Work, Eat, Play: Employee Mentoring and Retention

How does a manager or owner help coach an employee toward finding satisfaction and a sense of purpose? Scheduling an overnight work trip is one tangible example of how this may work. All photos courtesy of the author.

During TCIA’s Virtual Summit’21, held this past January, I discussed motivating employees to grow. Specifically, I discussed moving a person from being motivated extrinsically to intrinsically. In other words: How do we inspire someone to grow from a grunt-worker simply collecting a paycheck to a self-motivated, committed employee? Ultimately, a great employee will have the maturity to be driven internally, because he or she understands the personal benefits of achieving long-term goals and the satisfaction of carrying a sense of purpose.

There is something powerful that occurs when crew members work hard together to accomplish tasks and then are able to follow it up with shared meals and downtime.

How does a manager or owner help coach an employee toward that greater good? Scheduling an overnight work trip is one tangible example of how this may work.

At Higher Ground Tree Care, LLC, we plan a couple of work trips every year. It is a great way to help employees bond with each other, get them away from their electronics and pour into them one-on-one. Recently, we did one such trip for a local client who had a second property approximately an hour-and-a-half away. It was a large, wooded property on a secluded lake. My company was hired to do a fair amount of tree work, and the client was excited to play host.

What work trips provide

There is something powerful that occurs when crew members work hard together to accomplish tasks and then are able to follow it up with shared meals and downtime. Something powerful happens when crews work, eat and play together. Our trip involved a six-hour workday, cleanup and a hearty meal. Yes, we grilled! The rest of the evening was spent kayaking, setting up tents and relaxing around a campfire.

Around the campfire

Equipped with s’mores, we shared stories and deeper conversation around the fire. Talking around the campfire seems to be the glue that holds it all together. Like most, it began light-heartedly, further cementing nicknames like Slice, Juke Box, Giggles, First Gear and so on. At some point, though, I took the conversation deeper based on how the crew members needed to be encouraged or challenged. On this particular trip, I had invited a subcontractor friend who shared a word of wisdom.

Talking around the campfire seems to be the glue that holds it all together.

He challenged the team members who were sitting around the campfire to reflect on a growth point they personally could reflect on. “You are a great team, a team that is cohesive, a team that likes each other, a team that works well together; however, I’m sure you have been challenged by your crew leader or the owner of Higher Ground Tree Care to grow in an area that may be a little uncomfortable. I would challenge you to reflect on a personal area of growth that’s needed and push yourself to achieve it.”

Oftentimes, hearing something from someone outside your usual crew can have a more lasting effect than when you shared the same thing one week earlier.

In my experience, most employees, regardless of age or station in life, are open to being mentored and challenged. They are willing to go deep on the big issues in their lives. To do this, though, trust must be established. This trust is grown throughout our everyday lives as we work alongside each other. It is displayed while sitting around the campfire.

I always make it a point to give the crew members a word of encouragement or wisdom. Because trust has been established in other things we do together, it has always been well received. An example of the encouragement I’ve given our crew is by exhorting them to consider that they are valuable, that they are more than a paycheck.

“You were not put on this earth simply to mark time and exist. When you die, what will they say at your funeral? You will be defined by the relationships you built, so where in your life could you work a little harder on this? These ideas are not new. In the Bible, Jeremiah 29:11 says, ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

The payoff

The payoff of an overnight trip is the tight-knit team camaraderie. A stronger team is a safer and more productive team.

The payoff is a stronger, safer and more productive team.

Like many other military veterans, I have fond memories of serving. These memories almost always revolve around the camaraderie that was the result of working, eating and playing together. Similar to the military, a professional tree crew is doing something unique and dangerous. There is great potential to create a similar bond to what is often experienced in the military. However, most tree crews only work together. It takes effort to create the opportunity to work, eat and play together.

Having led numerous trips over the years, I can attest to the memories made of the bonds that were established. Many of my employees and former employees will reminisce about these experiences at our annual Christmas parties. The overnight trips are often labeled their favorite thing we did that year. They are a favorite of mine, as well.

Matthew Hogarth, M.Ed., CTSP and a Certified Arborist, is owner of Higher Ground Tree Care, a four-year TCIA member company based in Granger, Indiana.

This article was based on his presentation on the same subject at TCIA’s Virtual Summit ’21, which took place in January of this year. To listen to an audio recording of that presentation, go to tcimag.tcia.org and, under the Resources tab, click Audio. Or, under the Current Issue tab, click View Digimag, then go to this page and click here.

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