MAKING NEW HIRES WELCOME LandCare, Lindgren and Ground
Works provide their employees with first day of work gifts, such as nice branded shirts. “We’ve found that establishing and building personal relationships is most effective in making new team members feel welcome,” Burnett says. “We provide our production managers and supervi- sors with leadership training specifically to improve their interpersonal skills and to teach them how they can foster a positive environment within their teams. Additionally, we welcome all new team members at Stretch & Flex each morning and give them a Core Value card, which serves as a reminder of our commitment to our employees while outlining our guiding principles.”
Nasrallah conducts all his interviewing
and onboarding himself as he wants the employees to understand who he is and what he believes in. “This is a good chance for me to ask them what are your thoughts on this and what would you do so I can implement some of that stuff too,” Nasrallah says. “I take them out to lunch, introduce them and make sure they understand who everyone is.” Ground Works will create a video introducing the new hire to the rest of the team by highlighting the person’s interests. At the end of the week, the company has a restaurant deliver food to the new hire’s house for their family. New says they’ll send a floral bouquet to a new hire’s home. “Let’s say it’s a foreman level position
or above,” New says. “We want to know the spouse’s name, the kids’ names. We’ll send a little card with the flowers that’s at least $100. It’s bigger than what they’ll ever buy themselves. It’s a way of saying thank you and welcoming the family. We believe that’s a big part of making people culturally feel welcomed to the team that they made the right decision.” New says they encourage the founder/owner to be involved with the onboarding lunch. “As you get bigger, they need to be involved in that aspect,” New says.
Psencik adds that owners should not think of a new hire as someone to fill in a gap, but take an interest in them as a person. “The number one reason why people leave is they feel like they’re not listened to, they’re not heard, and they feel like nobody really cares,” Psencik says. “What we find is if you can get the person- al touch, the personal attachment to somebody and show them that you do listen, you do care and you’re invested in their success. Then you’re going to find a lot more success in having long-term employees.”
CHECK-INS AND MENTORS One way to listen to new employees is to conduct regular check-ins to see how things are going.
Meza says he does weekly follow-ups with new employees for the first 60 days. Nasrallah says he has formal checks at the 30-day, 90-day and one-year mark but he is checking in with employees weekly to see if there are any issues. Burnett says their production managers complete 7- and 30-day check-ins and some branches continue to perform check-ins at 60 and 90 days. During these check-ins ask the employee questions like ‘What can we do better?’ ‘How can we make you feel more comfortable?’ and ‘What could help you excel further in your position?’ “It doesn’t matter if you’re sales or maintenance or whatever, your job is not 100 percent defined,” Psencik says. “If you can have a 90-day plan, that gets them started, but then there need to be touchpoints at six months, nine months, 12 months that monitors to make sure everyone knows how you feel.” Assigning new hires a mentor also helps with the onboarding process. At Lindgren, the crew lead serves as the new hire’s mentor. Burnett says super- visors and/or production managers are responsible for leading new employees through technical training and employee development initiatives. “A mentor doesn’t have to be their
direct boss,” Psencik says. “It can be a colleague at the same level, but I think
“What we find is if you can get the personal touch, the personal attachment to somebody and show them that you do listen, you do care and you’re invested in their success. Then you’re going to find a lot more success in having long-term employees.” - Chris Psencik, vice president of McFarlin Stanford
having a mutual accountability partner there to go to with general questions that you may not want to go to your supervi- sor with, is really good.”
WHY ONBOARDING MATTERS New says while it’s easier to conduct the onboarding process for those at the management level, it’s even more important to put the same effort in for new hires on the field level. “As an employer, the onboarding process is your first opportunity to create an engaged employee,” Burnett says. “Creating an onboarding experience that presents your people and culture to the new hire in fun and interesting ways can keep your team members excited and motivated to come to work. Additionally, encouraging supervisors and production managers to form positive relationships with new hires helps them build rapport with their teams. Employees who feel there is someone invested in their success are much more likely to stay and grow with us.” Psencik says companies should
examine their onboarding process and improve it all the time.
“Considering it is the entry door this will play a big role as the image and culture of the company,” Meza says. “It is crucial to have a proper onboarding process as this is where new hires start analyzing if their values align with the company culture. Furthermore, when a new hire feels valued by the company since day one, they are more likely to stick around for a long haul.” TLP
Lindgren Landscape ensures new hires are made to feel welcome with their workspace
ready to go. Photos: Lindgren Landscape
National Association of Landscape Professionals 19
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
