Guest Post: How to create respectful tension for results

According to Landscape Management, there is a certain type of constructive tension that can be healthy for a business. This "respectful tension" stretches people to perform at levels they never thought were possible.



How do words like, conflict, confrontation, accountability, debate and tension make you feel?

Uncomfortable? Sure! I don’t blame you. Nobody enjoys confrontation. If there’s someone who does, I would avoid him at all costs. On the other hand, I’d like to suggest there’s is a certain type of constructive tension that’s healthy in business. I call this “respectful tension.”

One of the definitions of tension is, “To apply a force to something that tends to stretch it.” Think about a rubber band between your thumb and finger. The harder you stretch it the further you can shoot it.

I must confess that I’m not afraid of the word tension. I’ve earnestly worked and preached the benefits of this type of constructive tension for the growth of a business. I’ve learned through the years that for any individual, team or organization to reach its full potential, it has to be stretched and challenged continuously to set and achieve lofty goals. I’ve also learned that leaders must understand and accept this responsibility or it won’t happen.

To read more click here.

Brain Drain: More Management Oversight Required for Shiftwork Safety

According to this EHS article, recent studies suggest that irregular or longer-than-normal shift hours have a negative impact on cognitive abilities and can cause the brain to age an extra 6.5 years!

EHS

Can working longer shifts or rotating shifts age your brain? A recent study published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, "Chronic Effects of Shift Work on Cognition:Findings from the VISAT Longitudinal Study," examined the “chronicity and reversibility” of the effects of shiftwork on cognition. Researchers found that irregular shiftwork can result in cognitive impairment equal to 6.5 years of aging for a worker’s brain.

While cognitive loss is a focal point of the study, as a safety professional, I see the research as an opportunity to discuss and highlight the immediate safety issues related to workers and society associated with shiftwork. On an industry-wide level, managers need­­ to take steps to understand the effects of shiftwork on their employees and actively oversee their scheduling and culture in order to recognize the unique safety issues that could disrupt a company’s efficiency, safety and overall health.

Sleep Patterns and Safety
Work hours generally are separated into first, second and third shift, with the third shift spanning the late night through early morning times. Some shiftwork takes place in an industrial environment, where employees are working with equipment

To view the full article and read more, click here.

Expect To See More Women Managers On Construction Jobs

According to this CT Post article, the future is bright for women in the construction industry. Although a traditionally male-dominated industry, construction businesses are not only seeing an increase of women working on job sites but women in management roles, as well.

CT Post

As women are being urged to "lean in" to corporate jobs, there's another challenge for management-minded ladies: breaking the proverbial glass ceiling -- with a hammer.

Working out in the field as a construction manager, Dianna Barrella likes to be the first one on the job site every morning. She likes the ever-changing nature of the work, the variety of people she meets on each project, the opportunity to work with different teams of consultants, architects or engineers. Over the past 16 years she's spent at Turner Construction in Shelton -- almost her entire career -- Barrella has relished her roles, which have included overseeing jobs like in-house building projects at UBS in Stamford. But it took time to get there.

"When I started at Turner, I think I may have been a little intimidated, being the only girl out in the field," Barrella said. "But in the industry, that has changed. There's many more women now. The challenges are pretty much the same for men and women."

Construction has traditionally been a male-dominated business, with the small percentage of women who do join -- just 8.9 percent of the industry nationwide, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor -- often relegated to doing clerical or support jobs. In Connecticut, based on the state's demographics, it's likely the numbers are even lower, said Jacob Kovel, associate professor and chair of the department of construction management at Central Connecticut State University.

Click here to continue reading this article. 

LM150 Lessons Learned: Carol King

When it comes to business growth, would you do it all over again if you had the chance? Would you know where you went wrong the first time and what needed to change? With information from those who have gone before, it's easier to plan your steps for the future. 

Landscape Management Magazine

Hindsight is 20/20, and I’m always brighter after the fact.

As we’ve morphed into a $9 million to $10 million company, we compete on the commercial maintenance side against large, national and regional companies who sell contracts to hotel chains, restaurant chains and large property management groups. It’s dawned on me we can’t work in certain areas because they’re tied up with negotiated relationships. It takes a certain market segment away from you.

CarolKingConsequently, if we had it to do over again, we might have developed a more niche-related company to have a smaller footprint and closer control. It would have been years ago, probably in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

Companies that accomplish this increase their margins and retain their customers better because of the relationship factor. The one thing the national companies may not be able to do, versus a family business or one-market business, is be close to customers, react quicker to their needs and maintain a relationship-based business.

For instance, homeowner associations (HOAs), condominiums and multi-housing sites for the residential side are not prone to being rolled up by national companies because they’re all locally controlled.

There are opportunities to target a specific market. Spend your marketing dollars in that one area and become a preferred provider or a boutique company. You’ve just got to find the one you’re comfortable with. It always has to come back to who and what you want to be and where you want to head. You need to make these decisions when you’re in the $1 million to $2 million revenue point.

Follow this link to read the full article.

Chuck Noll’s leadership legacy

Leadership comes in many forms - including a NFL head coach. As this ISHN article clearly states, it takes courage and tact to be appropriately candid, but it is very necessary in order to hold people accountable and to set a standard of performance that will define your culture for safety.

ISHN.com 

The very recent passing of Chuck Noll, Hall of Fame coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has stirred the emotions and thoughts of many. Chuck Noll is the only NFL head coach to win four Super Bowls and may be the greatest NFL head coach of all time. Charles Henry Noll never received the credit he truly deserved but those closest to him realized his exceptional leadership qualities, almost instantly.

In the local press coverage, former players and those from the Steelers’ front office have had the most to share about Coach Noll. He had many outstanding leadership qualities but one of the most highly regarded was his candidness. Chuck Noll knew how to be very straightforward about performance but he wasn’t deeply offensive – he had tact. We can learn from Chuck Noll by being forthright and candid about safety-related performance.

1. Be as direct about performance issues by being as open and honest as possible.

2. Don’t make it personal or use name-calling to defeat someone.

3. Don’t wait to address performance issues - the earlier the better.

4. Don’t belittle someone in front of their peers or others.

5. Use your words carefully – some words cut deeply and humiliate.

It takes courage and tact to be appropriately candid, but it is very necessary in order to hold people accountable and to set a standard of performance that will define your culture for safety. Mike Tomlin, the current head coach of the Steelers, often uses a phrase that characterizes the Steelers’ culture of success, “the standard is the standard.”

The Steelers’ standard of success didn’t start with Coach Tomlin, it started with Chuck Noll. Learn to be candid about safety performance; it will go a long way in setting and defining your own standards of success.

To see the full article, follow this link. 

A Roadmap for Holistic EHS Management

A holistic approach is necessary for a safety culture to be created in a work environment. This EHS article details the type of approach desired to help ensure that everyone in the organization is a key component to the safety culture. 

Heather, Flickr.com

When it comes to their approaches to workplace safety and health, companies today can be lumped into one of three categories: reactive, managed and proactive.

Reactive companies focus on complying with regulations and applying lessons learned from their safety failures.

Companies that take a managed approached to safety leverage systems, policies and procedures to prevent incidents. However, this group considers incidents to be a natural consequence of operations – in other words, they believe that incidents are bound to happen every now and then.

Proactive organizations have the most mature approach to EHS. Companies in this category strive for a zero-incident environment by employing proactive safety management systems and behavior-based safety strategies. These companies operate under the principle that it's not acceptable to subject employees to any kind of avoidable danger and risk, and that it's not acceptable for the operation to pose any threat to the environment.

To read the full article, follow this link. 

OSHA Launches Summer Campaign To Prevent Heat Illness

As the summer months arrive, OSHA is taking a stand to raise awareness against heat illnesses. This CleanLink article details how they are educating employers and employees on preventative measures and cautionary actions. 

Kirrus, Flickr.com

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced the launch of its annual Campaign to Prevent Heat Illness in Outdoor Workers. For the fourth consecutive year, OSHA's campaign aims to raise awareness and educate workers and employers about the dangers of working in hot weather and provide resources and guidance to address these hazards.

Workers at particular risk are those in outdoor industries, such as agriculture, construction, landscaping and transportation.

However, cleaning professionals may also be at risk of overheating while performing regular cleaning tasks such as emptying trash, sweeping parking lots, or washing windows outdoors — or during duties in facilities with inadequate air cooling systems.

"Heat-related illnesses can be fatal, and employers are responsible for keeping workers safe," said U.S. Secretary of Labor, Thomas E. Perez. "Employers can take a few easy steps to save lives, including scheduling frequent water breaks, providing shade and allowing ample time to rest."

Thousands of employees become sick each year and many die from working in the heat. In 2012...

Click here to read the full article.

How To Develop Your Own Safety Program

This Total Landscape Care article focuses on the fundamental building blocks of developing your own safety program. Of course, writing a safety program and implementing it are two different things entirely, but with the help of these tips, you can be on your way to creating a well-working safety program. 

Total Landscape Care

There are many small landscapers out there looking for safety training information on a daily basis, which leads one to believe their company safety programs might not be as up-to-date as they would like.
If you’re using an inadequate or outdated program, it’s time to step up and develop your own – one that’s specific to your business that mirrors your scope of work. So, how do you go about creating and implementing a new safety program? Depending on the resources available to you, there are several paths you can take.

Outsourcing
If you have the budget, you can have a safety consulting firm build a custom program for you. They’ll take input from all levels of your firm, develop simple-to-follow work procedures and conduct periodic evaluations. You can also work with your insurance carrier and with local associations to develop a semi-custom program for your firm.

Adapting
If you’ve inherited or purchased your company, there was probably already a program in place. Perform an objective assessment of the program, determining what areas are workable for your firm today, and what areas need to be updated. If you need help, consider OSHA’s free onsite consultation program. The services are separate from the enforcement division and will not result in penalties or citations. As part of the consultation, OSHA will identify workplace hazards, provide advice on compliance and assist in establishing injury and illness prevention programs.

To read the full article, visit totallandscapecare.com. 

How Small Businesses Can Combat High Gas Prices

While small businesses can't control gas prices, they can become more fuel conscious and efficient. This GardenCenter article details 8 ways to get started. If gas prices are impacting your business, read these tips and see how you can do the little things to reduce gas expenses.

David Wilson, Flickr.com

If you're an independent garden center owner who has a landscape division, operates a delivery service or uses trucks, golf carts and other vehicles, you've likely noticed that gas prices have increased during the past few months. This past week alone, the average cost of a gallon of gas increased by 7 cents, according to Sage North America. To combat the steep prices, they've provided suggestions to improve fuel efficiency and save money.

With the high prices of gas weighing heavily on small businesses these days, Connie Certusi, executive vice president and general manager of Sage North America’s Small Business Accounting, offers the following gas tips for small businesses:

1. Plan, plan, plan - With the help of websites such as Google Maps, plan out your deliveries and group them by area, date and time, when possible. Additionally, change your hours of delivery so that you aren’t sitting in rush-hour traffic, which wastes both time and gas. Using GPS can also help you avoid getting lost and wasting gas by circling the block. Lastly, consider asking customers who live nearby to pick up their orders rather than shipping it to them.

To continue reading about the top 8 tips, click here.

Get Ready for National Safety Stand-Down

According to this Total Landscape Care article, falls are the number one cause of fatality in contraction yet can be easily prevented through education and taking greater safety precautions. Read more to gather important safety tips and help protect yourself or your employees.

While Total Landscape Care covers a range of topics in our online and print safety articles, one area I like to make sure I write about regularly is fall prevention.

The reason is simple. Although falls are one of the most preventable types of accidents, they’re also the number one cause of fatalities in construction; accounting for more than a third of all deaths in the industry.

Just in the last month two workers on separate New York City construction sites died from falls, one from a roof and the other from scaffolding while he was working alone.

The problem with falls isn’t a secret to anyone in the industry, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recognizes the need to step up and raise awareness.

To read more and to download OSHA's 2014 fall training guide, click here.

The Evolution of the Project Manager

This Construction Business Owner article provides project managers with more real-world construction experience while teaching superintendents social and business skills. It also touches on the "then" and "now" aspects of the technical, construct-ability and business skills vital to modern and effective management.

F Devlenthal, Flickr.com

A long-standing joke has circulated in the industry that the project manager evolved as the solution to the mounds of paperwork a superintendent encounters. Today, the number of contractors who do not have some semblance of a project management corps is minimal. In fact, project managers drive the operations within many firms, replacing their past image as the replaceable paper pusher. Construction management and engineering programs throughout the world’s universities have developed curricula to educate and train future project leaders on everything from change order management to scheduling. However, what does the future of project management hold? Will the skills of today’s project manager be satisfactory as the complement to the field manager? Will firms have to adapt to a new model of project management as new business models in construction arise?

Examination
Project managers became the custodians of the “business side” of construction projects, enabling the superintendents or foremen to build. While the evolution of the project manager started as an office transition for many blue-collar supervisors, universities became fertile ground for growing future managers. Today, many trade contractors still utilize “star field leaders” as new office managers. The advent of the digital age and the computer skills of many younger managers aided the evolution.

For years, engineering and building construction programs equipped managers with a standard “toolbox” of basic knowledge to enter the world of construction. However, the largest criticism of this management group was their apparent lack of real-world construction knowledge. Many project managers could easily navigate the most sophisticated software but could scarcely find their way around the formwork of a multi-story building.

To read the full article, click here.

What is a safety program policy?

Safety in the workplace could not be of greater importance but without the foundational policy, a company lacks a key element needed to build and maintain a strong safety program. This ISHN article plainly states four elements that are necessary for an efficient and effective safety program.

takomabiblelot, Flickr.com 

In conducting OSHA training, I’ve found a common misconception about what a safety program policy is. When asked, attendees have repeated company mission or value statements. Some don’t know what it is, or if their company even has one.
A policy statement by definition is an expectation with a consequence attached; in other words, a “work safe or else” message. A policy needs to be all inclusive and relate to a company’s safety program which has specific job processes in place and identified personal protective equipment (PPE) required.

All employees will follow all safety and health procedures, including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) when required. Failure to do so will result in disciplinary action up to and including verbal warning, written warning and suspension.

What needs to come after this is the “How”

Click here to read more. 

Safety excellence - The six critical components

Power Pusher helps to provide safety in a working environment through their material handling tugs but safety can also be provided in a number of different ways outside of purely physical safety. Actions made in management and supervision also play an important role according to this ISHN article. Are these visible elements a part of your safety processes?

Eugene Zemlyanskiy, Flickr.com

Dr. Dan Petersen was one of the great safety pioneers of the last 50 years. His focus was consistently on developing a viable safety culture that lived safety accountabilities at all levels of the organization. Organizations fully utilizing his Six Criteria for Safety Excellence are among the leaders in safety performance. These criteria are:

Visible Upper Management Commitment to safety. In most organizations it is difficult to pry executives away from their cost, quality and customer responsibilities and have them be visible in the workplace with respect to safety. Roles, responsibilities and associated activities are essential if we are to make the executives field presence accomplishable.

Active Middle Manager Involvement in safety. It is not uncommon for organizations to have far fewer middle managers than in years past. This fact makes their active presence on a regular basis at the workface even more of a challenge. Once again, practical roles, responsibilities and activities provide guidance for these important people to make themselves known in safety where it counts most, on the front line.

To continue reading about the six critical components to safety excellence, click here.

The Four Keys to Igniting Employee Potential

"Engagement doesn’t happen by accident": a quote from Roxana Hewertson's article from Construction Business Owner. The base of any good working environment comes from productive and engaged employees who will champion your brand and your services. That's why it is so important to improve in this area and learn how to create a work culture that welcomes and rewards high-performers. 

Taki Steve, Flickr.com

When do you feel truly engaged at work? Chances are it’s when you believe in what you are doing, you are actively involved and you enjoy the people you work with. You are truly engaged when you are fully present, committed to the task at hand and enjoying what you are doing.

Research has long proven that engaged employees lead to more successful and profitable businesses. In 2012, a Dale Carnegie study found that of the 1,500 employees studied, only 29 percent were fully engaged, 25 percent were disengaged and 45 percent were only partially engaged. These results reflect many other credible studies conducted during the last ten years that show that, time after time, 50 percent or more of employees in all industries are dissatisfied at work and less than fully engaged.

Employee engagement is often lumped into the bucket of “soft, touchy-feely” human resource topics, but the “hard reality” is that flawed management practices and failed leadership contribute significantly to employee disengagement—and disengaged employees are unproductive and unprofitable employees, resulting in a negative financial impact. Engaged employees are more productive and deliver better customer service and higher quality work, all of which result in better branding, reputation and financial success for their employers. Every drop of discretionary effort impacts your bottom line. Whenever an employee contributes beyond what he or she must do to keep the job, you get more time and productivity than you are paying for.

Continue reading to find the 4 main keys: click here. <

On Contractors' Minds

Have you ever had business concerns regarding personnel, government regulations, industry professionalism, staying price-competitive, pursuing the best opportunities, building a consumer base, or managing growth? According to this article on GreenIndustryPros.com, landscape contractors are struggling with the same issues. Know that you're not alone as you learn what you can do to ease your worries. 

USACE, Flickr.com

The market for landscaping services is much improved, but this business is still rife with challenges. According to a survey of landscape contractors subscribed to Green Industry Pros magazine, three primary issues remain foremost in the minds of landscape contractors:

1) Finding, training and managing employees
2) Government policies and/or regulations which impede the ability to maintain acceptable profit margins and grow
3) Dealing with "fly-by-night" competition

Actually, according to the survey, a couple dozen issues where brought up by contractors. Some are interrelated, and each tie back to one of the three main issues listed above. For this article, we'll break it down just a little further into seven topics of conversation, while also providing possible solutions as recommended by landscape contractors themselves.

To read the full article, click here.

Quality vs. safety: Not a superiority contest

Tug of war by Joshwept via flickr.com

Safety professionals and others in the company often come into conflict when it comes to convincing management who to prioritize, but Dr. Leemann thinks that is counterproductive. Instead, both sides need to come together to improve a company's success. Read more in this ISHN.com article. 

Recently a colleague at my office, Dr. Ron Schulingkamp, shared a Quality Progress article entitled “Quality vs. Safety” by Mustafa Ghaleiw.  As a quality professional, Ron found it interesting that Ghaleiw draws upon Lowellyne James, a quality lecturer at the Aberdeen Business School in the United Kingdom, pitting the quality culture against the safety culture when describing the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.  James concludes in his blog post, “Safety is not the issue; it is a lack of an understanding of quality and its impact on the triple bottom-line — economic, social and environmental. It is time for BP, the oil and gas industry and regulators to adopt an industry-wide approach that embraces continuous improvement that goes ‘beyond quality.’”

In sharing the article, Ron asked the question,

“How would we describe our quality culture at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?” 

Read the full article at ISHN.com. 

5 Questions Landscapers Hate to Hear

by Ryan Milani, via flickr.com

This article on TotalLandscapeCare.com makes it clear that potential landscaping clients sometimes misunderstand the process of hiring a landscaping professional. How do you handle client expectations, or try and educate them about what the process involves?

Are there questions you dread? Here are landscaper Ben Bowen’s top five inquiries he doesn’t like hearing:

1. Are you guys expensive? I don’t know. “Expensive” is totally relative, and I have no idea what you are using as a reference. I can’t honestly say “Yes” or “No”.

2. What does something like this cost? First of all, I am horrible with ballpark figures. Second, I know you say you won’t hold me to it — but you kind of will.
Read the full article on TotalLandscapeCare.com. 

Your execs should know: Safety isn’t a commodity anymore

The following is an excerpt from ISHN.com.

The safety job has matured, and will continue to do so – that was one of the takeaways from last week’s National Safety Congress & Expo, sponsored by the National Safety Council.
You can measure safety’s maturity a number of ways. What your execs should understand, if they don’t already, is the days of “a glove is a glove,” “glasses are glasses,” training videos come “canned” from off the shelf, and safety programs… well, if you seen one you’ve seen them all – those days are gone.

Advances in the materials used in just about every type of PPE require a more educated buyer when it comes to making selections. More and more training is not “canned” but customized to specific sites. Leading and lagging safety performance indicators are also customized to be site-specific. Wireless gas detector networks generate volumes of data to be analyzed. Safety apps are raining down on safety departments with absolutely no end in sight.

When you purchase a safety product now, check out the services that are offered with it. PPE vendors are big on education and consultative selling, knowing how overworked many safety managers are today. Some are creating portals where, for a subscription fee or some other form of pricing, you can download training materials, safety meeting materials, checklist, tip sheets, and more. Yes, all this “value added” from PPE makers.

To read the full article, visit ISHN.com.

Get the Best from Managers

This is an excerpt from an article written by Jeff Harkness in Landscape Management.

I’ve had the recent pleasure of managing a client’s account management team for the last six months. I love it, but managing people who are in front of your customer is tough. It takes hard work and patience. The good news is this skill can be learned and refined with experience, but there’s a shortage of good management talent operating in this industry. You have to get this right. Your growth and sanity depend on it!

The best companies are making investments in finding, training, motivating and rewarding their talent. This leads to retention and stability. Profits follow. Sounds easy, right? If you’re frustrated and challenged by your team’s results, consider the following.

Personality profiles. Human behavior is predictable and job descriptions require certain skill sets within your organizational structure. Profiles can be used to gain insight as to how a particular individual works and interacts with others, in their personal life or working life.DISC, Myers-Briggs or Wonderlic are few good providers to check out as a measuring stick for your team. Include yourself. Owners create problems, too! This screening process is a must and you need to make it part of a strategic planning meeting and/or your hiring process. In the classic read Good to Great author Jim Collins talks about a simple question “great” companies ask themselves: “Do I have the right people on the bus? Are they sitting in the right seat?” Ask this question of your organization on a regular basis.

To read the full article, visit Landscape Management.