FEATURE BACK TO THE FUTURE
Grounds Maintenance has become stale, commoditised and in desperate need of renewal, but to evolve, the experts at GRITIT argue that the industry needs to go back to basics.
When you think of industries on the verge of disruption, it’s often a case of seeking out traditional sectors that have been doing things the same way for years - decades, even. You’ll look for industries that could use a shot in the arm from some smarter thinking or that could benefit from digital technologies to trim away layers of accumulated inefficiency.
On the face of it, Grounds Maintenance seems a great candidate for this treatment. In the UK, the sector is extremely fragmented, with many of the established service providers having been around for several decades and delivering very traditional offerings based on fairly rigid maintenance regimes. But that’s not to say that things haven’t been evolving.
Today’s GM industry has companies competing to discover ways to add more value to their clients. Those who struggle to achieve this rely on leaner, cheaper services so much of GM has become increasingly commoditised and, as a result, overall service is suffering. It’s therefore time to re-evaluate some of the common practices in the industry, reconnect with what customers actually need, and shift the competitive battleground further towards value.
Short term is short sighted One of the causes of commoditisation has been a relentless focus on the short term. Whether it’s the duration of client contracts, or the seasonality of employment across the sector, there is a lack of investment in lasting relationships and better service delivery.
In many respects, this is an inevitable result of cutthroat competition. When faced with more complex challenges on site, contractors will naturally be reluctant to treat the root cause of an issue if they feel there is a chance that that hard work could be undercut and someone else could reap the rewards later.
When seeking to reduce costs, first in line to be cut back tends to be winter visits when there is no obvious growth taking place. Typically grounds maintenance companies conduct a process of mass recruitment in March to employ sufficient numbers of staff to cover the peak period/grass- cutting season and then reduce staff numbers again over the winter. However, this pared down approach can be counterproductive as activity during winter months is very important to effective grounds maintenance.
One practical example is leaf collection, where neglect can allow debris to build up and destroy lawns, leading to unnecessary lawn treatments or replacements at a later point. On hard standings, leaves can also decay and leave a substrate for weeds to germinate, which can result in a need for more weed control and unnecessary chemical treatments during the subsequent growing season.
24 | TOMORROW’S FM
Similarly, neglecting autumn and spring pruning of shrubs and hedges can result in more expensive reduction work at a later date (when specialised equipment and chainsaw licenses are required).
A further consequence of cutting back during winter is that grounds maintenance companies are squandering their primary asset – people. The practice of hiring and firing according to the season leads to poorer service delivery, particularly when it results in a higher turnover of staff or a greater reliance on agencies. When you can’t retain experience, it’s difficult to do a good job or even run an efficient operation.
“The practice of hiring and firing according to the season leads to poorer service delivery.”
Furthermore, quality can take a nosedive. When you’re using different staff for each visit, it’s far easier to ask them to focus on the basics such as keeping the grass cut to the detriment of addressing more complex challenges or longer-term projects. When your relationship with those staff lasts for one season, there is virtually no incentive to invest in their training and give them the skills to take on more responsibility. Engaging seasonal staff can also make it hard to build trust with team leaders and with management. In peak season in particular, grounds maintenance is hard graft and a well-motivated team that can pull together can be much more effective.
Continuity is key With a higher turnover of people, it is harder to build the relationships that really matter in effective GM. At the simplest level there’s the relationship with the land itself: when operatives become more familiar with a site, they get a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities it presents. Every site is different and building up knowledge of that location lets individuals add more value. They can then also assume a greater level of responsibility for planning and implementing necessary actions and take greater pride in that work.
The human dimension can be very significant when servicing clients where a familiar face is important. Wherever there are a greater number of stakeholders involved, such as retail or business parks, better relationships and increased accountability can help to manage the increased number of challenges. Complaints can arise if people think work has not been done or that the standard of work is inadequate. In these situations it is important that grounds maintenance teams on site are
twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
