A thriving business means you’ll have more clients than ever. And as your business picks up momentum, the workload can be difficult to manage alone.
Hiring top-notch landscaping employees can help you scale your business and expand your services to meet the demands of your market.
Building your business from the ground up takes a lot of time and dedication. So, it can be difficult to trust people with your business. And finding new employees can be overwhelming. So, where do you start?
Finding and hiring quality employees can seem like a daunting task but it doesn’t have to be. Let’s look at some tried and true ways to find the right landscape professionals.
When Is the Best Time of Year to Hire Landscaping Employees?
Spring tends to be the busiest time of year in the landscape industry. The average onboarding process for new employees can take about 3 months.
Hiring in the winter should give you enough time to hire new employees and get them acclimated before the busy season.
Depending on the needs of your business, full-time or seasonal employees are both great options. If you’re looking for temporary help, hiring a contractor for a one-time job or for specialized services would be more beneficial.
Independent contractors can be hired per job or contracted seasonally. If you’re ready for more consistent help, a full-time employee might be the better option.
How to Craft a Job Description for Landscaping Staff
The job market can be competitive, with different industries attracting many of the same candidates. Amidst a national labor shortage, you’ll want to nail your job description to draw in applications.
When creating a job ad for lawn care employees, you’ll want to focus on a few things.
- Job Title: Start your posting with the job title and a hook to draw in potential candidates. These could be top benefits or perks.
- Job Description: Describe the job simply and efficiently. Be direct and clear about what your land care company needs and what your ethics are.
- Job Duties: Incorporate the job duties and what kind of hours and physical requirements the position entails. Keep it short and easy to skim through.
- Position requirements: List all the prerequisites required for the position. (Education, experience, certification, etc.)
- Attract job seekers: Incentivize potential employees. Your ad will attract job seekers by advertising competitive pay and growth opportunities.
- Utilize social media: Create a shorter and catchier ad for social media. This will draw in different people to your job posting from various platforms.
Job posting templates for hiring landscape employees:
If you need a place to start, try out a job advertisement templates. A template like the ones listed below can help guide you in formatting and will make sure that you include all of the necessary details about the job.
- Canva offers creative and customizable templates for social media platforms, email marketing and paper advertisements.
- Indeed presents a step-by-step how-to on creating a job posting and a downloadable job posting template.
- Ziprecuiter has a landscaper-specific template ready to go. You can also use their job ad tool to help you create a specified listing.
RELATED ARTICLE: 5 Tips for Running a Landscaping Business
How to Identify Qualified Landscaping Professionals
Once you have applications coming in, it’s time to sift through and find the right candidates. This part of the process doesn’t have to be overwhelming, and it certainly doesn’t have to be a guessing game.
Here’s what you should look out for when choosing the most qualified job seekers.
Experience With Lawn Care
Experience within the landscaping industry doesn’t have to make or break a candidate. But relevant experience will certainly help you.
A candidate who is familiar with the type of work this position requires will be able to hit the ground running. A less experienced candidate may require training.
Specialized Skills
Direct experience isn’t the only kind of experience. Candidates who’ve worked similar (but not identical) jobs may also be well suited to fill the position.
Look for folks with trade-school experience, a background in labor-intensive positions, or experience working with the tools and equipment your company uses.
Recommendations
Does this candidate come with a recommendation from a vendor or colleague?
A referral from someone in your industry will help to ensure qualified applicants and verified skills. Use your connections to attract potential industry professionals.
Professionalism
Top candidates won’t just have the right skills and experience. They’ll also have the right attitude.
Reliability and friendliness, for example, go a long way. Your employees will be the face of your business and customer interaction. Make sure you hire team members who will make you proud.
4 Tips for an Effective Hiring Process
The hiring process can feel overwhelming once stacks of resumes start to pile up. Fortunately, a little organization goes a long way. It’s important to be clear about what you’re looking for so that you can be selective in this process.
Here are some tips to ensure the hiring process goes smoothly:
Use Credible Hiring Platforms and Job Boards.
This will help you find qualified candidates faster.
Look into ZipRecruiter, Indeed, and LinkedIn. Craigslist and local job forums may also help bring in more candidates but pay close attention to each candidate’s qualifications.
Conduct Interviews to Start Hiring Landscaping Employees.
Interviews are the best opportunity to evaluate a candidate’s traits and experience. Prepare a list of questions to ask during the interview that will help to get an insight into the candidates’ work ethic, communication styles, and goals.
From there, pay attention to how they answer your questions. A big part of the job is customer service. You’ll need employees who can behave professionally regardless of their skills or experience.
Call Previous Employers.
Make sure the candidate’s experience and references are strong. While this step may take some time, it’s well worth the effort. Reference checks help determine the honesty, reliability, and character of the potential hire.
Credible work experience goes a long way. Make sure they have a strong work ethic to bring to your company.
Run Comprehensive Background Checks.
A background check can reveal important details about an individual’s past.
While someone’s history doesn’t always dictate who they are today, it’s good to know who will be on your company’s payroll. You can run a background check right online.
What to Do After Hiring Landscaping Employees
Once you’ve found the right employees, the next step is to get them trained and adapted to the company culture. Employee retention can be challenging in the landscaping industry because of the seasonal nature of the job.
Ensuring a positive work environment will help keep retention rates high.
Onboarding
A thorough onboarding process increases new hire retention by 82%. Provide them with the necessary equipment, tools, and training to be successful in their role.
An in-depth training process will help employees to feel valued and welcomed from day one.
Growth Opportunity
Opportunities for career growth and competitive benefits packages will attract more career-oriented employees. Plus, those kinds of perks will make them better employees and inspire them to stay with the company.
Consider offering benefits like health coverage, 401(k) plans, vacation time, and other perks that will appeal to employees. Sponsoring certification programs and continuing education can help create a positive company culture.
Seasonal Retention
Landscaping jobs can often be primarily seasonal work. If you can ensure year-round opportunities, your business could see less turnover.
Consider offering services and employee training in things like snow clearing, tree care, renovations, and holiday lighting installation.
RELATED ARTICLE: 5 Ways to Prepare to Scale by Performing Snow Removal
Frequently Asked Questions About Hiring Landscaping Employees
The hiring process can be daunting, especially if it’s your first time taking on employees. Here are some quick answers to some of the more commonly asked questions about the hiring process. Hopefully this helps make the process a little smoother.
How long does it take to hire a new landscaping employee?
On average, hiring a new employee in the landscaping industry should take about 3 weeks.
How long does it take to train a new landscaping employee?
Most training periods for new employees last up to 90 days or longer.
Can landscape employees be paid in cash?
Legally, you can pay your employees with cash. However, this may make it harder to track payroll and calculate taxes. If you choose to pay your employees in cash, you’ll want to be diligent in your record-keeping to remain compliant with tax laws.
Does my lawn care business need temporary or seasonal workers rather than full-time employees?
Independent contractors are great for specific projects or for specialized skills but may not be ideal for long-term services. Lean on temporary employees for scalability and seasonal work.
How much should your landscaping company pay lawn care employees?
The national average pay for landscape employees is $ 35,240 a year or $ 16.94 an hour.
How many employees does a landscaping business need?
The average landscape business employs about 2 people. Starting small and scaling up your employees as you gain more jobs can be more effective than a larger crew.
As your business grows, you could add an additional crew of about 2-3 people. Smaller groups tend to handle a range of projects more efficiently, and you can always group them together for bigger assignments.
RELATED ARTCLE: 5 Things to Avoid When Running Your Landscape Business
Next Steps in Hiring Landscaping Employees
If you’re ready to find the employees of your dreams, here are some things you can do to get started:
- Decide how many employees you want to hire – Start small and remember, you can hire more employees as you gain more jobs.
- Start writing your job description – Be sure to be clear and concise when describing the job responsibilities and qualifications.
- Explore hiring platforms and job boards – Take some time to explore different credible hiring platforms to find which one will work best for you.
- Develop a comprehensive onboarding process – Make new employees feel valued and welcomed from day one by providing them with the necessary training, tools, and equipment they need to do their job successfully.
About the Author
As the President of both Fieldpoint and DynaScape, Brad is focused on growth. His leadership style is all about enabling and uniting those he works with. On the weekends, he loves to tackle landscaping and construction projects himself.