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01829 740194 | [email protected]

  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
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    • Why Choose Us?
    • Team
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    • Domestic Projects
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    • Outdoor Living
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Blog

Growing Ranks

July 3, 2019

Director of Urban landscapes, Holly Youde, discusses the benefits of training your staff in this Pro Landscaper Article.

Hiring a new member of staff is only the start. Holly Youde says training your staff boosts morale and increases productivity

Last month I wrote about the challenges of recruitment; I’m happy to say we have had good success with recruiting in January. Fingers crossed, the new colleagues will turn into great assets and will stay long term. We believe the best way to ensure that is through training.

Having the candidates with the right attitude is the first step. Next, we need to enhance and increase their skill base, raising confidence and consistency while giving them a boost in knowledge and self-belief – all of which will make them feel more valued. Offering training also encourages applicants to choose landscaping as a career option, which in turn strengthens the industry. Your customers will also gain confidence in your company if you can demonstrate your staff are fully trained and competent in the skills required to complete the work to the highest standards. You can do this by providing certificates or cards proving completion of courses or compliance, and making sure you highlight training in your marketing and advertising, on your quotes or any correspondence.

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Having well-trained staff will also enable you as a business owner to relax a little. You won’t need to micromanage every detail, as you (or someone else) would have passed on the knowledge required to ensure satisfactory completion of works. This hopefully reduces revisits or snagging works on site, and could guarantee the smooth running of projects.

Choosing the right training for your staff is even more important as you grow as a company, as you are likely to take on larger projects meaning you will need a wide range of multiple skills split throughout the teams.

It’s not just practical skills that require training. Leadership is a significant part of being able to function as multiple teams. Team leaders or supervisors, managers, office-based staff, all require individual training plans to work from.

There is a possibility you may have some staff that need encouragement to advance career-wise. They may initially be resistant to further training, but a bit of gentle encouragement should be offered as often this is down to confidence issues or fear of change. Once you have instilled a healthy training culture, attitudes and productivity will improve and this will take you forward.

Training can be a large expense in time and money but it’s a vital investment – on which you will most certainly get a return. If you are worried that you will contribute to a team member’s training only for them to subsequently leave the company, then consider including a repayment clause in their contract which requires the employee to repay the training costs in part. It’s always worth seeing what grants are available too.

At Urban Landscapes, for the site-based teams we follow an in-house training matrix, which details various levels starting at labourer and up to team supervisor. We find this helps the employees focus on their development and achievements, to enable advancement to the next role when it becomes available.

Our team have developed the training matrix over the past 12 months, and recently the idea for forming a dedicated training centre for our staff came about. This has now evolved into a much larger project, applicable to the whole industry. The announcement is expected shortly, so look out for a specialist training facility launching over the coming months!

 

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Month

    November

    • Urban Director talks work and personal life in Pro Landscaper Magazine

    August

    • Penthouse Roof Terrace – Liverpool
    • Covid-19 announcement

    July

    • Benefits of Commercial Landscaping: Draw in customers and boost sales
    • 6 Reasons To Install A Fire Pit In Your Garden

    May

    • The Renson Canopy Range
    • Why You Should Have An Outdoor Kitchen
    • Kamado Joe Ceramic Grills offer

    April

    • Urban Landscapes continue to follow government guidelines

    March

    • Urban Landscapes Covid-19 Update
    • Urban Landscapes Coronavirus Policy

    February

    • Whatever the Weather: preparing for adverse weather conditions
    • Learning to adapt
    • Attracting more valuable projects
    • The First Steps to Employing Staff
    • Don’t Forget the Plants: Soft Landscaping Design
    • Being Tech Savvy For Your Business
    • The Health Benefits of Outdoor Spaces
    • Let’s Hear it From Holly and Mark Youde
    • Our exciting partnership with London Stone
    • Growing Ranks

    June

    • Make The Right Choice: The Do’s and Dont’s of Recruitment
    • All For Show: Why Industry Shows are Good for Your Business
    • Entering Awards: The Pros and Cons of Taking Part in Industry Awards
    • When Opportunity Knocks
    • Growing Pains and Gains: Growing Your Own Business

    September

    • For Better Or Worse: Being in Business With the Other Half
    • We’re Pro Landscaper Business Award winners!

    January

    • How to create cosy outdoor living spaces for all year round
    • Basic gardening tools everybody should have
    • Planning a Dementia Friendly Garden
    • Marshalls Register Award for Best Driveway Transformation over 70m
    • A Week in the Life of a Cheshire Landscaping Company

    October

    • 42 Under 42
    • 2018 BALI Awards
    • Modern day love of Fire Pits
    • MUD SLINGING AT WORK
    • THE BENEFITS OF RECRUITING AN APPRENTICE
    • WE MUST BE MAD …!
    • WE ARE PROUD TO BE A MEMBER OF THE LANDSCAPING INSTITUTE
    • IS THERE A HOSEPIPE BAN?
    • AWARDS UPDATE JULY 2018
    • Award Winning Landscape Design
    • Commerical Landscaping, Wilmslow
    • Pro Landscaper Business Awards

    December

    • Festive Wishes
    • APL Awards
    • Commercial Landscaping, South Manchester
    • Landscaping Services, Cheshire
    • Fire Magic Outdoor Kitchen, Cheshire
    • Outdoor Living Area, Cheshire
    • Commercial Landscape Contractors, South Manchester
    • The Silver Lining
    • Flower Power
    • Compact & Bijou Outdoor Cooking
    • Outdoor Living on the Wirral
    • RHS Tatton – Show Garden
    • An unexpected guest
    • Exclusive Event 30th March 2017
    • Outdoor Living Area, South Manchester
    • Blistering Ovens
    • Pullover Power
    • Shropshire Lad
    • DoubleTree by Hilton, Chester
    • Teaching an old dog new tricks!
    • APL Membership

Categories

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    • Awards
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    • Commercial
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Our Work

  • 01
  • 02
  • 03
  • 04
  • 05
  • 06

Heathlands Care Home

Directly with the client, we constructed and installed a beach themed garden, suitable for Dementia patients

Penthouse Roof Terrace – Liverpool

Roof terrace with garden studio and different areas to enjoy, including a seaside themed area

Contemporary Garden Chester

A cool contemporary project on a new build property in Chester.

Contemporary Courtyard Chester

In this small courtyard development in Hoole, we created a cool split level space for the client who wanted a modern feel.

Urban Landscapes HQ

Urban RHS Tatton

Our Work

Commercial
Heathlands Care Home

Heathlands Care Home

Directly with the client, we constructed and installed a beach themed garden, suitable for Dementia patients

Read More
Large Project
Penthouse Roof Terrace – Liverpool

Penthouse Roof Terrace – Liverpool

Roof terrace with garden studio and different areas to enjoy, including a seaside themed area

Read More
Medium Project
Contemporary Garden Chester

Contemporary Garden Chester

A cool contemporary project on a new build property in Chester.

Read More
Small Project
Contemporary Courtyard Chester

Contemporary Courtyard Chester

In this small courtyard development in Hoole, we created a cool split level space for the client who wanted a modern feel.

Read More
Outdoor Kitchens
Urban Landscapes HQ

Urban Landscapes HQ

Read More
Outdoor Living
Urban RHS Tatton

Urban RHS Tatton

Read More
 
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