0:00
Here, want to make a quick
0:01
video. I was reading a Facebook
0:03
post earlier today and
0:06
literally someone was freaking
0:08
out as a lot of us do in our
0:09
lawn care companies when
0:11
someone actually quits on a
0:13
Monday morning as a no-call, no
0:14
show and you find out the
0:15
individual is never coming back
0:16
to work for you. What do you
0:18
do? Well, it got me thinking,
0:20
holy **** I’ve got a an
0:23
interesting life lesson here
0:24
that I would like to share that
0:27
happened in my lawn care
0:28
company probably about 10 or 11
0:29
years ago. Um happen is
0:31
literally on the same exact
0:34
experience this gentleman was
0:35
having, I rolled into the shop
0:38
with all intentions of getting
0:41
all the crews out and
0:42
literally, I think at that
0:43
point, we had probably 12
0:46
crews, two-man mowing crews,
0:48
and some maintenance crews and
0:49
fertilization but literally, we
0:51
didn’t have enough bodies for
0:54
six of the crews, approximately
0:56
five or six crews. Uh so,
0:57
basically, a little, little,
0:58
more, little, less than 50% of
0:59
our team didn’t show that
1:02
morning. So, literally, in a
1:03
frantic we started calling
1:05
these individuals to see like,
1:07
hey, if they’re okay and B,
1:08
were they coming in? And a lot
1:10
of them didn’t answer their
1:11
phones, but one or two of them
1:13
actually did, and basically
1:16
told us that they had basically
1:18
quit and started their own
1:20
well-attempted to, start their
1:21
own lawn care and landscape
1:22
company. So, the point of the
1:26
video here is, we need to
1:27
build, build some redundancy.
1:29
So, literally, when I lost
1:31
about 50% of our staff that
1:32
day, Uh I went into panic mode
1:36
and literally jumped on one of
1:38
the mowing crews in some crazy
1:41
wild idea thinking that I would
1:42
actually be able to cover the
1:44
production of five or six crews
1:46
which obviously looking back at
1:48
it is a complete insanity. Um
1:51
but such a whirlwind, such a
1:53
devastating thing to lose about
1:53
half of your team and literally
1:55
have them go out and try to
1:56
start a competing company with
1:57
you. Um and they come to find
2:00
out they’re actually starting
2:00
to steal some of your clients.
2:01
Um a lot of when we’re in the
2:04
trenches of the war of our
2:05
service business, we don’t
2:06
actually have a clear mind of
2:08
what we should be doing. So,
2:10
kind of responding to A, the
2:12
gentleman that lost one
2:13
employee, thankfully, he didn’t
2:14
lose half his, half his team
2:15
for the maintenance division.
2:17
Um what what I should have done
2:19
looking at it in retrospect is
2:21
gone right back to the office,
2:23
got the, the five or six crews
2:24
that were left out, had them
2:26
tag team at the end of the, end
2:28
of the day, to just start
2:29
chunking away at the additional
2:31
work if they could, incur the
2:33
overtime, that would have been
2:34
fine, and rally the troops
2:35
around that, but Really, what I
2:39
did is, is I jumped out on a
2:40
truck thinking I was going to
2:41
cover that gap which obviously
2:42
didn’t happen. So, I should
2:44
have went back to that office
2:45
and started working that
2:46
database of potential new hires
2:49
that we had previously
2:50
interviewed. I should have ran
2:52
some Facebook ads, should have
2:53
put a basically a one-day
2:57
recruiting and hiring session
2:58
together and try to actually
3:01
fill that gap. Now, yes, some
3:02
of the clients may have been
3:04
aggravated. The key commercial
3:05
HOAs and other places like yes,
3:08
we’d obviously prioritize
3:10
those. Um but I think if
3:11
through some communication, I I
3:14
think we could’ve worked a
3:16
seven-day week that week and
3:18
maybe the next week and covered
3:20
a lot of that gap but what I
3:22
did is actually going back on
3:23
that truck, I prolonged the the
3:26
the pain of it and didn’t allow
3:28
the company to respond the way
3:30
it should. So, what we need to
3:32
be doing proactively to beat
3:34
this really is to go out and
3:36
constantly recruit and to that
3:39
day moving forward, we have
3:40
always gone out in that lawn
3:43
care company and interviewed
3:44
every Monday, Wednesday, and
3:46
sometimes Friday and what we
3:47
found in the Northeast in
3:49
Upstate New York is
3:51
traditionally over the last 10
3:52
or 11 years, we had looked at
3:53
it, we would always lose one or
3:55
two employees either they would
3:57
get fired or we’d have to let
3:59
them go but there are main
4:00
things right before within a
4:02
week before after Memorial Day
4:03
and within a week, before,
4:05
after the July 4th weekend or
4:07
holiday and then right around
4:09
the second or third of August
4:12
which ends up being my
4:13
birthday, August 18th, but that
4:15
week, before or after, we would
4:18
consistently lose guys or girls
4:19
and then right before the fall
4:20
cleanup season going into
4:21
November. It it just around
4:24
those holidays, whatever it is,
4:27
the traditionally, we knew we
4:29
were going to lose people
4:30
whether they just got burned
4:33
out and they weren’t a good fit
4:34
anymore or people would just
4:35
quit, no show. So, we knew
4:38
around those three or four
4:39
times throughout the year that
4:41
we would ramp up the recruiting
4:42
even more and that’s when we
4:44
would kick in the Friday
4:45
recruiting. So, if you’re
4:46
looking at you’ve lost some
4:47
employees. Uh hopefully you
4:49
haven’t lost half your team. Uh
4:50
the desire or the first
4:54
interest is to go out and jump
4:55
on that truck or really that’s
4:57
the worst thing you can do in
4:58
my experience and I’ve made
4:59
that mistake more than a few
5:01
times that I like to admit. Uh
5:02
but every time that we’ve
5:03
actually gone back to the
5:04
basics and said you know what?
5:05
Let’s let’s get the initial
5:06
team to cover that. And maybe
5:08
shift the guy for the
5:09
fertilizing crew over the
5:10
maintenance crew for a day just
5:12
to cover the gap. Um obviously
5:13
a higher expense but we can
5:14
shift some fertilizing around
5:16
We got creative while we
5:18
covered that gap but the way
5:19
that we solve that right out
5:21
the gate, the most successful
5:22
was to go right back to the
5:24
office, start working the
5:26
database, and if you don’t have
5:27
a database, we need to start
5:28
interviewing Monday, Wednesday,
5:29
and sometimes Friday because
5:31
when we need the employee, it’s
5:33
too late. We need to have an
5:34
active database segmented, in
5:35
my opinion, rated in A, B, and
5:37
C fashion with or without a
5:38
driver’s license and then, we
5:40
can pull from that database and
5:42
if you end up losing half your
5:43
staff, really, you want to go
5:44
out and you want to have a
5:45
hiring, basically, a vent, pump
5:49
it out, give it two, 3 days
5:50
notice, and then literally go
5:52
in, interview everybody anybody
5:54
who made the cut, have them
5:56
come back for the second
5:57
interview, about halfway
5:58
through the day, and then at
5:59
the end of the day, you
6:00
actually have job contracts and
6:02
offers there, and you actually
6:03
signed it on, on the spot, and
6:05
that’s how you would actually
6:06
do that, because we did that in
6:08
the spring, many of times to
6:09
hire when we, we grew the
6:11
company, literally doubling in
6:13
size some years, how did you go
6:14
out and actually staff that?
6:16
Well, we actually went out and
6:16
had hiring events live. Well,
6:17
there’s nothing really stopping
6:19
you doing that in the spring,
6:20
or on a given Wednesday or
6:23
Thursday after you lose half
6:24
your half your team on a
6:25
Monday. Um but what I’m
6:26
going to suggest and really
6:28
really talk about here is this
6:30
you don’t ever ever want to go
6:32
in and fill that gap unless you
6:34
absolutely have to by
6:36
physically jumping on the
6:37
truck. Now if you’re still on
6:38
the truck nothing wrong with
6:40
that. Like that’s a different
6:41
story. Um but even if you’re on
6:43
your truck and you lose your
6:44
helper you definitely want to
6:45
take a half a day to a day and
6:47
just work on the business and
6:48
not in it. To fill that gap.
6:49
Because you can physically not
6:51
keep up the work of two people
6:53
by yourself. You may be able to
6:54
do it the short term but like I
6:56
said, I’d rather see you work,
6:57
a half day, or full day on a
6:59
Saturday, or even a Sunday to
7:00
cover that gap but push the
7:03
work off and work on the actual
7:05
issue at hand and go out and
7:06
staff for it. So, main video
7:09
today is I saw a gentleman who
7:10
lost his his one employee. Uh
7:11
thank god he didn’t lose half
7:13
of his employees like we did
7:14
one time when they went out to
7:15
go start their own company.
7:15
Now, you’re probably wondering
7:17
what happened to those five or
7:19
six guys that went out to try
7:20
to start own company. Um we’re
7:22
actually 10 to 12 guys based on
7:24
the five or 6 crews. Uh we we
7:26
systematically wiped wiped them
7:28
clear and and basically put
7:29
them out of business where they
7:31
started. Um it circled back to
7:32
the clients that they had taken
7:33
and and recovered 99% of them.
7:36
So they stayed in business for
7:37
about maybe two weeks if that.
7:40
Um but we took care of that as
7:42
well. I mean that’s obviously
7:43
something I would not take
7:44
lightly and obviously I didn’t.
7:46
Um but the main point of the
7:47
video is listen if you’re
7:48
losing an employee don’t on
7:50
that truck especially if you’re
7:52
not on the truck normally. Go
7:52
out and do what the business
7:54
owners supposed to do. Set the
7:55
vision, set the strategy, and
7:56
this is the strategy. We need
7:58
to go out and hire and recruit
8:00
constantly. Monday, Wednesday,
8:02
sometimes Friday. If you look
8:03
in your business, you’re
8:04
probably going to see that
8:05
Memorial Day, 4th of July,
8:07
middle of August, and right
8:08
before fall cleanups. If you’re
8:09
in the northeast area, those
8:12
consistently happen in the
8:13
business. We would always lose
8:14
somebody or we’d let somebody
8:15
go. Um those seem to be the
8:17
burnout points or maybe people
8:18
are shift jobs going into the
8:21
winter when that happens in
8:23
November. Whatever the case may
8:24
be, if you can find a
8:25
historical trend, that’s when
8:26
you start recruiting that third
8:28
day on the week. So, Monday,
8:30
Wednesday, Friday, or Monday,
8:31
Wednesday. Build that database,
8:32
segment em, and now, when you
8:34
need an employee, you’ve gotta
8:35
qualified list to start
8:36
working. Man, if I had that
8:38
list when we had lost all those
8:39
guys and girls, it could’ve
8:40
probably spend a half a day
8:42
working that list and on
8:43
Tuesday morning, we would have
8:44
been back up and running but
8:45
no, I let the insanity run for
8:47
almost a month and just about
8:47
killed myself mentally and
8:50
physically. Um it did take a
8:51
toll on the family and not
8:53
being able to go and I remember
8:54
that one day I had to work
8:57
three quarters a day on
8:58
Mother’s Day just to literally
9:01
get caught up when I was still
9:02
in the truck with those guys
9:03
and and then then the light
9:05
came on later that day that you
9:07
know, let’s just wait a day or
9:08
two. Let’s go out. Let’s
9:09
recruit and fill that
9:11
bottleneck of employees and
9:12
within a few days, we had it.
9:13
Now, they may not have been the
9:14
best employees. They may not
9:15
have been the best fit but to
9:17
get through that short short
9:18
area, We hired, we overhired,
9:21
and then we literally kind of
9:22
had a tryout for the best
9:24
employees and those actually, a
9:25
couple of the guys that came
9:26
out of that were some of the
9:27
best employees we had right up
9:28
to the end. So, that’s it.
9:31
Aaron’s got a quick question
9:32
here. I might answer as well.
9:34
Uh are you always paying for
9:35
recruiting job boards, Facebook
9:37
jobs, post to keep the list
9:38
fresh? Aaron, yes, that’s
9:39
exactly what I’m talking about.
9:40
So, we need to be running those
9:42
ads. We need to be doing
9:43
referrals for current
9:44
employees, referring their
9:45
friends and family in for jobs.
9:46
Uh we had a bunch of guys from
9:47
Guate that we brought in in H2B
9:50
visas. They went to a
9:51
particular church on Sundays
9:53
and we would drive the guys
9:54
every Sunday to church and and
9:56
that was some of our best
9:57
referral because those guys
9:59
loved us and they would get 250
10:00
bucks every time they referred
10:02
somebody from the church would
10:03
work for us. Um you gotta
10:04
figure out where is your your
10:05
best employee hanging out and
10:06
go to that place. Uh there was
10:08
also a trailer park that I had
10:10
probably 70% of my employees at
10:12
one point were living in. So,
10:13
we actually went out and
10:15
targeted that trailer park for
10:16
job ads you gotta figure out
10:19
where that demographic your
10:20
perfect employee is kind of
10:21
living or hanging out and every
10:23
week, we need to invest money
10:25
into the Facebook, the job
10:27
boards, all the things you’re
10:28
talking about as well as
10:29
organically going out and
10:31
trying to find some people.
10:32
Local Dunkin’ Donuts or things
10:34
like that. You’re going through
10:35
the drive thru. Uh we had one
10:36
gentleman that was just a
10:37
standout. Um so we literally I
10:39
threw him a had a good
10:40
relationship with him because I
10:41
was getting a a coffee every
10:42
morning and and literally I
10:44
threw my car and said hey man
10:45
if you’re ever looking to make
10:45
a change you know hit us up.
10:46
Guy hit me up six later and he
10:48
he joined the team. So, look at
10:50
those different areas because
10:51
if you’ve got Cooks or waiters,
10:53
things like that in the back of
10:54
those kitchens several hundred
10:55
degrees at some point in
10:57
summer. Those are the folks
10:58
that are going to be able to
10:59
survive outside doing landscape
11:00
maintenance and maybe they
11:01
want to get out and just get
11:02
some fresh air. So, we need to
11:03
be creative especially now in
11:04
the tight labor market but as
11:06
soon as we stop looking for
11:08
future employees, it’s when we
11:09
get in trouble. So, we gotta be
11:10
looking and if you, if it hits
11:12
the proverbial fan and you lose
11:14
one or two employees on a over
11:15
a weekend, don’t jump back on
11:16
the truck take a day, reset,
11:19
and start focusing and
11:20
recruiting because that will
11:21
pay big dividends in the long
11:22
end and maybe we gotta pay a
11:24
little extra overtime or work
11:25
an extra day on the weekend.
11:27
The team will survive and so
11:29
will the business in a lot
11:30
better way if we go out and
11:31
just try to fix that right off
11:32
the gate. Um Aaron says other
11:34
sources for employees besides
11:35
indeed Facebook and referrals.
11:37
Um Aaron, depending on right
11:39
now, sometimes like local
11:41
Craigslist ad will actually be
11:43
pretty good. Um we gotta be
11:44
creative. A lot of times
11:46
actually put like a yard sign
11:47
in front of a Lowe’s or Home
11:49
Depot on the exit. If if it’s
11:51
in a plaza, you can get away
11:52
with that usually times they
11:53
take him down. You gotta put
11:54
him back up. Or if you’re like
11:56
a site one or Ewings, things
11:57
like that. Um putting some
11:59
roads, some signs where those
12:00
guys are driving by. that
12:02
worked well for us as well like
12:04
a site one or Ewan’s. Um a lot
12:06
of those counterwall cards if
12:09
you ask them nicely. Um because
12:10
those are where you’re
12:11
potentially pre-employed at a
12:13
level. We gotta be creative
12:14
right now. Um but those yard
12:15
signs outside of Lowe’s or Home
12:17
Depot near the exit. Um if you
12:19
can get them out there.
12:20
Especially when you’re doing
12:21
that live hiring event. Uh
12:21
that’s a great Great idea I’ve
12:24
seen some great results out of
12:26
that as well. So, love the
12:27
comments, love the questions,
12:29
Aaron. Hopefully, you’re not in
12:30
this scenario that I was in but
12:31
if you’re out there and you
12:32
lose an employee this week,
12:34
don’t learn the temptation to
12:36
jump in that truck immediately.
12:37
Go out and dial in to hopefully
12:41
that database that you’ve
12:42
created for hiring and if you
12:43
haven’t, that’s your action
12:44
plan this week. Go out and
12:46
start recruiting for every
12:47
position. If you’re saying,
12:47
hey, Mike, I’m still in the
12:49
truck. I don’t have time to do
12:50
that. Blackout an extra fifteen
12:51
to 20 minutes during your lunch
12:55
hour, twice a week, which you
12:56
can do. I don’t care if you’re
12:57
at Mickey D’s or you know,
12:59
pizza joint or just eating your
13:01
bagged lunch on the side of the
13:02
road in the parking lot. Take
13:03
an extra 15 minutes, twice a
13:05
week, and start working those
13:06
over the phone interviews and
13:08
start start recruiting because
13:09
we need to do that. Well,
13:10
one-man show or two-man show or
13:13
15 to twenty-million-dollar
13:14
company. This is this is this
13:15
is what breeds success but
13:17
remember, when you lose those
13:18
employees, fight the temptation
13:19
to getting on that truck. I’d
13:20
rather see you a half a full
13:21
day behind but then have that
13:24
work, that team coming in and
13:25
hopefully, you’ve got them
13:26
covering the tail end of the
13:27
week to get you caught up. So,
13:29
comments, questions, drop
13:30
below. Callahan’s Corner. You
13:32
ask the questions. We answer em
13:32
live right here on Facebook.