WHO WILL DO THE WORK? Outside Looking In

Ask 20 landscape contractors from coast to coast to name their top business priorities for 2008 and the majority will place strengthening their management team with key people among the top issues.
 
David Gantt falls into this majority. Three years ago his company, Springdale Outdoor Service in Blythewood, S.C., began to concentrate on growth. Gantt knew to maintain the positive momentum he was building he’d need to transform from an owner working in the business to one that solely worked on the business.

That was one tall order because it meant hiring a management team to share in the leadership burden that Gantt had shouldered.
 
“As growth started to take off I started to shed the many hats I wore,” he says. At first Gantt looked internally, but then realized continued growth and success would only be sustained if he was able to infuse his business with new blood.
 
“I realized that I needed new ideas,” Gantt says. “To get that I needed to bring in new people who had different approaches and who could bring a fresh perspective to my business.”
 
When landscape contractors look to jump-start their operations they should consider looking outside their business, and even outside the green industry, for an infusion of key talent.

LOOKING OUTSIDE. When approaching hiring, many landscape contractors have a narrow focus on potential candidates from within their industry. The common perception among some business owners is that filling a vacant position with a warm body is a job well done.
 
However, this couldn’t be further from the truth, says Bill Arman, an industry consultant and co-founder of The Harvest Group. This mind-set has a certain complacency to it that leads to mediocrity instead of growth and excellence, Arman says. And it’s an obstacle green industry business owners must overcome, he adds.
 
“They think they can find this piece of the puzzle and simply move on,” Arman says. “Instead it leads to most businesses getting stuck in a rut.”
 
While it may seem like a safe choice, bringing in an individual with 20 years of industry experience to fill a management hole may not be the right long-term solution, Arman says.
 
“They may not be well trained for leadership,” he says. “Instead, they may be bringing baggage, primitive ways and a mind-set that you’re going to have to re-orient anyway.”
 
Many markets outside of the green industry have solid employee candidates with the same set of coveted skill sets that landscape business owners are looking for to fill leadership and management positions, Arman says. However, while these candidates are ripe for the picking, outside the industry is often the last place an owner of a landscape business will look.
 
“They don’t have the mind-set that someone from outside the green industry can be hired into the company and brought up to speed about this industry fast enough,” Arman says. “The fact is it’s easier to teach someone technical skills than it is to teach them soft skills.”
 
Scott Jamieson, president and CEO of Care of Trees in Wheeling, Ill., says his company has an active employee development program that grooms up-and-comers for management positions. While it’s a vital mill for future leaders it’s not always the best source to fill some management holes. For example, Jamieson recently looked outside of his company and the green industry when hiring his chief financial officer.
 
“Sometimes you must go outside, as I did for our CFO position,” Jamieson says. “We needed outside thinking and bigger company experience to help us reach the next level.”
 
Gantt agrees, adding of the six management positions he created and filled during his growth phase, four were filled from outside the green industry. Having people in place whose professional careers were not based in the green industry has provided a strategic advantage, Gantts says.
 
“It’s good to have diverse backgrounds,” Gantts says. “My main focus is to bring people in with solid management backgrounds, who will not only enjoy working in this industry but will also be invested in the future success of this company.”

WHERE TO LOOK. Like with a solid employee development program, it’s vital for a landscape business owner to understand his people needs two to three years into the future. For example, Gantt is always recruiting, even if he isn’t necessarily ready to hire.
 
“I haven’t had very good success advertising for managerial roles,” Gantt says. “But I have had pretty good luck with my own head hunting, which I’m doing all of the time. It’s good to have a few irons in the fire.
 
“I know that a year or two down the road I’m going to need to hire a financial officer,” he says. “I recently came across a guy who’d be a good fit. So I told him that I’m not ready to hire now but maybe it was something that he’d want to think about so when the time came he could give it some serious thought.”
 
So where can a landscape business owner find key people to fill his management needs? Various industries provide a variety of expertise, Arman says.
 
For example, to fill sales and sales manager positions, rental car companies have highly-trained sales personnel that would be ideal in the landscape industry. “These skills are valuable and highly sought after,” Arman says. “It’s difficult to teach people how to cold call or how to negotiate a service contract. I believe it’s always easier to hire a professional sales person than someone with a technical background who will be doing sales.”
 
Logistics companies such as UPS and Fed-Ex have employees who are highly adept at running sophisticated operations. “These are people who have been exposed to proven systems and programs,” he says. “And these are skills they can bring to your landscape business.”
 
Closely allied industries, such as property management companies and even big-box stores, are good sources for employees trained to manage and oversee certain levels of customer service and efficiency, Arman says. 
 
In addition, the hotel industry has managers and sales personnel who could make a lateral move to the green industry. “These are fields that deal closely with customers and  satisfying customer expectations,” Arman says. “Also, the hotel industry deals with a lot of the same work force issues that green industry business owners have to deal with. Many times those managers can bring valuable skill set with them and the transition is relatively easy.” LL