Always Be Hiring!
With the labor shortage in the green industry, I challenge my coaching clients to always be hiring. Even if no positions are currently available within your firm, you should be looking at ways to upgrade your talent. People come and people go and some stay for the long term, but are they the best that you can get and is it smart to keep them around if you can offer a better alternative to your company and to your clients?
Making it easy for someone to apply and submit an application for employment at your company should be top priority. Can the applicant apply online and directly off your website? Do you have paper applications ready to hand out if someone walks into your office? Do you have your company application saved to a cloud based software such as Dropbox, so you can email it out immediately from your smartphone? The labor shortage will continue to get more and more difficult, so embrace technology and make applying at your landscaping firm seamless and easy!
So, where do you find good help you might ask? I recommend posting help wanted ads on Indeed, Craigslist, Facebook and Linkedin. Consider holding a job fair open house at your facility as well. Do you have “Now Hiring” signs on your company trucks and trailers at all times? Check in with local horticulture programs at your universities and community colleges as well, as these are the type of potential new hires, that have real interest in the green industry.
Last, but not least, implement a new hire referral program at your company. Some landscape companies call it their 1-2-3 program. If someone in your company refers a new hire and that team member stays on board for 90 days, the referee gets $100. If the new hire stays for 6 months, the referee gets $200 and if the new hire stays on board for a full year, the referee gets $300, for a total of $600 in the form of a bonus. Always be on thinking outside the box and ahead of the game when looking to add or upgrade your talent! You will be glad you did when you have a pool of applications to go through when in need!