President's Perspective

Hello, everyone! We’re almost through another crazy season in the green industry! As we wrap up the year, I want to thank everyone who worked hard to keep making this profession the beautiful and inspirational field that it is. Many of us are about to enter the slower part of our year—the handful of months where we have time to reflect on the past year, assess our successes and challenges, and plan for the future.

And future planning is exactly the focus of this issue of The Buckeye, as we examine workforce development. Workforce development is a people-first approach to upskilling workers for long-term success. The aim of workforce development is to foster prosperity for individuals, communities, and businesses. It is the practice of offering our employees training, development opportunities, and continuing education programs to maximize their job success and career pathway.

We’re staring down an unprecedented shift in the US labor market. In the next several years, 75 million baby boomers (those individuals born between 1946-1964) will be retiring, but there are not enough Gen X and Millennial employees available to fill all these rapidly opening vacancies. Many Gen Xers will be requiring time off or flex time to care for children or aging parents, and Millennials, while there are many of them, do not make up the skills gap left by our retiring Boomers. Potentially, this means a shortage of highly educated talent in the future, meaning a gap in professional knowledge and in turn creating complications for organizations seeking entry-level employees. The ratio of workers to employees in 1978 (the year I was born), was 5:1—five employed workers to 1 retiree. By the time I turn 60 in 2038, that ratio is projected to be down to 2.9:1, which means far fewer “productive” (and knowledgeable) people in the workforce supporting a very large unemployed populace.

Sobering info, isn’t it? And while we have no control over national labor management at large, we can take steps to future-proof our own companies. What do we, in our industry, do with this information?

First, look at your older employees. Are they nearing retirement age? Even if they are not planning on retiring right away, what info about clients, key processes or your company do they possess that should be passed on? Can you plan a transfer of knowledge over a year or so to make sure that institutional knowledge doesn’t leave when your experienced employees do?

Second, lean into workforce development…but note that workforce development is more than just job training. Workforce development is looking at your staff and finding the future leaders among them, then giving them the opportunities to grow within their jobs. Start training your younger employees on soft skills and give them opportunities to partake in early management programs. Programs on conflict resolution, DEI, leadership, culture development—these are skills that employees can use across your company, beyond their day-to-day job requirements. And yes, the question always comes up: “well, what if I spend all this money or time on someone and they leave?” My response is, “well, if you don’t do this yourself, the good ones will leave anyway, seeking an employer where they can find personal growth. Why not invest in your workforce with the hope that they stay?”

This is not idle hope on my part, the research backs it up: if your team feels like you’re investing in them, they’re more likely to invest in you and your company because they have a sense of job security and higher sense of job satisfaction. You’ll see increases in morale and therefore, productivity, because employees who have been given tools to think “bigger” can be more creative, work smarter, and have the chance to better the place where they work. By investing in workforce development, you are creating a workplace that employees want to be a part of and contribute to. According to a recent Gallup poll, 87% of millennials rate “professional or career growth and development opportunities” as important to them in a job…compared to 69% of non-millennials. Workplace development is key even before you secure an employee: 59% of millennials say opportunities to learn and grow are extremely important to them when applying for a job.

The good news is you don’t have to figure this out on your own. The OGIA is proud to be your partner in helping you develop your workforce, whether through webinars, classes, trainings, or being a resource when you’re looking for a professional to provide a specific program. Investing in the OGIA is a way to engage in some easy, low-cost workplace development, so I will use this last letter to encourage you to get involved with your state trade association.

It’s been an absolute pleasure to have led the OGIA board this past year, and I’m so proud of the work that the OGIA staff has done to build programing that develops our profession. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts through this platform; I am grateful to be part of an industry where I get to learn something about myself and our natural world every day, and to have the privilege to help shape the future of the green profession.

I wish you all the best in your endeavors and hope everyone continues to experience joy and success in this amazing industry. Please feel free to connect with me if you want to talk shop, otherwise, I hope to get to meet more of you through the coming years!

Cheers!