Pay for performance in Lawn Care and Landscaping - has anyone been successful?
I know this has been talked about many times, but I'm thinking about re-visiting this option. How have you structured your pay for performance when you have crews that do totally different things? For example- we have some crews that just do lawn maintenance (bi-weekly grass cutting, weed eating, etc), and other crews that do 'projects' (french drains, hardscapes, etc). And some guys that float between the different crews. My brain cannot conceive metrics that would be equitable for both groups. Would we have a different set of metrics for each type of crew? A different set for the grass cutting crew vs the projects crew? What are some examples of metrics that you have successfully used? How did you measure or track them? I think I'm just 'stuck' on how to even get started. I've looked at so many conversations on this that my brain is in overload. Can someone give me a hand here? Can I just see your metrics? Help. Please.Do You Train Your Team to Think or Just Work?
Every Monday, we hold a short training session with our team. We train on communication. leadership. & mindset. The reason being most tradespeople aren’t struggling because they can’t do the work. They’re struggling because they were never taught how to: Speak with clarity Handle conflict Lead a crew Represent the business professionally These tend to be the issues I see bottling up, either from our exit interviews or customer feed back or when things are misunderstood. Thats why I'm curious: Do you train soft skills with your crew?
Hiring the right person for growth
Hey everyone, I run a lawn care business that's been growing steadily. I work full time as a firefighter and have two part-time employees, but we’re pretty maxed out on what we can handle right now. I’m at a crossroads—I need someone I can trust to take on more responsibility, especially when I’m on shift. But I’m also not sure how to afford another employee unless we grow more, and I can’t grow much without that help. Bit of a catch-22. Any advice on finding someone who could help scale the business? Also open to creative compensation ideas beyond just hourly pay. Appreciate any input!
Need advice on scaling
Hi everyone need some advice. The phone has been ringing off the hook and I just can’t keep up with all the work coming my way. I’m a small one man operation and full time firefighter looking to add a couple guys to my operation. any tips would help on how to properly go about expanding. Thank you guys!
Time Clock / Employee Time Tracking
Hey all! We have approximately 20-25 W2 employees who clock in and out using the ADP app. Processing payroll has recently been a hassle due to time discrepancies. Adjusting time cards for each employee is not only time-consuming but can be very costly if things are missed over time. What have you found to help with maintaining accurate time cards for employees? Please paste the link to any hardware you use. I'd love to see what systems you all use for employees to clock in physically instead of over the cell phone.
