#124 HIRING AND MANAGING OUR EMPLOYEES/ (revised 6/10) employee training

Training

It is essential that our employees be fully informed and trained.

Too many garden stores (and small businesses) kind of “make it all up as they go”. The training, often, is hit and miss depending on the season and the whim of the owner.

Our training includes both operational issues and emergency subjects. Our program has to have the following elements to be worthwhile. Our training must be;

Continuous and sustained

Training days and assignments occur all during the season regardless of the intensity of the business

Supervised and accountable

People are assigned to monitor the training and insure the employees are following the program. The individual section leaders are responsible for the training of their employees. The floor manager has overall responsibility.

Worthwhile to the employee

The training must be presented to the employee in an interesting and pleasurable manner. The material must be directly useable to the workplace.

Easily accessible to all

All employees must have effortless and seamless access to the training

Rewarded

This is extra work for the employee, often during their off hours. We need to pay them for this work if they are not on the clock.

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We have designed the employee section of our website to handle most of the training functions.

For example, if there is a module about “how to sell a tree”, that section will contain a general discussion of the subject (often a video presentation), photos and charts, and some exam questions about the material. The exam answers are completed online and transferred to their section leaders for review.

New training assignments are flashed on the website and texted to their personal cell phones when they are installed. Timely training messages (as well as general or emergency store messages or changes in schedules) are communicated in the same manner.

Our vendors are required to support this online training by providing information they have presented personally to the website.

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We have four categories of employee training

Introductory “quick and dirty” training (online or orally)

This is a one time training course for all employees. It is a brief overview of the business and operations so the employee does not walk into the store blindly. It is to be completed before the employee begins the first day of work.

It presents the history of the company and the ownership (with a video greeting from the four owners), the organization chart of responsibility, particularly important parts of the employee manual that need to be emphasized, maps of the site and common “buzzword” names assigned to specific areas of the site as well as common questions and answers customers will ask routinely to all the employees during the workday.

Special subjects training (online)

These are training subject targeted issues. For example, a short session on “how to operate a golf cart” or “how to lift and carry properly”. As in all online work, there is a series of exam questions on the subject and a quiz on the material.

“In the headlights” training (orally)

These are subjects of training that occur without notice and must be explained. For example, a new piece of equipment arrives, the unloading of a new type of cart, or a recent emergency situation that needs attention. The section leaders are required to orally present the material to their section employees. The information of that training is posted on the website for future reference for new employees.

Government required training (orally/backed up online)

These training subjects are required by a governmental agency, such as forklift certifications, the handling of chemicals, or education of the MSDS, material safety data sheets.

Seminar college course training (orally/backed up online)

Employees may be asked or are required to attend seminars or take courses related to the store; leadership, selling, inventory, operations. The presenters partner with green garden gates to back up the course work on our website. The employees, or course, are compensated for these sessions.

Section Training (orally and online)

Each section has particular training issues. The background information is available online such as the checklists, plant information and particular methods of operation in that section. Other training includes walks through the section and identification and information about the inventory.

Part of this module is the “25 questions”, a series of questions that relate to the operation and sales in that section. The questions are revised and increased routinely to enhance the knowledge base of the employee

Cross Training (orally and online)

We believe that each of our occasional and seasonal employees must be able to provide information, sell the product, and follow the accepted practices in any area of the store. Section leaders cooperate in moving employees in and out of other sections during the season to cross train their experience.