Brad Johnson, CEO and founder of Lawn America in Tulsa, Okla., shares his 30-plus years of experience on how to retain and develop the best employees at a lawn care company.

1. Finding and Keeping
Great Employees
Lawn & Landscape Magazine Webinar
April 7, 2015
Brad Johnson
Founder, LawnAmerica Inc.
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 1

2. • Owner of LawnAmerica in Tulsa and four other
branches.
• Our niche is weed-control/fertilization…not
mowing or maintenance.
• Built and sold two other companies, with a total
of 30 years in the industry.
• Have employed hundreds of folks, mostly good
ones, learned many lessons,
but still have not figured it
all out!
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 2

3. • What is the #1 problem for lawn
and landscape business owners?
• At conferences, in conversations,
wherever, what do business owners
complain about the most?
• What do we always hear that is “our
biggest asset”?
• What is the largest expense category on
your P&L?
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 3

4. It’s People!
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 4

5. Employee salaries and related
expenses are by far the largest
expense on our P&L.
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 5
16.3%
51.6%
3.3%
5.4%
5.1%
3.1%
1.2%
14.0%
Year to Date Company Expenses
Cost of Sales
Direct Labor & Employee
Sales Expenses
Equipment Expense
Office & Occupancy
Overhead & Other
Contributions
Net Cash

6. So where then should most of our
focus be? Where is the largest area
for financial improvement?
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 6

7. • We’re not going to discuss much on where
and how to find good people.
• However, just as obtaining sales from referrals
from happy customers, getting new
employees from happy (or engaged)
employees is the best way to do that.
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 7

8. • Our focus today is on how we keep those good
employees from year to year, with less
turnover, and giving them a place where they
want to come to work.
• It’s all about Employee Engagement.
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 8

9. So why do we always seem to be
needing new employees?
• Growth…that’s a good thing!
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 9
$0
$1,000,000
$2,000,000
$3,000,000
$4,000,000
$5,000,000
$6,000,000
$7,000,000
$8,000,000
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17
Series1
Series2

10. People Leave!
• Employee retention in our industry is a
problem.
• I would speculate that many companies do
not even measure and track that number, and
if they do, it runs around 55-70% annually
overall on average.
• Over the past 5 years, we’ve averaged about
88% retention, with zero turnover in the past
8 months with 54 team members.
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 10

11. So why do people leave?
• We are simply not providing them with an
opportunity to engage their hearts, spirits,
minds, and hands into their work in a
passionate and committed way.
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 11

12. Let’s Look at our Industry
• Are we really providing a career for our front-
line employees, with an opportunity to make a
good living financially and support a family?
• Are we providing growth opportunities?
• Are we guilty of too often just looking at our
front line people as Direct Labor….a number
on a P&L, and a number which we all need to
keep as low as possible to make a good profit?
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 12

13. • It’s really pretty simple….we have to give them
such a great place to work at they want to
stay, so that we’ll then have fewer new hires
to make.
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 13

14. So What is Employee Engagement, and
Why does it Matter?
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 14
There are MANY benefits to having fully engaged
employees, one of which being that the chances of them
staying on board go up greatly (87% less likely to leave.)

15. Establish a Baseline First
• Conduct an Employee Engagement Survey.
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 15

16. Finding and Keeping Great Employees 16
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
1 3 5 7 9 111315171921232527293133353739414345474951
Team Member Engagement Levels March 2015 AVG
86%
Series1

17. What about Pay and Perks?
• Compensation matters, and perks and
benefits matter. However………
• These only satisfy basic needs, they don’t
really get one engaged.
• But without having their basic needs met
(money), then you won’t even have a chance
to build engagement into them.
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 17

18. • So are you paying as much as you can to your
frontline employees, so they can actually
make lawn care a career, or just paying the
least you can to get by on?
• Are you providing a salary structure which
provides performance incentives, rewarding
individuals and teams for good performance
and results?
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 18

19. Route Manager Incentive Pay
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 19
Category Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Totals My Goal
5% Production $120 $740 $730 $1,310 $870 $890 $890 $850 $820 $1,320 $780 $430 $9,750
Production Over $195,000-5% bonus $50 $50
$20/Customer Net Gain $40 $140 $100 $0 $0 $0 $0 $20 $20 $100 $420
Respray Response $40 $40 $40 $30 $30 $30 $210
1st Application $30 $30 $30 $20 $20 $20 $20 $20 $190
Team Production Goals Met? $90 $90 $135 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $135 $900
Dec. 1st Cancellation Rate 15.8% $600 $600
Within 2% of goal $200 $200
NPS ___% $300 $300 $300 $900
Within 5% of Company Avg NPS $100 $100 $100 $300
Production on Total Sales-2.5% $5 $25 $35 $45 $55 $55 $55 $65 $125 $145 $90 $40 $740
Re-Spray/Production--3.5/2/1 $70 $70 $60 $60 $40 $40 $340
Avg OT $40 $170 $250 $330 $250 $180 $160 $100 $110 $240 $200 $40 $2,070
Avg Christmas Bonus $3,000 $3,000
TOTALS $565 $1,095 $1,275 $2,060 $1,395 $1,735 $1,305 $1,195 $1,255 $2,260 $1,170 $4,360 $19,670
Production Focus
Sales Focus
Customer Service/Quality Focus Some guys make $17K, others make $27K

20. • So yes, solid, fair pay, while rewarding
employees for good performance is
important.
• Factors such as safety, benefits, reasonable
working hours (especially Millennials), perks,
etc. are all good also.
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 20

21. So How do we do develop those fully
engaged employees in Lawn Care?
• Well, it’s sure not easy and is a constant
challenge!
• Front line work can be very hard,
monotonous, and not real “sexy”.
• However front line work can also be a great
job with many positive benefits (such as being
a great way to stay in shape!)
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 21

22. So a few things I’ve learned over the
years that seem to help.
• For employees to be fully engaged, they must
be provided a place where they can throw
their hearts, spirits, minds, and hands totally
into their work.
• They must understand the WHY of what they
do, and have a clear mission that defines
what success looks like.
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 22

23. • Employees like autonomy and trust, and to
feel like they have a say in their jobs and in
the company.
• They must understand that it’s not all about
them, but about serving others.
• Employees like to work in teams.
• Employees like to be managed fairly, and
given good feedback on a consistent basis.
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 23

24. • People don’t leave companies, they leave
their owners, managers, and supervisors.
• Employees like to work for companies that
have good, ethical, engaged ownership.
• Employees like to work for companies that
give back to the community and do good
things for others. They like to make a
difference in their world with through their
work.
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 24

25. So What is our Main Responsibility?
• You gotta LOVE your employees!
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 25
Route Managers,
Techs, frontline CSR
Team Leaders,
support, middle
managers
Me

26. • Questions?
Brad Johnson
Brad@Lawnamerica.com
Finding and Keeping Great Employees 26