The winter season shifts our focus from what our clients know us for – quality landscaping maintenance and construction services. However, it’s not truly a slow season for us. Our crews are out performing winter clean-ups, dormant pruning, and even hardscape installations if the weather cooperates. During this time, we amp up another area that’s crucial to the success of our entire organization – training.
Aspire & Tablet Classroom Session
We kicked things off right away in the early January with our first-ever classroom-style session. Our managers led all of GreenSweep and Garden Gate Crew Leaders in learning more about our tablets, our twice-a-day check-ins, and Aspire, our internal business software. The session was even more special because leading the charge was Jhosse. He has been with us for over a decade, and has risen in the ranks from a Crew Member to Crew Leader and now Production Manager. (Side note: Jhosse’s dedication to training and beyond earned him January Employee of the Month!)
The team reviewed proper use of our tablets and Aspire, including ways to be proactive and report areas of improvement on job sites. We discussed our internal communication process to address vehicle and equipment issues so we can ensure the team is operating with all of the necessary tools. We reviewed the importance of accurate reporting of time, materials, and special notes on jobs. We know our entire team will be more successful if our Crew Leaders are operating at their best so continuous training on the basics is still important.
Crew Leader Training Day
Training continued at our full day Crew Leader Training Day held in mid January where we split our Crew Leaders into various stations to learn and refresh their skills. Terry led our horticulture station focused on plant identification, pruning techniques, safety, and being observant and engaged on job sites. We were able to use the landscaping around HQ for hands-on training! Juan led a station focused on our morning and afternoon routines, including proper vehicle safety. In the garage, Jhosse and Mason discussed equipment usage, safety, and maintenance with our Crew Leaders. It’s crucial for our entire organization to understand the importance of properly caring for our equipment and supplies. Matt refreshed skills relating to proper documentation, work order details, and photos. Finally, our Skid Steer training gave Crew Leaders an opportunity to hone their driving and safety skills and review proper maintenance. Crew Leader Training Day is a great way to intermingle team members who don’t usually work together, encourage them to train one another, and have fun along the way.
Never Stop Learning
Training isn’t just a winter activity. We continue to review a safety and training topic at our weekly meetings, and our managers are working on updating our library of training sessions to conduct during the rest of the year. We know that training and empowering our individual team members will allow us to strengthen the organization to better serve our clients. Our commitment to training ensures we will recruit and retain the best landscape professionals. The investment in our team is always worth it.
