THE NALPFOUNDATION
Utilize NALP Foundation Toolkits to Boost Company Diversity
By Jill Odom
TO SUPPORT A SUCCESSFUL GROWING COMPANY, YOU NEED THE most capable people on your team, regardless of their age, race, religion, gender or national origin.
“In order to be competitive in the ever-changing landscape of business, new ideas, thoughts and ways of doing things need to be embraced and cultivat- ed,” says Angela Hieronimus, director of engagement and success for Blades of Green, based in Edgewater, Maryland.
Photo: (Below) Blades of Green (Bubbles) SiteOne Landscape Supply
“These come from a diversity of experiences, both in business and in life. Moreover, without a diverse workforce, think about the opportunities companies are missing out on in an already competitive labor market. Solely looking for a candidate pool that looks and acts like the ma- jority of those employed is a complete disservice to the company and per- petuates a persona that a company is biased, and maybe even prejudiced.” Teddy Russell, CEO of Russell Landscape Group, based in Sugar Hill, Georgia, says while it may be more comfortable for an owner to hire people
who are just like them, this also limits their growth. “The more diversity within the com- pany allows us to recruit and retain a diverse workforce,” Russell says. “The branches and areas of our company that are more diverse are better able to recruit and retain a larger pool of great employees. They also tend to offer more creative ideas for the entire company to improve.” Joe Ketter, EVP of human resources for SiteOne Landscape Supply, based in Roswell, Georgia, agrees that a diverse workforce provides different perspectives and better solutions. He adds that it’s also important your associates reflect your diverse customer base. “Having a diverse workforce means happier and healthier employees, cus- tomers feel more respected, and manag- ers have greater access to the talent and skillsets they need for their departments to thrive,” says Anterro Graham, general manager for Pro Cutters Lawnscapes,
based in Conyers, Georgia. “It has made a difference to our customer base to see a diverse employment pool working together. We believe the team should re- flect the general makeup of our society.” While it’s unlikely you’ve actively discriminated against hiring diverse employees, it is important to be intention- al about it. Both Hieronimus and Russell say that while they’ve always been open to new hires of all backgrounds, it’s dif- ferent from actively recruiting from these talent pools. “As we navigated the challenges of finding good talent, we became cognizant that while we had never discriminated against female technicians, we also never made a specific effort to make it welcoming to that demographic either,” Hieronimus says. “As we explored further, we quickly realized that needed to change.”
She says increasing the diversity in their front-line team members has brought to light a number of topics that had not been part of the discussion previously. Brandon Morris, executive assistant/interviewer for Pro Cutters, says they also recognized they didn’t have a lot of female participation in
16 The Edge //January/February 2023
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
