If you’re worried about retaining landscaping employees, you aren’t alone. No matter what trade show, conference, or other green industry events you attend, listen to the chatter and you’ll likely hear about the same struggles come up again and again.

Landscape business owners nationwide are all struggling with the same employee retention concerns, saying that it’s not only difficult to find workers, but it’s also incredibly difficult to keep them.

While you need more job recruits to fill your open positions and to keep your business growing, employee turnover can be a thorn in your side.

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that way.

The best way to combat high employee turnover rates is to create landscaping career pathways that help show your existing employees (as well as potential employees) that you have a company where they can build a future. This comes down to finding ways to show your employees that you are invested in them and that you have a company where they can put down roots.

Here are some effective ways that we’re seeing landscape business owners do just that.

Show Them the Way

First and foremost, if you want to get people thinking about how they can find landscaping career pathways within your company, you need to take the time to actually show them the possibilities. So often the landscaping industry is thought of as one where people will hop from company to company, always in search of better opportunities, but never actually settling down for the long-haul.

Get potential hires out of that mindset by showing them how they can build their landscaping careers without leaving your company. Show them there is room for growth.

This means being transparent. Sometimes landscape business owners struggle with this concept. For whatever reason, they feel as though they should keep company information private or even secretive from employees.

But this is a missed opportunity. You must give transparency to what your growth and vision look like or else you cannot expect your employees (or potential employees) to be able to understand what their future could look like.

How?

• Share your company history. Let people know where you came from and where you are now. Also, let them know where you’re going.

• Share your values. Make sure people know what you believe in and what your company culture is like. Turn your company into a place where people want to come to work each day.

• Share information on landscaping career pathways. Spell out exactly what a career at your company could look like. They might start as a laborer but how long until they could become a foreman? Use real-life examples (case studies) to give people a realistic view of the opportunities that await them. Show them the stepping stones it will take to get there.

• Share salary information. This is always a tricky one, but it’s important. Give existing and potential hires a realistic idea of what they stand to make if they stay with your company. Even just providing a range can give some concrete incentive to stick around.

Encourage (and Reward) Education

Investing in your employees’ education and training is a win for everyone. In terms of employee retention, it shows your employees that you care enough about them to invest in their advancement. If you pay for your employee’s time and expenses to attend a class and gain a new certification, that makes a powerful statement about helping them build their landscaping career.  

Some companies even take it a step farther and not only pay for the time and expense of a class but also offer a salary pay raise for earning new certifications. After all, when employees receive advanced training and earn new certifications, it benefits your company, as well. Being able to tout that you have highly experienced or highly trained workers is a great selling point for your business.

Similarly, if your employee is taking some other type of class outside of the workday, such as an English as a Second Language class, you might also want to consider tuition reimbursement— particularly if it’s a class that will ultimately benefit your business. We’ve heard of landscape companies who reimburse based on grade. For instance, an A might earn a 100 percent tuition reimbursement and a B might earn 70 percent, and so forth. This gives employees some motivation to succeed and do well in the class, which will also benefit your business. Plus, you’re also showing your employee that you truly care about their future.

Celebrate Work Anniversaries

A work anniversary may sound like a small detail but the truth is, there is a huge opportunity when it comes to remembering your employees’ start dates and celebrating them. It could be as small a gesture as a handwritten note from the owner saying “you’ve been with us for three years now and we thank you for that. We look forward to your future with the company.”

A note like this goes a long way.  

Other simple ideas for celebrating work anniversaries include:

• A breakfast muffin in the morning or a cupcake in the afternoon
• A cup of their favorite beverage (coffee, tea, etc.)
• A shout-out on social media
• Their name on the wall in your conference area or another gathering spot

The point is, it doesn’t have to be a huge monetary investment. When it comes to an occasion like a work anniversary, it’s the recognition that employees value most. The fact that you’ve taken the time to remember their time with the company is what speaks volumes.

And not only does it speak directly to the employee, but it speaks to other employees (and potential employees) as well. Don’t miss an important opportunity to let people know that you are a company that celebrates its people. Studies have shown that employees would rather work somewhere where they feel valued and make a little less than work in an environment where they make more money but are under-appreciated.

Of course, if it’s a special number, it might be worth investing a little more in your celebration than a card or a shout-out. For instance, if you have an employee that will be celebrating their 10-year work anniversary, consider taking them out to dinner. If you have an employee about to celebrate a 15-year work anniversary, assign them a special parking spot.

You can come up with the gesture that is best-suited to your situation but the idea is the same no matter what you choose to do—and that’s to follow through. Too often landscaping companies have these grand ideas about how they are going to build a great company culture but they fail to actually execute them. Come up with a plan to celebrate work anniversaries and stick with it. It will benefit you in more ways than one.

Spread the Word

We’ve already mentioned the importance of sharing these efforts but it’s a point worth reiterating. After all, you can make tremendous strides toward retaining employees by improving your company culture but that will do nothing in terms of helping you attract new hires.

There are several ways that you can make sure you get the word out.

Make Use of Social Media

Your social media platforms (think Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter) are a great place to celebrate employees. Whether it’s a birthday shout-out, sharing work anniverary details, or even touting that your employee has gained a new certification, by making that news public you’re doing good in more ways than one. You’re making that employee feel celebrated, valued, and appreciated. You’re also showing potential hires that you are a company that takes the time to celebrate its people. And, you’re even showing existing or potential clients that you have great people.

Extend the Celebration

Social media is probably the easiest and most obvious space to celebrate employees. But you might have other opportunities that make sense for your business. For instance, do you send out an email newsletter? If so, perhaps it makes sense to have an employee spotlight section each month.

Or, you can make space in the office to celebrate employees. Think “employee of the month” photos on the wall or a company bulletin board where you can celebrate a job well done or a new certification that was earned. This is inspiring for the office but also for new hires that come in for interviews. They’ll instantly get a sense of your company culture with efforts such as these.

Dedicate Website Space

Your website is another great space to demonstrate landscaping career pathways and talk about what a career at your company is like. Some innovative landscaping companies are developing culture blogs that give an “insider’s view” into what it’s like to work at their companies.

They include employee profiles and information on how to advance one’s career. An effort like this helps to create a “feel” for your company and can build upon the idea that there’s room to grow.

Show Them Your Vision

There are a lot of efforts that could go into demonstrating landscaping career pathways to potential and existing employees. But it could be summed up this way: 

Let your employees see the big picture.

When you appear to be a company that is only focused on this season or even this year, and you never talk about the future, you will never attract (or retain) employees that care about putting down roots within your company. After all, you haven’t given them the reason to do so.

But, if you give them access to the big picture—to your vision for the future of the company—and you make sure to let them know you want them along for the ride, then you give them a reason to want to stay. You also give them a reason to want to work harder and, in turn, do better. And ultimately, that’s good for everyone.

Solutions that Work

At Include Software, we have worked with landscape companies for many years, so we know that employee retention is a huge concern. We’ve listened to your struggles and have actively sought out solutions—whether they are software-based or not.

We’re passionate about the green industry. After all, the whole idea behind our software is to make everyone’s job easier at your company.

By implementing some of these ideas into your organization and building a scalable future for your employees, you should be on the path to growing your company with a group of people that truly want to be part of your growth.

If you want to talk more about how using the right software can complement growing your business and retaining your employees, give us a call at 800-475-0311 or contact us for a free demo.

Image sources:  Kingstown Lawn & Landscape, Level Green Landscaping,