Landscape Management, June 2017

business insider I magine being able to attract and retain the best people frontline workers managers salespeople and others How different would your life be not worrying about selling more work due to operational capacity constraints What else could you accomplish if the burden of hiring and training vanished How much more profitable could you be There are a few employers in every industry whove developed the right mix of ingredients to make their companies attractive and rewarding places to work while their competitors struggle to find people and hold onto them Profitability mirrors this fact A few firms are extremely profitable every year while others struggle One of the essential ingredients is incentives rewards and recognition Its not the only one and perhaps not even the most important one However its one thats often not seen as a critical component even though it is Incentives rewards and recognition affect employee engagement which in turn affects satisfaction and turnover Engaged employees are less likely to seek out greener pastures or be interested in having a conversation with a headhunter or competitor A tAle of two employees At the core of employee engagement is the sense of being connected to something that has meaning mission We all have a natural desire to achieve something meaningful versus just going through the motions and collecting a paycheck Connecting mission to goals incentives rewards and recognition is powerful But its difficult and thats why so few companies do it well First a companys mission needs to be clearly articulated and inspiring Furthermore a company needs to establish goals track and report accurate data establish feedback mechanisms and celebrate when it achieves its goals Plus folks at the top of the organization must commit to make all of this a reality Lets compare two hypothetical employees The first one works for a company where the mission is unknown goals are unstated rewards are few and recognition is rare Whats his or her incentive to go above and beyond Not much other than pride a sense of professionalism or some other factor He or she will most likely leave as soon as something better comes along because engagement is low As the company searches for this persons replacement it will operate short handed burdening the remaining staff Recruiting onboarding and training are expensive and time consuming The new hire may or may not work out Everything suffers in this never ending cycle by Phil harwood The second employee works for a company with a compelling mission that gives everyone a common purpose There are team and personal goals and there is a sense of unified effort toward something meaningful Managers track and share key data so everyone knows how far from goal things stand When goals are met people and teams are recognized rewarded when appropriate and celebrated by everyone Whats this persons incentive to go above and beyond Everything Because engagement is high this person is not likely to leave In the second scenario the company benefits greatly It retains institutional knowledge year after year Productivity and efficiency improve Mistakes drop Quality improves which boosts customer satisfaction and retention Recruitment costs are low Profits climb Examples of Fortune 500 companies with high employee engagement are Disney Ritz Carlton and Southwest Airlines Examples in the landscape industry are few but they do exist Its possible to obtain high employee engagement satisfaction and retention in the green industry Ive worked for both types of companies and I can tell you its way more fun and rewarding to work for the second type Where to begin Start slowly and with simple recognition to develop a culture of appreciation One of my clients has started to acknowledge individual achievements at its semimonthly all staff meeting something it had not done before on a regular basis Its a small step but its a step in the right direction What can you commit to doing to get started Or whats the next step youre willing to take LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET June 2017 56 The author is president and CEO of Pro Motion Consulting Reach him at phil@ mypmcteam com business basics Planning PHOTO isTOCk COM bOygOvidEO Steps toward employee engagement