A new month means a new book recommendation! This month’s recommendation comes to you from our staff member, Jordan Robertson. 

Have you read Safety Walk, Safety Talk?

Author Dave Galloway absolutely hits the mark as he explains how safety is first and foremost about caring. Throughout the book Galloway focuses on the mentality of safety itself and leaders that want to create a culture of safety throughout their organization.

You’ll read in depth discussions on compliance vs. commitment, how to develop a safety strategy as well as the psychological aspect regarding why people make mistakes and take risks.

One of our favourite parts of the book is that each chapter ends with a "Safety Leaders Toolbox" segment which gives practical tools and tips to becoming a better safety leader using small things you think, say and do everyday.

Here are Jordan's biggest takeaways from the book:

• Reading this book changed my outlook on the idea of safety in the workplace and I...

Let’s talk about firing. Although it’s uncomfortable, there are times when it’s essential. At those times, it’s important that you are prepared and that you do not avoid it. Total Landscape Care posted a couple of articles a number of years ago that are still relevant today. Here is a brief overview of my takeaways from reading them.

Things to remember:

• “The goal is not termination. The goal is to gain the performance you want. If it comes to it, the termination should never be a surprise to the employee” - Bill Cook (President, Human Resource Associates)
• Know the laws and create a paper trail. All infractions must be documented. It doesn’t hurt to book a call with an employment lawyer if there are any questions around it.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Why do you want to terminate them?
• Have you terminated others for similar performance?
• Do you see anything personal in your reasons?
• Have you exhausted all other remedies?

Three things to...

Performance reviews have gotten a bit of a bad rep throughout the years. Though it’s easy to understand why, it also doesn't need to be that way.

When done well, performance reviews can leave your staff feeling empowered and inspired and leave you feeling encouraged and excited about the upcoming year.

Here are 3 things you can do to foster reviews that your staff can look forward to instead of dread:

1. Set expectations. Do your staff know what’s important to you and to your vision for your organization? Have you clearly stated your expectations? Do they know what a review will look like, what they need to do to get promoted, receive their bonuses, etc.?
2. Encourage speaking up. Create an atmosphere where your staff feel comfortable sharing their concerns and their goals.
3. Reward above and beyond. Pay attention throughout the year to what you staff are doing then acknowledge and reward those going above and beyond for your company. They are the face of your brand. How they...

Onboarding is not finished once HR has all of the signatures they need. In fact, I would argue that it’s just the beginning. 

Onboarding, not a new but an often forgotten concept, should include things like values and vision of the company, and a training & employee development schedule. Staff should spend time with HR, owners, managers and crew leaders to get a well-rounded view of your company, how it runs and what will be expected of them. Training should be part of your onboarding process and should continue even after your employee has been assigned to a crew.

Continued training has been proven to improve efficiency, longevity, and safety. When you have an effective training program, employees learn how to efficiently and effectively do their job and they stay longer because they feel invested in the company and their role in it. On top of that, training helps avoid costly mistakes and often reduces the length of time it takes to complete tasks. So instead of...

“The primary purpose of an incentive plan is to positively shape employee behaviour toward improving the company’s financial performance.”

Profit Works is a must read for anyone wanting to create an incentive plan that gets results. Alex Freytag and Tom Bouwer are huge proponents of Traction (the book we base our coaching program on), and you’ll notice how their ideas and advice works together with the EOS system. 

Throughout the book Alex and Tom will walk you through the why, how and what in order to create an effective incentive program for your company. There are clear do’s and don'ts in this process and this book breaks them down and provides straightforward instruction for the “do’s”. 

3 things stood out to me as I read this book:

1. Incentive plans will not make up for bad management. 
2. This is not an overnight process. As mentioned in the book, it takes time and intention to teach your employees how they, as...

Although mental health is not a new issue, the impact and responsibility we have as business owners is relatively new and how we approach it is not always clear cut. More information and  training is becoming available to us, but a lot of it is from larger companies with greater resources, which can be tough if you’re a small business. With that being said, I understand that one of your biggest challenges is the unknown and we wanted to share 6 simple suggestions:

• Check in often with your staff and actively listen to them.
• Ensure your staff know that their job is not at risk because they share their mental health concerns.
• Talk about mental health with your staff regularly
• Talk about the importance of enough sleep consistently
• Create a work/life balance - don’t contact staff after hours whenever possible
• Consider switching to 4 day work weeks.

I believe open dialogue around mental health and a willingness to understand where your staff are at will make a world of...

Did you know Steve Jobs wore the same thing every day because he wanted to reduce the number of decisions he made in a day?

As business owners, we make decisions all day long. We make them so quickly that we often don’t even realize we are making them. In fact, it's estimated that we make around 35,000 decisions every. single. day. Each decision we make requires time and energy and depletes our willpower. The more decisions you make in a day, the quicker you will end up with decision fatigue.

There are 5 simple steps you can take that will help with this:

• Reduce the number of decisions you make when you wake up (This is when wearing the same thing, eating the same thing, getting up at the same time can be helpful.)
• Once you are at work, make your biggest decisions first. 
• Delegate what you can
• Simplify your life
• Create a daily routine. The more regular the routine becomes, the more the day-to-day tasks can be done on autopilot instead of you needing to consciously decide...

Owning a landscaping business comes with its fair share of stress. That it’s seasonal and weather-dependent only adds to the stress of business ownership, making the ability to be nimble, flexible and resilient critical for success. But when we do not manage the stress we end up in burnout which, if not dealt with can quickly cause business failure. 

The TGC Academy posted an article a couple years ago talking about burnout and how we can avoid it. The author, Monica Allene, shared the truth about burnout (and I think many of us can relate): “I think on some level I avoided it in the early years with the power of youth (I’ve been doing this since my late teens). Then, as I got older, I avoided it by sheer force of will. Then, as I “matured” (chuckling a little here), I began to struggle with keeping burnout at bay, and I realized that something in my mind had to change. As I tackled my own mental state and began to focus on my body and spirit, I...

“If you’re going to build a business that is scalable and valuable, you must get your financial house in order.” - Jeffrey Scott

A few months ago fellow business coach, Jeffrey Scott, published an article on the Top 10 Financial Mistakes he sees business owners make. In it he shared that before taking on a new client he asks them to rate their financial involvement. I’d love to ask you the same.

How would you rate yourself in regards to your finances? 

Level 5. Review financial reports monthly and operational reports weekly, and other operational numbers daily, making key decisions along the way.

Level 4. Review financial reports monthly, making many decisions monthly.

Level 3. Look briefly at reports monthly (or every other month), making just a few decisions.

Level 2. Look at reports quarterly at best.

Level 1. Wait till year end to see how I did.

No matter where you are on the scale - you are not alone and there is always room for growth. Knowing your...