Arboriculture often requires physically and mentally demanding effort, constant attention to risk, complex logistics and care for challenging clientele. It also requires significant investments in education, training and equipment. These demands can feel so overwhelming that attention to the most critical part of a business, its people, is often lacking or, worse, negative in nature. Given enough time, either of these scenarios will result in low morale and high turnover.

The cost of losing good employees
Have you ever felt deflated when someone you just poured months of training, teaching and time into leaves? Or, has a more experienced member of your team surprised you with a decision to leave and made you wonder how things could have gone differently? Perhaps the nuts and bolts of the business are working decently, yet morale seems at an all-time low?

People come and go for understandable reasons, but losing good people unexpectedly, unnecessarily or in the manner of a bad breakup is demoralizing and costly. It can lead to diminished productivity, loss of expertise, no return on the time and energy put into training, reduced trust, effort and resiliency, etc. As these problems compound, it becomes nearly impossible to build high-functioning teams and strong customer relationships.

Work on caring
So how do we avoid these situations? The answer lies in developing a healthy company culture with a focus on the genuine care, development and retention of your staff. The term company culture may have some of you rolling your eyes and thinking, “Oh no, not this again.” The term has been used for decades to describe a company’s shared values, beliefs and behaviors, and has many other definitions. Put simply, think of it as “the way we do things around here.”

Company culture is interesting in that you can’t go buy it like a new piece of equipment. You can’t subcontract it. You can’t fix it with new technology or new processes. For the majority of us who are currently employed or employ people, it already exists.

It is fragile yet powerful, changeable – though change requires constant intentional effort – and it can have a profound impact on the financial success and sense of pride within an organization. Company culture is what influences how employees interact and feel at work, and is affected by daily interactions, conversations and decisions.

There is no one-size-fits-all type of, or approach to solidifying, company culture. And it’s important to understand that it should not be viewed as a means to force everyone to act, think and feel the same way.

People are not all the same, we don’t all feel the same and we should not pretend we are the same. An organization is at its best when it values and encourages a diverse set of perspectives, experiences and opinions. As the saying goes, “If everyone is thinking alike, then someone isn’t thinking.”

Image/TCIA Staff

Focus on the mission
The foundation of a good company culture is clarity with its mission, values and goals. Whether developed collectively or by leadership, everyone must know why the company exists, what drives decisions and behaviors and what it’s trying to achieve. With these in place, an organization can begin defining its own unique culture.

There are many aspects to consider at this juncture – too many for this article – but the key to a successful company culture is a commitment to understanding that people are different and providing them with genuine care that honors their strengths, goals and differences. It’s about caring for individuals and building a workplace where people feel valued, seen and heard. We spend a lot of our time at work, and none of us wants to feel like a cog in the wheel or another anonymous number.

Getting to know people and how they feel is a major component of providing genuine care. What drives them? What worries them? What are their interests? Do they have goals? Take the time to understand why each person shows up for work each day. Listen effectively by paying attention, being inviting with your body language and questioning and sometimes restating what you have just heard for clarification.

When someone comes to you with something, put away your phone, shut your computer and make eye contact with them. Listen to them express their concerns, thoughts and experiences. Try not to interrupt, divert the conversation or start your own monologue. These mistakes are often what will stop the talking. Invest the time so you can get the information and knowledge you need to better understand people and their experiences.

Think like a coach
When you do know what someone is interested in and how they feel, then think like a coach. A good coach tries to bring out the best in people and unify them in pursuit of a common goal. So communicate how you will do that, the steps you are going to take to help support people on their tree-work journeys.

This type of genuine care is demonstrated by conversations, check-ins and the sharing of ideas. Provide an employee with a book that is geared toward what they are currently learning. Foster mentor-mentee relationships when appropriate. Invest in hands-on job-site training unshackled by the constraints of time. Sign them up for an educational course, etc. Then be sure to follow up on how these things are going.

An essential yet sometimes difficult part of genuine care is providing feedback. The worst mistake you can make with feedback is not communicating it at all. If someone doesn’t know they are missing the mark or their behavior is unacceptable, change is unlikely. And failure to recognize good work or behavior misses a key opportunity to demonstrate appreciation and reemphasize what is valuable for the organization.

The best feedback is timely and specific and includes the impact on operations or people. Feedback delayed too long or that is general in nature loses its effectiveness. Some of the biggest growth opportunities come from having tough conversations, and people will often thank you for the openness, honesty and opportunity for them to improve. These moments show that you care about their success, their journey and their growth as an employee and a person.

If you’re in a leadership role, feedback also should be provided to you. Your best shot at getting honest feedback for yourself is creating a workplace where people can speak openly, challenge decisions respectfully and see that their voices matter.

Image/TCIA Staff

Empathy and understanding
Empathy and understanding are required for providing genuine care and an appealing company culture. If you cannot understand how people are feeling or are unable to talk about feelings – theirs or yours – then progress may prove to be impossible. The good news is that these skills can be learned, practiced and improved, just like other, more hands-on skills required of us in this industry.

Genuine care cannot be faked or forced. If you or others on your team don’t feel up to the challenge or are too overwhelmed by other priorities, consider delegating this responsibility to someone who can provide the attention and time your staff deserve.

Do your best to foster the environment and culture you want to see in your place of work, regardless of your current position. If you want to see more patience and kindness from those around you at work, make sure you are demonstrating these traits every day. Some people have more influence on a company’s culture than others, but everyone plays a role in maintaining or changing it.

Get to know your people
Given the right attention, long-term investments in people and a healthy culture make the other challenges a lot easier to overcome effectively. Get to know your people. Understand what motivates them. Prioritize them. Create a space where they can grow, contribute and feel like they belong. Ask for their help in making improvements.

Conclusion
If we want better results of any kind, we must move away from outdated models of management and move toward approaches that provide more attention and care to people as individuals. We must be more intentional about establishing and reviewing “the way we do things around here.”

Bethany Kemppainen, CTSP, TRAQ-credentialed and an ISA Certified Arborist, is chief operating officer with Guardian Tree Experts, an 18-year TCIA member company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

This article is based on a session covering the same topic that Kemppainen presented at TCI EXPO ’24 in Baltimore, Maryland.