Employee Development
The development of employees can be broken down into 3 categories which are personality traits, knowledge and skills. Most employees can improve skills and knowledge, but personality traits are pretty set in stone. When trying to develop “go-to” employees, there are Top 10 trait characteristics that tend to matter. If employees have these characteristics, highly invest in them. There is really nothing that can be done to improve these characteristics, but employees without these traits should be watched closely. If you assess any company with quality employees, these characteristics with easily be noticed.
#1 Personality Traits & Characteristics
Reliable / dependable
Desire to learn & improve
Problem solving
Good team player
Has drive and passion
Creative
Solid work ethic
Strong communication skills
Good listener
Good decision making
When trying to assess future leadership possibilities, these 5 characteristics are the most important:
Generates ideas and opportunities
Visionary thinking
Ability to inspire others
Works with initiative
Ability to make others better
Employees that exhibit these 5 characteristics can be rare, so take special care of them. These employees should be on the fast track to potential leadership positions.
While the traits and characteristics tend to show you the type of employee you have, development of tree care employees can be focused on the 20 items listed below. Most effort with training and development will be geared around these knowledge and skill attributes. Most of these will be covered individually in future blog posts because they contain so much information.
#2 Job Knowledge
Job Expectations
This seems obvious, but knowing what is expected should be the absolute baseline for any job. Job Descriptions for each position should be available for all employees.
Company Policies
Policies should be handled during orientation before any employee works in the field.
Tree Biology
Understanding branch collar, branch bark ridge, included bark, compartmentalization and other basic biology is a must.
Tree & Shrub Identification
With a larger variety of trees and shrubs, good identification skills can take a while to learn. It can often take 1-2 years to get a solid grasp of local plants especially because they visually look so different during seasons of the year.
Insect and Disease Diagnosis and Phenology
There can be such a wide variety of insects, diseases and abiotic disorders, that it can take years to see and learn everything happening in your local environment. I have noticed that most employees struggle with evergreen diseases so pay extra attention to evergreen issues.
Basic Operations
All employees should have knowledge performing a Job Briefing, tree care techniques, use of PPE and other general daily operations. Most of this information should be outlined in a company-wide Safety and Training Program.
Equipment Operation
All employees should have an understanding of chainsaws, chippers, trailers and other basic equipment (also outlined in Safety and Training Program).
Job Specifications
Employees need to understand all terminology relating to tree care including crown cleaning, crown raising and other tree care terminology.
Personal Protective Equipment
All employees need to have an understanding of which PPE is required for each tree care service (hard hat, hearing protection, eye protection, chaps, etc..). This information should be clearly communicated and outlined in the company Safety and Training Program).
Chemicals and Materials
Employees using chemicals need to have a working knowledge of safety, precautions, handling, disposal, mixing and general safety.
#3 Job Skills
General Ground Skills
Obviously, most employees start with ground skills which they can use the rest of their career. Nothing makes a day better than a solid groundsworker.
Pruning
There is a tremendous amount of information to learn regarding small, medium and large tree pruning. An entire website can cover just this topic.
For more information regarding pruning check out The BIG Oak’s sister website at http://www.arbordayeveryday.net which includes a bunch of information on the website itself and several of the blog posts.
Removal Skills
Solid removal skills can take years to teach because every tree and situation is different. Learning never stops when it comes to removals.
Climbing Skills
Just like removal skills, climbing skills are constantly changing and improving. Learning to climb is a 2-year process at a minimum to be an OK climber. Good climbers never stop improving and learning.
Rigging
Rigging skills are just as important as climbing and removal skills. Just because much of the rigging is done from the ground, doesn't make it any less important.
Knots
Most climbers use 10 knots consistently, but there are many more to know. Setting up a system so all employees can practice is the best way to teach consistent methods.
Equipment Operations
Each piece of equipment deserves its own training whether it is chainsaw operation, hedge trimmer, ladders, trailers, skid steers or stump grinders. All equipment will have safety and training concerns and must be respected individually.
Vehicle Operations
Chip trucks, chippers, loaders, aerial lifts, bucket truck and other tree care equipment can take weeks to months to operate safely and efficiently. All employees should be checked off on each vehicle before operating.
Plant Health Care
The world of Plant Health Care can take years to master between chemical knowledge, applications, safety, mixing and disposal. In addition, learning applicable tree diseases, insect pests and abiotic disorder can extend and complicate the learning curve.
Landscape Care
Some of the best production arborists that climb and remove trees, often have no skill set or knowledge when it comes to proper shrub care, tree planting or other landscape-based services.