Everybody wants to succeed and move up in their career. It’s human nature.
What’s the best route to landscaping industry career growth?
Tina Czysz has some great advice. She’s director of human resources at Greenscape, Inc., responsible for recruiting and hiring qualified job candidates, as well as employee retention and development.
And, she’s experienced her own successful career growth at the company. Czysz joined Greenscape in 2012 as a payroll and benefits administrator, and was promoted to director of human resources in 2013.
She knows exactly what it takes.
First: It’s Largely Up To You
Training and personal development is part of the package for Greenscape employees. Everybody wants you to grow.
“We focus heavily on employee development and career growth,” Czysz says. “But the opportunity for advancement lies in the employee’s hands. How eager are they to be trainable, to learn new skills? How much do they understand that growth and development is a process?
“If the objective is to grow, they need to look for real career growth opportunities,” she says. “That means more than just switching jobs.”
Many job applicants say the reason they left their last job was because there was no chance for advancement, Czysz says.
But often, they were only at that company for a few months.
“To set yourself up for promotion, you need to understand what growth looks like,” Czysz says.
For one thing, it doesn’t happen in just a few months.
“It’s a methodical process,” she says, “with multiple steps.”
Live The Core Values
A job at Greenscape — no matter what the position — starts with a commitment to the five core values that guide the company and its people.
They are:
— Communication: Keeping each other informed and involved
— Learning: Being motivated to grow
— The Experience: People-focused service
— Appreciation: Each person is important
— Teamwork: Achieving our goals together
“You need to live these core values to get in the door,” Czysz says. All career growth starts from here.
Create Value For The Team
“This is the number one thing,” Czysz says. “I hear so many times, ‘I’ve done this job for five years.’ You may have carried out the daily tasks for five years, but what have you actually done to build capacity in that job?”
Being successful in a position is about more than longevity, Czysz says.
“What innovative things have you done to keep that job running smoothly?
If you’re doing things right, you should be way more efficient in year four than you were in year two,” she says. “As you get better, you create better efficiency, which helps you create more capacity. If you’re a foreman, that means you’ve been able to add a stop or two in your route, just by being more efficient.”
Keep the team in mind, she says, and your individual success will follow.
Eagerness To Learn
Have you been in the industry so long you think you’ve learned it all?
You haven’t.
“You should show an eagerness to learn, no matter how many years you spent in your last position,” Czysz says. Remember, learning is one of Greenscape’s core values. Being willing to learn additional skills is a great way to landscaping industry career growth.
Bridge Gaps
In the landscaping business, you’ll work side by side with people from all walks of life. That’s one of the great things about this industry.
“You should be able to mesh with your team, bridging gaps in race, ethnicity or gender,” Czysz says. Being able to work cohesively as a team, embracing differences, is a key to success here.
Be A Team Player
Everybody likes to say they’re a team player. But are you?
This means more than just getting along with everybody.
“Really be on the team,” Czysz says. Your success isn’t just about you, she says. How can you help the entire team be successful?
“It’s not an ‘I’ thing,” she says. “It’s a ‘we’ thing.”
Leadership
Think you’re a leader? It doesn’t just mean knowing how to manage people.
“Show leadership qualities,” Czysz says. “One thing I hear a lot is, ‘I need a raise. You gave me an extra property to handle two weeks ago and I deserve more money.’
“True leaders don’t think like that,” she says. “They do what needs to be done, they work hard, they embrace the job, get super efficient and know that the raise will come to fruition because their boss will notice they’re doing a fabulous job.”
That sets a great example for everyone around you.
The Bottom Line
“No matter what your job is here, you’re evaluated by the same system,” Czysz says. “Do you get it? Do you want it? And do you have the capacity to do it?
“We use that standard with everybody.”
Working Your Way Up
What’s the typical job progression at Greenscape?
On the production side of the business, start as a crew member, and you can move up to associate foreman, or in some cases, straight to foreman, if your skills and attitude are exceptional. Or, as Czysz likes to put it: “If your tool belt is strong.”
After that, the typical progression is to associate project manager or project manager. Excel at that job, and you might be promoted to production manager, then branch manager.
A key position at Greenscape is client relations manager. You won’t see this in the job progression from the production side, even though it requires solid knowledge of the production side of the business.
“It’s tough to move into a client relations manager position without already having experience in that kind of work,” Czysz says.
Yes, it requires production knowledge. But the job also demands strong customer relations skills, as well as sales skills, as these managers also sell enhancements to clients.
Do You Have What It Takes?
If you have the right skills and the right attitude, there’s plenty of room for career growth here at Greenscape. We’d love to tell you more.
We’ve been meeting the full-service landscaping needs of commercial and residential customers in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary areas for more than 35 years. We couldn’t offer our award-winning services without top-notch employees.
Interested in joining our Green Team? We’d love to meet you.