Productivity amid labor shortages

By Tim Kubista

Anyone who has worked in the landscaping industry over the past decade understands how volatile the labor market can be. Professions that typically pay lower wages or require a lot of physical exertion are seeing a decrease in qualified job applicants nationwide.

But by applying creative management, smart scheduling, automated tasks and the use of autonomous technology, companies that face long-term labor shortages can see their fortunes improve. Keeping your clients and employees happy is also imperative as you prepare to scale your business in today’s tight labor market.

Here are some key strategies you can employ as you help maximize your labor in a competitive and tight market.

Route optimization and smart scheduling

One way to enhance efficiency is by using task management software that helps you schedule jobs based on your crews’ locations – whether from the office, their homes or nearby job sites. Efficient routing and job sequencing ensures crews use less fuel and spend less time traveling. This can also reduce your labor costs since crews will spend more of their time working on paid jobs than other tasks.

You should also prioritize your high-revenue or contract-based accounts so that you are assured of having a reliable cash flow.

Offer scalable service contracts

Many home- and property-service providers experience seasonal demand fluctuations. That’s why many of them have developed special loyalty clubs or tiered contract programs to ensure their clients understand the importance of having tune-ups, checkups and maintenance performed during the off seasons. 

The same is true in landscaping. By developing tiered service offerings and multi-year contracts with built-in seasonal adjustments, you can balance your workload demands throughout the season. You’ll have greater foresight into staffing needs for the entire year, and less reliance on hiring seasonal staff.

Other scalable options can include upselling high-margin, lower-labor services – like fertilization, weed control and seasonal maintenance – to offset the labor-heavy tasks you perform during the peak seasons.

Standardize processes and train crews

Standardizing your operating processes is crucial for lawn care and landscaping businesses to increase efficiency, consistency and quality of work. This will boost productivity and reduce costs. Having well-documented standard operating procedures (SOP) ensures inexperienced or short-handed crews can maintain quality controls.

You should have procedures for all of the following, and more: starting with a new client; a new employee’s first week on the job; end of day and end of work week equipment checks; care for an injury on the job (at a client’s property, on the road, at the office); trailer loading; and more. Having procedures gives employees the freedom to do things properly without always needing a manager to oversee work.

And don’t forget consistent training. Crews that are onboarded properly and cross trained on multiple tasks will work more efficiently and can reduce downtime when labor is limited. Providing your crew with tools that require only minimal technical expertise can also help you maintain quality while maximizing efficiency.

Automate labor-intensive tasks

Automation often gets a bad rap. It’s seen by many as a job destroyer. But studies have shown that it does not take jobs away from people, it merely transforms how they are performed. In the commercial landscape industry, remote-operated and autonomous mowing technology allows crews to focus on detail work rather than spend hours on repetitive mowing tasks.

For example, battery-operated blowers, trimmers and other electronic equipment have been used in landscaping for decades but still require human interaction to be useful. Equipment like RC Mowers’ autonomous mowing robot and remote-operated robotic mowers ensure that large turf areas, retention ponds and municipal landscapes remain maintained even with minimal labor.

Adopt “data-driven” maintenance strategies

Implementing preventative equipment maintenance schedules can help avoid costly breakdowns, which can lead to unplanned labor costs and keep your crews sidelined. Using real-time tracking tools helps you monitor job completion times and crew efficiency, and helps you keep an eye on your equipment use so you can plan maintenance schedules.

These tools also help you analyze data to identify which service types are the most profitable so you can allocate labor accordingly.

Strengthen relationships with clients & partners

Staying in touch with your clients and partners also helps you manage your time and plan employee schedules. By actively communicating with customers about service expectations, scheduling and seasonal needs, you prevent last-minute labor demands. 

Having partnerships with equipment suppliers and dealers also helps you ensure speedy service and access to parts to keep downtimes to a minimum. If staffing issues arise, offering alternative service solutions – such as biweekly mowing jobs rather than weekly – can retain clients while easing labor constraints.

Focus on retention 

Retaining good employees is more critical than finding new ones. The average cost of training a new employee is nearly $1,300 and that’s in addition to their pay and benefits.

By offering incentives, competitive wages and career development opportunities, you encourage employees to stay with your company. A positive company culture is also necessary to retain good employees. Since landscaping is seasonal, your company should offer alternative services during the colder months so you can keep your most talented workers employed all year round.

The most resilient landscape maintenance companies are those that blend workforce management expertise with smart equipment investments in remote-operated and autonomous mowing equipment. This technology helps you automate repetitive tasks and keeps employees happy so you don’t have to rely on seasonal or unreliable labor.

In addition, strategic contract structuring, route efficiency and automation help firms stay profitable despite labor fluctuations.

The future of landscape maintenance lies in an adaptive workforce model – where people and machines work together to create efficiency, safety and long-term business growth.

As vice president of sales and marketing for RC Mowers, Tim Kubista specializes in revenue growth, acquisition, sales training and building dealer networks – helping transform small businesses into powerhouse enterprises. He has led three companies to inclusion on the Inc. 5000 list, including RC Mowers, and came to the company with vast knowledge of the commercial mowing and allied equipment industry.