Landscape Management, October 2013
BUSINESS PLANNER 2014 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET OCTOBER 2013 26 ILLUSTRATION ISTOCK INTERNATIONAL INC Lead È V È K A If your company is transitioning in size or youre at a crossroads thats holding up growth there are steps and actions you can take to gain traction Here are some things you can do to nurture your leadership energy and your need for the right team Q Ive reached 6 million and need to grow but Im stuck and cant build a team because of turnover How do I improve my hiring practices to keep people longer Turnover can set back growth plans cause contract losses and impact morale so its important to have a pipeline of people ready and able to step up If youve reached 6 million you have done a lot right Its not common however to reach this level in a stressful environment The sooner you have a people development plan the better You must identify how you will staff and train for growth Q I need to find good people but Im spending a fortune on ads and getting poor results What can I do Filling empty positions can cost a lot While headhunters can be a solution for key positions in general recruiters are expensive and the time it takes to evaluate and select a suitable candidate can be a disadvantage Advertising now includes using online tools and social media including Facebook LinkedIn Craigslist and Monster or CareerBuilder These popular online databases can be effective but come with uneven results The best solution is to have a system in place for proactively identifying high potential people at all levels and promote from within whenever possible Q I hire promising college grads invest in training them and they stay for a year or so and then leave What can I do The career potential in our industry is really good but college graduates are only part of a long term solution There are very good manager potential people who have little or no college education so the key is to hire for potential and make a long term commitment for people development In small entrepreneurial companies some employees emerge as leaders or show intuitive or inspirational qualities in spite of the fact nothing has been done to develop their leadership skills It takes time The larger your company gets the less time you have You cant wait for your future leaders to develop independently you must encourage leadership through a culture that supports your commitment to it Q Whats the best way to train people internally so I can promote them For a career training and development program to work effectively you need a company culture that continued on page 28 Q BY BRUCE WILSON HOW DO I DEVELOP GOOD PEOPLE
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