IT'S ABOUT PEOPLE: Recruiting Right

There are four fundamentals all companies should excel at to remain in business. Every organization must be profitable, consistently deliver service, attract, retain and grow the right customers and attract, retain and grow the right people.
 
Accomplish two of these and you’ll do OK. Do three very well and you’ll last for years. Now we could debate which one should happen first or their order, but to be successful an organization must excel at all four.

I would argue that without the ability to attract, retain and grow great people, the remaining three are irrelevant. Recently, I conducted contractor workshops on creating recruiting programs and growing great people within the landscape industry. When I asked the audiences what their people needs were for the next year I was astonished at the number of managers, middle managers, foremen and workers being sought in this industry. What equally amazed me was how low the organizations rated their ability to retain and grow their existing people.
 
You can successfully develop recruiting and retention programs to secure the right people in the landscape industry. Take recruiting, for example. Over the last 30 years I have used six steps to recruit the right people: taking stock of what you have, identifying needs, identifying targets, gathering tools, establishing best practices and seeking the source.
 
For starters, let’s examine the first two steps – taking stock of what you have and identifying your needs.

TAKING STOCK. Inventorying who you already have is the first step. Start by drawing an organization chart of your business team, then go through and rate each person using a scale of ABC, just like in school. The highly ranked A’s are your stars, so tell them you appreciate their contributions. Let the B’s know what they need to do to become A’s, and reinforce with the C’s that it’s time they step up their performance.
 
Next, note the recruiting source – Web site, referral, agency and so on – for each person and then write down the behaviors and skills that require development. Lastly, identify those individuals who can move up in your company.
 
This serves as your people plan and highlights your organizational strengths and weaknesses, where you’ve had past success in recruiting, developmental needs in the organization, who can advance forward and where you would be weakened if someone leaves in both the long and short term. 

IDENTIFY NEEDS. Next, chart out your revenue growth over the next three years and then draw an organizational chart of what your landscape company will look like that coincides with each year of this projected growth.
 
These new charts will identify any needs and where your existing people will fill in any new spots created by growth.
   
Now compare your current organizational chart against those for each year and consider who could move up from your existing team to avoid dissension. Think about sequencing and prioritizing your needs and determine a revenue-to-positions-needed ratio.
 
This can seem overwhelming, especially if you target significant growth in the coming years. But rarely do organizations appreciate the time, energy and resources necessary to start and sustain a successful recruiting program.
 
By taking stock of the talent within your landscape organization and identifying your future people needs as they relate to projected growth, you’ve just completed the first step in the process of creating successful recruiting programs at your landscape business.
 
Next month we’ll examine the next two steps in recruiting: identifying the target and gathering tools.

Bill Arman is a 32-year veteran of the landscape maintenance industry and is a founder of The Harvest Group, a national landscape business consultancy. He can be reached at 949/466-8837 or people@gie.net.