Our new home to support future growth
Puryear Farms recently completed the construction of a new 9,000 S.F. job training center and operations facility. The primary reason for the construction of the new facilities was the inclusion of a 2,500 S.F. job training center. This creates an indoor environment where Puryear Farms employees are taught the necessary skills and information needed to excel in the landscape industry. The construction of this facility allowed us to turn rainy days into valuable indoor training opportunities! We designed the job training center to include high ceilings and a roll up access door. This allows for indoor demonstrations of equipment commonly used in the business. The fully climate controlled job training center provides a comfortable environment in which to learn. The result is that our employees are able to make productive use of down time during the winter months to sharpen their skills for the coming season.
An emphasis on job training
The company has made a significant investment into job training and workforce development .We understand that people enjoy their work when they are confident in their own abilities. That confidence comes from having the skills to perform at high levels. They want a chance to be great at what they do. Unfortunately, most employers make the mistake of only offering “on the job training”. This results in expensive mistakes and it frustrates employee who sincerely want to do a good job. We provide our employees with job training through a combination of audio/visual presentations, on-line training modules, and instruction in a classroom environment. Also, we provide them with access to I-pads if they do not have access to a computer at home. The addition of audio visual equipment enabled us to begin conducting group training for groups as large as a hundred people.
Developing horticultural professionals
With the help of the local community college, we created online training resources to enable employees to learn horticulture. These include modules about; plant diseases, pest problems, weeds, and best practices in the landscape industry. These customized modules teaches employees to identify problems in the landscape. Most importantly, it empowers them with solutions to those problems. This information is available to them directly in the field ,via their mobile devices. We have empower our employees to make decisions on the spot and provide solutions. We created a career ladder which clearly defines what is needed to achieve the next level of success in the company. Finally, we challenge employees to complete oral and written examinations of the subject matter. Achieving those higher rankings results in corresponding increases to their compensation. All of this creates a culture of learning.
leading the industry and building a winning team
Puryear Farms is an industry leader in recognizing the need for providing employees with extensive training and development. Above all ,this builds confidence and leads to higher customer satisfaction experiences as well as lowering employee turnover. We have created a well defined career ladder with six ranking levels. Each successive level is exponentially harder to achieve. However, we clearly define what skills and talents are needed to advance to the next level. Most importantly, we have provided them with the tools and resources to get there. We have created a clear pathway to success for every employee who wishes to pursue it and become a true landscape professional!