will offer $100 after 30 days, $200 at 90 days and $300 at the end of the referral program.

 

“We’ve started (the new program) but haven’t seen much luck with it yet,” she says.

Davies and Naylor have both been focusing on staying in their own lanes when it comes to managing their team. They were worried that the start of the season would prove to be a struggle, and with the unexpected weather, Davies admits they have slipped here and there.

 

“Things have been pretty good with Bob and I,” she says. “But we’ve been able to recognize when we may have handled something wrong.” She says they’ve been able to reflect back on situations where they should have deferred the decision making to one another, and the employees have been understanding.