Jack Jostes [00:00:00]:
Check out today's podcast to learn some tips to coach your employees to be their best selves. From the VP of Operations from a highly successful snow and landscape company who's won the Best Place to Work from SIMA three years in a row and had two of their employees win exciting employee nominations as well.
Matt Hager [00:00:20]:
If people are hitting their numbers or doing great, then it's all about recognizing that. So the public recognition is huge thing.
Cassandra Baron [00:00:27]:
Honestly, the big thing that I really try to do is genuinely listen to my team and relate to them on a personal side as well as a business side.
Matt Hager [00:00:38]:
I'm always there to help offer support, really trying to see, get to the root cause of what happened, what was going on, to cause the numbers to dip, and then trying some things out and continuing to check the metrics, hearing.
Cassandra Baron [00:00:50]:
The words that my peers say about me, I'm very grateful to work with the people that I do and have the leadership that I do have.
00:58 - Introducing Matt Hager from Earth Development
Jack Jostes [00:00:58]:
All right, folks, we're here at the Ramblin Jackson booth at the SIMA Symposium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And I'm with Matt Hager, the VP of Operations from Earth Development, one of our clients from Green Bay, Wisconsin. They have won the Best Place to Work from SIMA three years in a row. And you have some other cool awards. Two of Matt's direct reports have won. What is the award that they, the employees won?
Matt Hager [00:01:24]:
So this year, Cassandra Barron, she is my operations support manager. She won Business Professional of the Year for 2024. Two years ago, the other manager that reports to me, Casey Wawiorka, he won operations employee of the year, and he is my Field Operations Manager.
Jack Jostes [00:01:45]:
Well, that's incredible. So congratulations. I think partly Eddy wanted me to interview you because they won the award and you as their manager, you were part of that. So I wanted to kind of talk to you today a little bit about what's it like working there and how did you help them reach this?
Matt Hager [00:02:04]:
Okay. Yeah. So, working at Earth Development has been great. I've been there for almost eight years. Definitely really believe in the culture that's there. Eddy does a great job with setting the standards for that, following through with it, and living it day by day. So it's just been a wonderful place to work, place that I can't imagine ever wanting to leave. So, yeah, he's made that really fun.
Matt Hager [00:02:32]:
Casey, he has been at Earth Development. He's the longest tenured employee there. He's been at Earth Development for about 15 years. Started off as a field technician straight out of high school and has worked his way up the ladder to Field Operations Manager now.
Jack Jostes [00:02:50]:
That's incredible. And what about, what was the second person who won the award?
Matt Hager [00:02:56]:
Cassandra Baron. She has been at Earth Development for about a year and a half now, and she came in to, we started an operation support role in customer service department and she is heading all of that.
03:11 - Management and Coaching: Using KPIs Effectively
Jack Jostes [00:03:11]:
So what are some of the things that as they're your direct reports, tell me a little bit, how do you manage, how does management, what does management look like at Earth Development? From onboarding somebody new to then maybe coaching somebody who's been here for eight plus years?
Matt Hager [00:03:31]:
Yeah, a lot of work that can go into it, but it all starts with setting the stage for them, having the right key responsibilities areas for them, as well as the key performance indicators to go along with that, really making sure that, you know, I'm there to help support them and guide them and really just help empower them to be the best person that they can be.
Jack Jostes [00:03:54]:
So, Matt, what are some of the KPI's that you look at per employee as their manager?
Matt Hager [00:04:00]:
So some of our brand promises at Earth Development are being reliable, responsive, partnering. So most of our KRAs and KPI's revolve around those to make sure that we're able to live up to the culture and the values that we have. So especially about being reliable and responsive is a big one. So whether it's the time it takes you to answer and respond to an email, to get questions answered, whether it's from a service partner or a customer, by email or phone, call, text, whatever the preferred method is, we want to make sure that we're there to communicate the best way possible.
Jack Jostes [00:04:36]:
Well, I really like that you're measuring that, you know, in snow removal in particular and really business in general, communication and getting a timely response is something that customers just want. So how are you measuring it? Are you using a software? Is it done automatically? Do they need to report it? What does that look like? How do you actually measure it?
Matt Hager [00:04:56]:
So we've got a few different ways that we do that. We use HubSpot as a way for creating our service request tickets, and we're able to track how long it takes to be able to respond to a request and get it completely resolved. We also use RingCentral for our phone system, and they've got some great analytics that are able to tell me how long it takes to pick up the phone, whether voicemails were left, and a lot of great analytics to go along with it.
Jack Jostes [00:05:21]:
And so do you, when things are good, do you praise people? Do you have prizes? Like how do you kind of keep tabs on this ongoing.
Matt Hager [00:05:32]:
So every week I meet with everybody and we go through the KPI's for the week prior, some of their main numbers to make sure everybody's staying on track. And if anybody needs help in an area, I'm always there to help support them and see what we can do to get the numbers back to where they need to be. If people are hitting their numbers or doing great, then it's all about recognizing that and making sure everybody else in the company is aware of how well they're doing. So the public recognition is a huge thing. This year our customer service team, they had, I think about a little over 2,800 calls for the winter and we didn't have a single call that went to voicemail and we had a pickup time of average of 17 seconds for the winter. So even with that that was just a huge, huge win for us.
Jack Jostes [00:06:20]:
So you mean the phone rang for 17 seconds? That seems like kind of a long time to not go to voicemail.
Matt Hager [00:06:30]:
And that's an average as well. So there are times of course when we're in the middle of a winter storm and this winter we had large storms that came in instead of our usual two to three inch storms. We ended up having six to twelve inch storms. So our calls came typically a lot quicker. We were still able to answer every call sometimes, yeah, 17 seconds or a little bit longer, but we were always there to answer the phone one way or another.
Jack Jostes [00:06:54]:
That's incredible. Out of 2,800 calls.
Matt Hager [00:06:57]:
That's correct. Yeah, it was quite an achievement. So after they were able to do that, we had got a big cake and celebrated as a company.
Jack Jostes [00:07:05]:
Yeah, that's an incredible achievement. So one, I love that you guys are measuring it and that you're telling people that you're going to do it and then you're actually measuring it, monitoring it and praising it.
Matt Hager [00:07:16]:
Oh yeah, that's correct. Yep.
07:18 - Addressing Off-Track KPIs and AI Implementation
Jack Jostes [00:07:18]:
What are some things, maybe if people's numbers are off track that you found to approach them in a way that helps them get them back on track?
Matt Hager [00:07:27]:
I'm always there to help offer support, you know, really trying to see, get to the root cause of what happened, what was going on to cause the numbers to dip and just working with them to see what we can do to get that back on track and then trying some things out and continuing to check the metrics, make sure they're going the right way.
Jack Jostes [00:07:47]:
I like that. What are some of your goals in the next year that you're working on?
Matt Hager [00:07:53]:
Always a lot of process and procedure stuff. So as we're growing every year, we're revamping those, revisiting them, making sure our policies and procedures, training guides are all up to date and that everybody is fully aware of it and trained on any updates.
Jack Jostes [00:08:09]:
Are you using AI at all to help you with that?
Matt Hager [00:08:12]:
Not at this point, not a lot. We're looking into it more and more because I do see the power that could provide.
Jack Jostes [00:08:19]:
Yeah, I think it could help you with that. And I just interviewed somebody who was talking about using Chat GPT for writing standard operating procedures and other HR tasks.
Matt Hager [00:08:30]:
Yes. So I have used Chat GPT to help with some of that as well. Usually I'm starting off with, with, if I use Chat GPT, starting off with a little bit of a rough draft, and using Chat GPT to help refine that for me.
08:45 - Cassandra Baron’s Unique First SIMA Symposium Experience
Jack Jostes [00:08:45]:
So, Cassandra, tell me about your experience here. Coming to the show, what were you surprised to learn?
Cassandra Baron [00:08:52]:
So this is my first time at SIMA. I've had a really great time. There's a lot of classes covering a whole bunch of different topics. And as somebody who does more of the customer service side as well as talking to some of the service partners, it's been great to learn a lot of the snow side of the industry because you get your ASM and you do the classes, but if I'm not out in the field, I don't really know exactly what the crews are going through, so it's been very exciting to network with them and see really what they do on a day to day in the winter.
Jack Jostes [00:09:23]:
And didn't you learn when you got here that you won the award?
Cassandra Baron [00:09:27]:
So I didn't know until we walked in and my name was on a sign, but my team made a very, very good effort to hide it from me to make it a surprise.
Jack Jostes [00:09:37]:
That's so cool. How did you feel when you saw it?
Cassandra Baron [00:09:40]:
I was really excited. I didn't actually know what it really meant. So then when the award ceremony actually happened, it was a little bit emotional, but you hold it inside so that, whatever. But hearing the words that my peers say about me was, I'm very grateful to work with the people that I do and have the leadership that I do have.
Jack Jostes [00:10:03]:
Yeah. That's so cool. Congratulations.
Cassandra Baron [00:10:05]:
Thank you.
Jack Jostes [00:10:06]:
And so you've worked at Earth Development for about a year and a half?
Cassandra Baron [00:10:10]:
A year and a half, yeah.
Jack Jostes [00:10:10]:
So that's an incredible award to win in such a short amount of time.
Cassandra Baron [00:10:14]:
Yeah, yeah. I feel very grateful.
Jack Jostes [00:10:16]:
So I know this is a little uncomfortable, but what do you think you do that helped you won? Like, what do you do when, like, you're coming to work every day that maybe you just do, that you do every day that kind of helped you win this? What do you think?
Cassandra Baron [00:10:29]:
Yeah. So right off the bat, when I started, the culture at Earth Development is a lot different than companies I've worked for in the past. And I took a lot of pride in keeping that culture going with my team. So I started off as just one of the reps and moved up. And honestly, the big thing that I really tried to do is genuinely listen to my team and relate to them on a personal side as well as a business side and just making sure that they feel heard and helping them achieve their goals as well. And I think that's really helped me in my career here at Earth Development.
11:06 - Earth Development’s Brand Promises
Jack Jostes [00:11:06]:
What are some of the Earth Development brand promises?
Cassandra Baron [00:11:09]:
So the big one is Persistently Pursuing Perfection. As you know, perfection is something that people consider unattainable, but it is something that we always shoot to do, so we really keep that at the heart. We're also very passionate about our people. So that really shows in the training that we do and the support that we provide to our team members.
Jack Jostes [00:11:32]:
Yeah, I think the pursuing part of the perfection. So I've talked with Eddy about this because, yeah, you can't really achieve perfection, but pursuing it is something you can choose to do.
Cassandra Baron [00:11:44]:
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. We also, like truly listen to our team members, too. It doesn't matter what position you're in. If you have an idea and it's going to go towards the goal, we listen to it.
Jack Jostes [00:11:55]:
Well, Cassandra, congratulations and thanks for sharing your story on the podcast.
Cassandra Baron [00:12:00]:
Awesome. Thank you so much.
12:01 - Final Thoughts
Jack Jostes [00:12:01]:
Hey, it's Jack Jostes and you've been listening to The Landscaper’s Guide Podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, make sure you give us a five star rating and share it with somebody in the industry. And make sure you subscribe at landscapersguide.com/podcast where I'll instantly send you our top three episodes, plus invitations to our upcoming live and virtual events. I hope to see you at one of them. Again, it’s Jack Jostes, thanks for listening and I look forward to talking to you next week on The Landscaper’s Guide.
Show Notes:
Watch the full episode + see the transcript at: https://landscapersguide.com/podcast/
Tell us where to send your beef jerky: https://landscapersguide.com/toolbox
Check out Earth Development:
???? Website: https://earthdevelopmentinc.com/
???? LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earth-development/
???? Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthdevelopment/
Connect with our guests:
Matt Hager: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-hager-9a5ab0143/
Cassandra Baron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassandra-baron-90bba0272/