Now Hiring: A situational approach

Interviewing can be an incredibly time consuming part of running a business. But hiring the right people is a critical aspect of growing and developing a successful company. While there are different approaches to interviewing – particularly based on position – it should always be taken seriously and performed thoroughly.
 

Crew Members. While it's often the lowest paying job on your books, ignoring the interviewing process for crew members is a big mistake, says Jean L. Seawright, president of Seawright & Associates, a management consulting firm located in Winter Park. Fla. "A lot of companies operate under the misconception that 'It's just an $8 an hour job – we don't need to do applications or background checks. As long as they're breathing, they're hired,'" she says. "But that's a huge mistake. I can tell you from experience that the employers who do this greatly regret that philosophy because those employees are going out on the customers' properties and can create risk for your business. If they harm a customer, co-worker, or member of the public in the course and scope of employment for you, the finger gets pointed at you."

Seawright recommends background checks for every employee hired – but emphasizes it's critically important for crew members. "They're in vehicles, using dangerous equipment, on customers' properties and have access to people's homes," she says. "I'm a huge advocate of running background checks. They can be done at a low cost and very easily today. The whole process can be done online."

For the interview process, Justin Carver, grounds maintenance manager, Maxwell Landscape Service, in Chesapeake, Va., says that he's actually less concerned with questions about landscaping than he is about "dependability." A lot of landscaping techniques can be taught, but dependability and work ethic cannot.

"I deal with maintenance almost exclusively so that's not the hardest to teach," says Carver. "But the right attitude and dependability need to already be there. That's something you get a sense of right away by seeing if they show up on time. We run on a schedule and the ability for crew members and leaders to be able to stick to a schedule is really important. If they show up late for an interview, that's something to pay attention to."

Anthony DaRocha, president, DaRocha's Landscape Services, in Rehoboth, Mass., says that having spent most of his life in this business, one thing he's learned is that potential hires often lie about their skills, saying they know how to do a lot more than they actually do.

He says it's an easy thing to catch. "I bring up certain brands of mowers and see what they know," he says. "If they don't know what brands of mowers or equipment they've worked with, it's very likely they're lying about how much industry experience they have. I prefer to have an honest person that's willing to learn, than a dishonest and overconfident person that already thinks they know it all."
 

Office Staff. While your office personnel aren't typically meeting clients face-to-face, they're often the first contact a customer has with your company. Jereme Pohill, operations manager, Designs by Sundown, based outside of Denver, says they ask potential office staff some tough questions during the interview process to see how they handle difficult situations. "We'll discuss scenarios based on some of the issues we run into and see how they respond," Pohill says.

In terms of a resume, Seawright says it helps give you a flavor for how the candidate "organizes their professional life in writing," but says that it's a "big mistake to exclusively rely on a resume." She suggests a "letter of interest," which is just what it sounds like – a letter in which the candidate explains their interest in the position. "I also want to emphasize that a resume should never replace an application," Seawright says. "The application is critical and allows you to ask legal questions about their reason for leaving the last position, rates of pay, and whether they've ever been fired."

Nathan Helder, president of Gelderman Landscaping in Ontario says he relies more heavily on interview questions than resumes. "We ask a lot of questions that aren't just about work," Helder says. "We believe that questions about hobbies and activities they do outside of work tells us about them as a person, which ultimately reflects upon how they work."
 

Sales Team. Sales are the lifeblood of an organization so it makes sense so many business owners put an emphasis on it, says Seawright. She says finding the right salesperson starts with knowing what the ideal salesperson looks like for your organization. Once you know what you're looking for, Seawright suggests questions like: What have you been selling? Was it a service or a tangible product? Have you done selling primarily on the phone or in person? Are you used to originating leads or were they handed to you?

"When you look back at their history, you also want to see how they functioned under a commission-based plan, assuming that's what you offer," Seawright says. "See if they had the ability to increase those commissions. You want to see they earned a progression in pay."

Helder says that a sales position is typically a two- or three-interview process at Gelderman. "It starts with myself and the HR advisor," he says.

"If they get through that stage, the next step is an interview with operations. The salesperson has to sell the product, but then the operations crew takes over, so we like them to interview the salesperson as well. The final interview is at a restaurant, where I invite my wife, who is not in the business at all but has a keen perception of people and also brings the female perspective. I'll also invite a few key people from the business, and we'll see how that person acts in a social setting. That's important for a salesperson dealing with customers on a regular basis."

No matter what the position is, Seawright says that business owners should be prepared for the process to take time.

If you're doing it properly and including applications, background checks and reference checks, it's not going to be a quick deal – even for your lowest paying position.

"It's important to understand the value of a good hire and the risk associated with a bad hire," she says.

"Once employers start to understand that, they take the whole interview process a lot more seriously."

Climbing the Ladder

Promoting from within works, but don’t be afraid to look elsewhere.
By Lindsey Getz

Knowing when and who to promote is always one of the big questions faced by landscape business owners. In these times, many businesses say they're struggling to keep all their employees on payroll and haven't given much thought to promotions. But it's still important to give employees reasons to enjoy coming to work. And when it is time to promote, there are some important considerations to take into account.

One of the biggest mistakes that landscape business owners can make in promoting is doing it solely based on tenure, says Jason Cupp, a Kolbe Certified growth consultant. "I've seen it happen where an employee is promoted based on years with the company but doesn't have the skills, knowledge, or perhaps leadership abilities to do that position," he says. "Rather than just hand someone a promotion because they've been with the company a long time, it's better to have them interview for the position like you would have any other candidate do."

Steven Cesare, a consultant with The Harvest Group who specializes in human resources, says employees should only be promoted after they have demonstrated sufficient development. "By that I mean, employees should only be promoted after they have completed a complex assignment, dealt with an issue of hardship or been able to demonstrate performance in a high potential position," he says. "Don't promote someone and hope they can do it. Promote someone because they're already showing they have the potential to do it and could do even more in a higher position."

At Georgia-based Coastal Greenery, that "potential" must be demonstrated in order for president Jeffrey Johns to even consider a promotion. "In order to move up to a team leadership position, there are certain criteria that have to be met such as pesticide licensing, CPR certification and an in-house hands-on test we do," he says. "There also has to be additional training on a Friday, which is typically the production crew's day off. If they show up to shadow an account or production manager for the day to learn things like plant identification, then that shows initiative. That's not something they're paid for – it's on their own time."

Looking outside. While many landscape business owners much prefer to promote employees from within, sometimes looking outside of the company is the better option. Joe Markell, president of Sunrise Landscape + Design in Sterling, Va., says that he is always focused on training employees so that should a need for a position arise, internal employees might be ready. But though he always looks internally first, he says that hiring from the outside instead of promoting someone is an opportunity for fresh ideas and someone with a different perspective.

"An outside hire may be more in tune with the needs of the market these days than someone who's been with the company a long time," says Markell. "That fresh perspective and influx of new ideas is sometimes just what a company needs."

Cupp says that failing to look outside of the company because of wanting to try to promote internally may be a mistake. "You need to be honest about whether your existing employees meet the criteria of what you want for the position," he says. "One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is that they don't seek out the best talent. They give the position to a friend or long-time employee when what they really need to do is find the person that's best for the job – even if that person isn't currently with the company."

Keeping them happy. Oftentimes business owners will promote someone not right for the job because they don't want to lose a long-time employee that's great at what they do. But Cesare says there's a big difference between "performance" and "potential."

A foreman may be an excellent performer in his current position, but simply may not be equipped with the leadership potential to move up.

Fortunately Cesare says there are many ways to keep these employees happy without a promotion. He says that "growth" and "promotion" are two very different things and there are other ways to allow an employee to grow.

"One way is called 'job enrichment,'" Cesare says. "You would stretch their duties and provide more responsibility, such as now being in charge of approving time cards or maybe phoning orders into the vendor. You can stretch those responsibilities under the same position, allowing them some growth opportunity and more visibility with customers or vendors."

In other circumstances, a business owner would like to promote an employee but the current economic climate prevents it. In those situations, making an effort to maintain a positive work environment and keep employees happy is a smart tactic.

"We want to keep employees interested and engaged whether it be through bonuses or just keeping them up to date with what's going on at the company," Markell says.

"When things eventually turn around, unhappy employees will jump ship right away. Keeping them happy now is critical. That means giving them new opportunities to keep the job fresh."

 

The author is a frequent contributor at Lawn & Landscape.