Essential Staff Training: It’s the Little Things

For many IGCs, January is the quietest time of year, making it ideal for staff training. Whether your store closes for such instruction over an entire day, or whether you take an hour or two each morning over the course of a week, tackling issues now will make for smoother operations in the spring.

Typical staff training days usually cover the big topics, such as customer service, sales, communication skills and store policies for employees. Conflict resolution, changes in management or new employee introductions are usually included. Recent hires and long-term staff also benefit from reminders about safety, dress codes or personal cellphone use. But beyond such basics, there is a host of small items to discuss, and these can make the spring rush flow much more smoothly.

Where’s the…?

Some years ago, we had an employee meeting at my IGC, and once the general manager’s talk was done, the staff was encouraged to make suggestions. One of the younger members spoke up. “You know,” he began. “I waste a lot of time every day just looking for the broom and dustpan. Couldn’t we have one place where these are always kept?”

It’s such a simple thing, right? Yet everyone had gotten into the habit of using the sweeping tools and then tucking them in a corner near where they were working, instead of returning these to a central location. Quickly stashing the broom nearby might be expedient for the person who had finished sweeping, but this ended up causing all the other employees to waste time trying to find where the tools had been tucked away.

Locating pricing guns is another time sink. January is the time when these should be located, cleaned and stationed where your staff can find them quickly. Teach new hires how to load these with stickers, and go over what products get individually priced.

Ask your employees what they spend time looking for, and develop central locations for the storage of such items. Signage in those areas, such as “Return Brooms Here” or “Pricing Gun Station” can serve as reminders to experienced staff and information for new hires.

Watering woes

Most IGC employees spend a great deal of time in the company of hoses and watering wands. Experienced staff are well aware of how to keep the stock well hydrated, but new employees need to be trained in all watering essentials. A staff instruction day should include letting your team feel the difference in weight between a well-watered pot and another that is dry. Demonstrate how to water some plants by sneaking the wand under the foliage, instead of showering the water over the top.

Employees who are watering plants may frequently get pulled away from that task by a customer who needs assistance. Show those who are new to the store how to lay the watering wand down gently, marking where you left off and how to scooch the hose out of the aisle so that it’s not a tripping hazard. If there are areas that tend to flood when plants are watered, demonstrate how to mark these with orange safety cones or wet floor signs. Never assume that these small actions are obvious or automatic to new staff members.

Watering practices for dry perennials or small shrubs in hot weather aren’t always evident either. Since dry soil shrinks away from the sides of the pots, any fast watering will run down that gap and out the drainage holes before the root ball is well hydrated. New staff members will ne ed to be shown how to water such containers once, and then go back and water again once the soil starts to swell. You might want to have a few dry pots on hand, so you can show that giving the plants “a lick and a promise” doesn’t saturate the entire root ball.

Does your store have a standard practice for dealing with the hose after watering is finished? Is there a way that you want hoses to be coiled or stored? Demonstrate or show photos of best and worst practices for watering equipment.

Since water is a precious resource, a January training session is also a good time to remind your staff how to conserve water. Who should be promptly notified when a leaky hose or faucet is noticed? Remind your people that if they are walking away from a hose for more than a few minutes, the water should be turned off at the spigot. A hose left under pressure can burst, wasting water as well as the time to make repairs. “Righty tighty, lefty loosey” remains a good way for some employees to remember how to turn the handle.

Customer FAQs

Prepare the answers to your customers’ frequently asked questions, and make sure every member of your staff knows how to answer these. From “Do you have a restroom?” and “What’s the Wi-Fi password?” to “What should I use to fertilize my rhododendrons?” there are queries we all hear repeatedly. Winter training days are the time to be sure that all of your employees are on the same page with their answers.

Record or print your training

While you may be able to get most of your staff to a winter training event, there will always be new hires in the spring. Write down these small training tips so that seasonal employees can be given a handout about where standard equipment is stored, how plants are routinely watered, customer FAQs and other information. You might consider a video recording of some of your training so that new staff members can watch during their orientation process.

Once the customers and deliveries start rolling in come spring, the little things can become the big things. Prepare for them now.