It’s been a great year at Grunder Landscaping Co., and we’ve already far exceeded our sales goals both as a company and for each of our salespeople. As our salespeople are closing jobs, our production team is standing at the ready too. As sales have gone up, the actual hours our crews are working have gone up too. We wouldn’t be able to push past our goals without a production team willing to do whatever it takes to complete the jobs we’ve sold.
In part, we’ve been able to surpass our goals because we’ve found and retained enough great team members this year, but it’s not the whole story. We’ve also greatly improved our efficiency, and our team is getting more done in less time. We believe four specific shifts have helped us do it:
1. We do a daily morning huddle
Every morning at 7 a.m. we do a huddle and stretch with the entire team. The huddles have reduced issues with tardiness and they’ve made our morning roll-out more efficient. We get everyone energized and remind them of our vision, mission and core values before they start their day.
2. Better, simpler systems
At one point, I had a written process for how to reload paper towels in the bathrooms. Our processes were too complicated, and we had way too many of them. By fully embracing Aspire, eliminating processes that were overkill, simplifying processes we needed and improving our training program, we have made major efficiency gains. The proof: we have raised wages consistently without reducing our gross margin.
3. Information sharing
During the morning huddle, we share quick updates and give shoutouts to the team. This daily check-in is a great touchpoint for our company culture. In addition to this, we also have a monthly meeting with the whole team where we share company goals, important metrics that impact our team’s profit-sharing plan and our plans for the future of the company.
4. We share our big growth plans
Our team understands what’s in it for them if we meet our company goals for 2021: more money from the profit-sharing plan, merit increases and promotions. We’re also being very clear about our plans for the future and how those plans will mean even more opportunities for them. We’re making some big changes in our physical office space now to prepare for growth in 2022 and beyond, you can read about that on our website too.
What we are doing on the production side directly impacts our ability to seize whatever work we can. It’s given our team new energy too. They’re excited to be part of the growth and it’s fun to work alongside a team with a common goal. I’m really proud of the hard work they’ve done to make this possible, and I can tell from their attitudes and energy that they’re proud too.
If you want to see this in action, come to one of our Grunder Landscaping Co. Field Trips this fall. We have spots available Nov. 16-17 or Dec. 8-9.
