Innovative Ideas: Seasonal hiring solutions
“This is my seventh year working with Broccolo,” said Derek Schaff, one of Broccolo’s earliest subcontractor partners and owner of Schaff Landscaping.
“I had primarily a mowing business, and when mowing is slow during the dry season, they offered to teach me to hand prune the natural way. They also hired me in the spring to assist with spring cleanup and mulching and for fall cleanup after frost. I have reduced my mowing clients significantly by offering skilled detail services, which are more profitable. With the shortage of staff, I just could not expand mowing and the cheap competition with other guys in a truck.
“Now I take care of some of the Broccolo clients and my personal customers. There is enough work for everyone. I encourage others to contact the Broccolo team to begin a similar partnership. I am busy, healthy, profitable and proud of my service.”
Employee shortage is typically a struggle with any business — and even more so in the seasonal landscape industry, with intense physical working conditions through inclement weather.
Since 1990, as the founder of Broccolo Garden Center, I have always recruited women and minorities, which increases our pool of applicants. I hear complaints about work ethics and do not agree.
Flexible scheduling and work-life balance is a priority with all staff. Allowing for personal time within employees’ schedules may mean fewer or shorter workdays, but it is worth it when committing to employee and client satisfaction.
I actively pursue relationships with organizations that specifically work with young adults looking for a career. The green industry has a lot to offer, especially for those motivated to run their own business. We’ve launched The Broccolo Entrepreneurship Program as a tool used to recruit subcontractors.
Our subcontracting manager, Diane Myers, interviews, collects legal paperwork for insurance and schedules the projects. She handles all communication with clients to ensure schedules and expectations are met.
Our expert horticulturists consult with clients to develop a maintenance or design plan. Once the contracts are finalized, our field supervisor schedules the new subcontractors to work with our foreman and teach them “The Broccolo Way.” If they meet our expectations, the subcontractors perform our services with check-ins from our supervisors for quality control.
We have found that owner-operator contractors are more reliable and committed to quality. They love the work, thus reducing their sales, marketing and business administration time, including collecting the payment.
It is important that they are independent and still must sell and manage 80% of their own clients.
Videos
