Benefits for the brain

Just last year, Fisk Lawnscapes earned a spot among Lawn & Landscape’s Best Places to Work. But at the time of the submission, the company’s newest benefit — one that would provide therapy to employees — was in its infancy.

In 2024, Founder and Owner Ben Fisk officially rolled out the company's Therapy Benefit. The policy pays for Fisk Lawnscapes employees to attend 10 therapy sessions or offers a credit of $1,500 for those providers. It’s a no-questions-asked policy and an extra emphasis is placed on employee anonymity. Employees just need to select a licensed professional. Employees can credit the sessions to a company card or have their licensed professional contact the Fisk office to request payment information.

For his part, Fisk believes this touches safety in the workplace and employee retention. If employees are healthy, they’re less likely to make mistakes and they’re more likely to stay with the team. And he thinks his employees will grow increasingly comfortable with the benefit — time and confidentiality will help them feel like taking Lawnscapes up on the offer.

"If somebody doesn't want to tell Ben or some of the other leaders that they're struggling with something, that's totally fine, but we want them to be able to get the help that they need," he says. "That's where it was born from — seeing a need within our team."

Katelyn Milanes, the director of culture and employee engagement, says the privacy part of this policy is important because it helps employees feel confident and safe finding their providers. Employees only need to demonstrate that the therapist they’re seeing is a licensed professional. She reiterates with the employees that their own contact is using the company credit card — Fisk doesn’t even know how many people are using the benefit to ensure complete confidentiality.

Milanes says this policy is one of the various reasons that their turnover rate is less than half of that of competitors in the landscaping industry.

“(This policy is) a fantastic opportunity for the staff to feel cared for that they might not get elsewhere in their lives,” Milanes says.

But this type of policy aimed at improving an employee’s mental health is rare. In our most recent video, Fisk and Milanes joined Lawn & Landscape to talk more about why — and how — they implemented the benefit.

“In my mind, success is if we help one team member,” Fisk says. “If that 1,500 bucks can help one person improve something in their life, that’s fantastic in my mind."

To watch the video interview with Fisk and Milanes, scroll above or click here.