Keeping an employee is much easier than finding, hiring, and training new team members. I hear stories regularly from green industry companies about problems retaining good employees. The most popular story is probably, “I had three guys quit this week and go to a competitor for $2 per hour more than I was paying them. I offered them raises but they left anyway.”

People leave jobs for many reasons, however unless the amount is significant, it is rarely for money alone.

Information is vital for people to feel good in today’s world. We all have more information at our fingertips than ever before and have grown accustomed to feeling well informed. We tend to fill in the gaps with our own “information” and, as humans, rarely is it positive. We start in the hiring process with a checklist of items that we want to both give to and get from the new team member. Giving your team the information they need is vital to keeping them engaged and positive.

Let’s consider appreciation; compensation is not appreciation. These two things get linked somehow and are truly two different subjects. Compensation is agreed to and earned. Appreciation is beyond that and not necessarily financial. Most times a thank you is sufficient, just letting them know you noticed and appreciate their efforts. Small perks and rewards can also be very effective; we have done things like popsicles on a hot day, $10 cash rewards, paid time off (even an hour), bought lunches, and prepared lunches. There are so many things we can do to show appreciation and the ones that take a little effort are much more effective than those that cost money.

We all want to feel needed. Keeping our team informed and appreciating them will go far in making them feel essential. Also, delegating responsibilities and communicating expectations gives team members a connection to the successes and shortcomings of the company. It’s not all about reward, there is also an element of accountability and solid team members are ready to accept both. This leads to challenging our team.

Challenge leads to opportunity. No one wants to feel stuck, at a dead end, nowhere else to go. People want to be challenged with more responsibility, harder and larger tasks, and to be able to expand and grow their abilities. Raise expectations, increase responsibilities, and provide the resources and conditions to succeed and you will create a challenging environment for any team member. As these increased expectations and responsibilities are achieved, compensation should be adjusted to reflect the increased workload of the team member.

Retaining quality team members is not easy. Consider things from their perspective and keep them engaged and positive through the communication of information, appreciation, and expectations.

What goes into Christensen’s Plant Center having the freshest, most viable stock?

It began years ago when Lee Christensen (and probably before him his dad Pete) sought out material from the finest growers in North America. When Lee passed on the company to Tim Joy and Frank Huber, that sourcing experience of finding nice material at a good value was part of the deal. Over the years Christensen’s has cultivated relationships with a number of top-notch vendors, and our current Investment team of me, Kim Roth and David Dermyer as well as Frank Roth at Rushton Farms are focused on nurturing and expanding those relationships.

Secondly, the material is shipped by trucking companies we broker ourselves, then unloaded by our highly trained (and sometimes overworked) receiving staff. They can unload 8-12 trucks in a day and 1000’s of boxwood and yews in a week. All plants are placed in our facility under irrigation, both in the yard or the field. Maintaining that irrigation system is a top priority for our yard manager Chris Nielson (assisted by Rigo).

Third, the material is evaluated and approved as it gets unloaded or shortly after. If we see anything wrong, it gets rejected. If I wouldn’t buy it for myself, why would I sell it to you? Sub-par material is often put right back on the truck.

We make sure that plants are viable, rooted, and healthy. Plants that don’t pass this evaluation are removed from inventory immediately. Rarely, we receive trees in the spring that are rejected for quality but are not able to be shipped back to the vendor. We put the best of them in our “2%” area, and offer them to you at shockingly low prices.

We do want to be fair to our vendors, so if material arrives early in the year, we give the plants till early June to come out of dormancy. It’s amazing how some will take that long (like trying to wake up a teenager on a Saturday morning).

Finally, the other main force for refreshing our stock is you, our customer. Quick stock turns are key. If you’re busy planting, our staff is busy doing what Lee, Tim and Frank have trained and asked us to do. We are experts at finding quality material and are ready to provide what you need for your installs.

We know your success is our success, and we are glad we can help.

Here are three great time-saving ideas from Christensen’s Plant and Hardscape Center.

In conclusion, you, the Contractor, often do not have enough time in the day to accomplish what is needed. We can help you save time so you can focus on what’s important. Let us partner with you to save you time!