This post is going to be a little different from what we normally share here.
Usually, when you read something written for one of our blogs, we write in what we like to call the “company voice”. But for this post, I’m going to write from my own personal experience. It feels appropriate to mention this upfront. First, it’s a disclaimer because the observations I’m going to share here are just my own. However, if you ever get the chance to visit one of our branch offices, I hope you’ll find these things to be true for what you experience too.
As I pass the ten-year mark as the Marketing Director for Yellowstone Landscape, I can safely say that I’ve been in more Yellowstone branch offices than almost anyone else in the company. At this point, I often joke about being able to walk into a branch office and feel the vibe of the place within the first two minutes. Another of my colleagues (one who travels even more than I do) often says that he can smell either the success or the tension in the air as soon as he walks into a branch.
It’s true that every Yellowstone branch is different. As a company, we celebrate and encourage our local offices to develop and embrace their own personalities. But there are some traits of the highest performing, most successful, and most fun branches that I’ve ever visited that are worth sharing.
Our clients know this to be true. That’s why they hire us.
Our best branches are proud of how their offices look. They have great-looking and easy-to-find signage. They keep parking areas clear and clean, reserving spots up front for guests, visitors, and applicants.
Trucks and trailers are lined up to make startup easier at morning dispatch. Shops are clean, with equipment tagged for services. Safety signage and employment rights are prominent and everyone knows exactly where they’re supposed to go.
And this is something that isn’t limited to larger locations. I’ve seen small locations operating out of spaces not much larger than construction trailers that take tremendous pride in what’s been given to them. It just goes to show that size doesn’t determine the heart. A small, emerging market branch can operate just as well as the largest locations in our company.
Oftentimes when I visit a branch, I have a camera in my hand. When people see a camera, their natural reaction is either 1) to run and hide from it, or 2) to smile and have fun with it.
And I get it. Landscape Professionals are, in general, very serious people who just want to get on with their day. Nothing wrong with that at all. But I’ve noticed that in our most successful locations, it’s not hard to get people to smile. Even the hardest stone face will crack when I ask them about their teammates, their favorite projects to work on, or how they got their nickname.
And I think we should remind ourselves every day that landscaping is supposed to be fun. There aren’t too many jobs left where you get paid to be outside, dig in the dirt, and make the world a more beautiful place, right? Our offices that have fun are filled with people who smile a lot. And that makes my job a little easier when I come to visit them.
Depending on the season, there are anywhere from five to six thousand people who work for Yellowstone. Some have been with the company for decades. Others are just starting out. But one thing that shows up in a lot of different ways in almost all of us is pride.
Call me naive, but most of the people that make Yellowstone Landscape the company it is are proud of the place they work - and proud of the work we do.
I can tell that people are proud of the company because I see our logo on things all over their offices. Not just the usual things like shirts and safety vests, either. I’ve seen our logo on coffee mugs, notebooks, trophies, and awards they’ve been given. Even baby blankets and belt buckles. And while we do have some pretty good swag available in our company store, I’m always amazed that so many people choose to go out and spend their own money to put our logo on their favorite items.
Beyond their pride in being a Yellowstone Landscape Professional, I see their pride in their work. When I first started in this role, I assumed that the higher profile of the project, the more pride our teams would have working on it. It seemed like a natural assumption that if you’re taking care of a world-class resort or a huge company’s prestigious corporate headquarters, you’d carry about your tasks with a little higher head than if you were working on a right of way or a warehouse distribution center.
After ten years of visiting branches and job sites, I can say that the profile of the client property has nothing to do with the pride our staff feels when going about their work. Many of our most successful and most enjoyable branches don’t have a single client you’d consider a household name.
Pride in the work we do is all about transforming and preserving the spaces that we’ve been entrusted to care for. And that’s what our clients appreciate most about us in our most successful branches. In those branches, they’re just as excited for me to see a high-end HOA with celebrity residents as they are a shipping and logistics park where our work is only ever being seen by truck drivers and warehouse staff. And the work is always a reflection of their excitement and their pride in the places we care for.
Getting out of my office, visiting our branch offices, and seeing their work is (and always will be) my favorite part of being the Marketing Director of Yellowstone Landscape. In ten years, I’ve seen the highs and the lows of what a Yellowstone branch can be, and there is still so much more to see. As of this writing, there are about ten Yellowstone offices I haven’t had the chance to visit yet. And I can’t wait for my next trip.
If you’re thinking about a career change and Yellowstone’s on your list, I’d encourage you to stop by and fill out an application. Yes, you can do it online, but if you really want to know what a career here is all about, you should go and see one of our offices for yourself.
If you’re a current client or you’re considering becoming a client of Yellowstone Landscape, I strongly suggest you make a trip to one of our offices, too. In fact, we wrote a whole blog about why clients should visit their landscaper’s shop.
So, whatever the reason you find yourself in a Yellowstone Landscape branch office, I hope you’ll discover some of the things I enjoy most about visiting one of our locations for yourself.