The manager of a baseball team can’t play all nine positions – and even if he could, he couldn’t handle them all at the same time. In order to maximize all the talent of the team, he can’t be one of the players because his job is to manage and delegate.

In the green industry and every kind of business for that matter, company leaders often want to be the pitcher and play short stop and then switch over to first base. Sometimes they like doing these jobs and hold on to them because they get a kick out of being short stop. But like the baseball manager, they need to delegate, train and trust the whole team to play the game to have a good season.

What holds people back from delegating?

Landscape companies in and around Denver who are looking to fill labor positions often seek creative ways to recruit new workers. One local resource for short-term laborers is Centro Humanitario. Centro Humanitario Para Los Trabajadores (El Centro) is a Denver-based day laborer center promoting work, dignity and community. Its mission is to promote the rights and well-being of day laborers in Colorado through education, job skills, leadership development, united action and advocacy. 

Having a mentor is some of the best industry or general business education you can get. It’s about real-time issues and offers a roll-up-your-sleeves chance to learn what you need to know from someone who is a few steps ahead.

Mentoring offers a win/win to both sides of the deal. The mentee gains a tutor to address specific business issues – and the mentor serves the industry by helping a colleague take a few steps forward to creating a better career or business. Both individuals and the industry benefit.

Like any productive match, there needs to be a good “fit” between the two. Here are key 5 key steps to finding and working effectively with the right mentor.

Celestial Seasonings tea is packaged without a string, tag, staple or individual wrapper for its teabags. A few years ago they realized that eliminating these elements of their product would save more than 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills each year.

This year, the Scott paper company introduced its no-tube toilet paper product. The full-page ads that launched this product announce that each year 17 billion TP tubes are thrown away. Scott’s innovation may change how things roll in the bathroom – and to the landfill.

Landscape pros showed highest strength over other home-related professions (architects, interior designers, builders/remodelers, specialty trades, etc.) in 2014 with 84% reporting that annual revenues met or exceeded their expectation.

Comparative growth data for the residential landscape market and related professions was reported in the U.S. Houzz Barometer Highlights for February 2015.  Findings showed strength in the residential market during 2014 and point to continued, but more stable growth for 2015.  Stats reveal a variety of trends related to homeowner buying habits and that small landscape firms can expect company growth.

“Career pathways” is the new buzzword across many industries where job skills – including hands-on trades skills – are valued often more than pure academics.  It’s a concept that currently is represented in several bills in the Colorado State Legislature and it’s a project that ALCC is already spot on.

A package of bills called the “Colorado Ready to Work” program has bipartisan support in the legislature and both Democrats and Republicans agree it is among their highest priorities for the 2015 session.  

How will "Colorado Ready to Work" benefit industry?

Whether it’s corporate America or the little company down the street, making your company irresistible is the key to recruiting and keeping good people.  And it’s not just about money.

Compensation ranks among the top 5 drivers toward employment, but more money and benefits won’t guarantee loyalty.  In other words, once pay is competitive and fair, other issues have a much greater impact.  There are 4 key areas where companies can become irresistible.

Burglars usually take no more than 60 seconds to break into a home; most burglaries occur between 10 am and 3 pm and last 8 to 10 minutes.  And the typical burglar is a young teen male who lives within a few miles of the home.   

Consequently, strategies for deterring home break-ins should take into account that they are committed by amateurs.  Police officers often recommend a strategy of relatively simple crime prevention through “environmental design.”  The principles they turn to are already within the designer’s toolbox and include natural surveillance, territorial reinforcement, access control and “target hardening.”

The landscape industry has long relied on steel with revved up motors to get things done.  Machines move jobs efficiently and with less back strain.  Now, with the shortage of labor, companies are using them even more as they rely on compact equipment to carry more of the load on jobsites.  

The value in small equipment, particularly walk-behind compact loaders, is that it allows work to get done faster and with fewer people than ever before.  Will Hyde, Mile High Landscaping, Lakewood, says, “Every time someone climbs into a small loader as a driver, all the safety steps have to be followed for the seat belt and for starting them.  And you have to be careful getting in and out.” 

Employers: You could be liable for employees talking on their cells while driving during work hours – and even while driving to and from work. That sobering thought may prompt owners and managers to set specific policies and to train all employees about when use is restricted for their mobile devices.

Consider that 80% of the nation’s 94 million cell phone users talk on their phones at least sometimes while they are driving. And the issue is not hands-free versus hand-held devices. Studies have indicated that it is not holding the phone in a hand that should otherwise be on the steering wheel, but it’s the conversation itself, that impairs driving.