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Succession Planning – Managing Risk

by | Aug 13, 2019 | Business Strategy | 0 comments

Succession Planning – Managing the Risk

Succession planning is the process of identifying and developing new leaders. New leaders may be needed to replace an employee who is retiring, one that has been promoted, to fill a vacancy caused by turn over and or to fill a new leadership role created to expand the company. It’s a risk management strategy that increases the availability of prepared and qualified people as the business grows, adds new employees, new services and or loses a key employee. It’s also one of the best ways to retain, inspire and reward employees.

No matter the size of your company, this activity starts at the top. The leader is responsible for the people who are responsible for the customers. Leadership is a learned skilled, preparing your people to lead is one of your most important duties.

Here are a series of steps to consider at least once a year to help you include succession planning as a risk management strategy in your annual business plan.

Identify critical positions in the company which require highly capable employees.
Identify the most competent person for each specific critical position and what the consequence would be if that person were to leave, be promoted, and or become temporarily out of service.
Identify people in the organization that are likely candidates to advance into those critical positions when the time comes. These transitions can be planned in the case of a promotion, or in the case of an emergency the company is prepared to minimize the impact.
Identify success profiles for all critical positions. If you are on top of this there should be job descriptions to review for this information. If not, that is a good first step to developing a success profile.
Create development plans for successors to ensure they are ready to assume future roles.
Develop a complete employee development plans to address the gaps. Budget time and resources for leadership training.

Begin by getting your key players involved to help with identifying critical positions and highly capable people. At first people can be threatened with this type discussion, as it may appear you are getting ready to replace them. Communication needs to be handled well and if it is, you will find it is something that is welcomed. The process allows people to see benefits and opportunities that they might not have seen before, for themselves, others and the company.

Written by: Jim Skiera

Professional Liability for Professional Arborists

by | Jul 9, 2019 | Risk Management | 0 comments

Professional Liability for Professional Arborists

On August 15th, 2017 a woman was walking through New York’s Central Park with her three sons when an Elm tree suddenly uprooted and fell on top of them. The woman, who was knocked unconscious, was holding an infant with her two sons in a stroller. Fortunately, the entire family was taken to the hospital and treated with non-life threatening injuries. Story over right? Well, almost a year and a half later the mother filed a two hundred million dollar ($200,000,000) lawsuit against New York City, Central Park Conservatory, and all private contractors that had done work on the tree in the past.

Two hundred million is certainly an extreme case, however in 2012 a lawsuit settled for four million dollars ($4,000,000) after a single branch fell and killed someone in New York City. Can you imagine being brought into a suit for a tree you worked on years ago? Oh, by the way, you better hope you have the right insurance coverage for defense costs and damages!

We all know insurance coverage is needed for bodily injury or property damage caused while you’re on the jobsite. This comes from your General Liability policy. However, with any tree job, there come exposures that are not going to be covered under the General Liability and will require Professional Liability specific to tree care operations. Here are a few common reasons every tree service should have Professional Liability.

 

Work On The Tree Itself

Think about the scenario discussed above. Wherever your crews are working they are responsible for the work being performed. Everything from working on the correct tree, using proper pruning techniques, and assessing any future tree issues are all things every tree crew does every day. If your crew fails at addressing any of these concerns, you may be exposed to a faulty workmanship claim which is usually excluded under your General Liability policy. That’s right excluded! For these exposures you must purchase Professional Liability specific to tree care operations.

Work In Area/On Nearby Trees

Believe it or not, you can be held liable for damage caused by a failed tree that you weren’t even asked to do work on. Professional tree care companies, especially those that employ Certified Arborists and TRAQ arborists, have a responsibility as soon as they step on the jobsite to give notice of any trees that could be potentially harmful. Simply put, the property owner hires an arborist because they have a higher level of understanding and awareness about trees, than the property owner. If an arborist misses something the tree care company could be held liable. Your General Liability policy certainly will not afford you protection for any lawsuit where you did not touch a tree. Professional liability is the only way to find coverage for this.

Consulting

For the arborists that only perform consulting operations, you obviously have the highest need for Professional Liability coverage as your work is all verbal/written. General Liability is for physical work done to trees, not for advice given. Whether it is consulting on one tree with a homeowner, or developing a tree management plan for an entire municipality, or acting as an expert witness in court, you’ll want to make sure you have Professional Liability policy to cover any mistakes. Also, many insurance policies are very specific to what operations they cover so please make sure everything you do is listed to avoid any potential gaps in your protection.

Training

Similar to the expert witness operations, training is often not included under a standard Professional Liability policy. Many of our clients will teach other arborists at either conferences or on-site with entire companies. From OSHA compliance training, to any of the ISA or TCIA workshops, as well as custom climbing/rigging course, there is an additional coverage you must have to protect yourself; Educator’s Errors and Omissions. This would provide coverage if you were named in a lawsuit for poor advice that led to injury or property damage.

 

To conclude, everybody in the arboriculture world needs some form of Professional Liability coverage either added onto their General Liability coverage or as a separate policy. Talk about this with your insurance agent to make sure you know what potential gaps in coverage exist for your business today.

If you are concerned about some of your operations not being covered under your current policy, contact ArboRisk for a free coverage review. For more in depth help, check out ArboRisk’s New Heights Thrive Package – the ArboRisk team will help you take a deep dive on not only your insurance but also your business operations, safety culture, sales and marketing techniques, and more! Stay safe!

Is Your Safety Program Working?

by | Dec 5, 2018 | Risk Management | 0 comments

Is Your Safety Program Working?

As a risk manager for the tree care industry, I am often asked, “how does a tree service make sure their safety program is working?” Because of this common question, I want to share three simple ways that you can internally audit your safety program to ensure you are doing all you can to get every employee home safe at night.

Are your employees able to explain what to do?

An effective safety program will teach your team members exactly what to do in case of an injury. Simply ask employees from all departments to describe the steps to take. They should know who to call, which clinic they need to go to depending on location, and what forms to fill out as soon as the injury happens. Of course, if they cannot explain what to do during a non-emergency situation, they won’t know during a panic-filled time of injury. Make this the topic at your next safety meeting to train everyone on the procedure for an injury. Have your procedure written down, and kept at all locations and in each vehicle for an emergency.

Can you prove your program is being implemented?

Documentation is a key component of an effective safety program. Whether it is for OSHA or to obtain a lower insurance rates, being able to prove that that your safety program actually exists is the goal. You should have employees sign that they acknowledge and understand the safety program and employee handbook, as well as attendance sheets for the weekly or bi-weekly safety meetings. Be sure to note the topics on the attendance sheets as well. This also helps you recognize if an employee is not being properly trained on a piece of equipment or operational service that you provide.

Numbers Talk!

Have a safety committee member be in charge of monitoring your data. A simple Excel document is a great way to track important statistics like; number of incidents, number of different employees injured, number of missed work days, etc. These numbers should be reviewed monthly or quarterly at the very least. Make note to monitor both positive and negative trends as you’ll want to reward a strong safety environment while addressing any obvious issues.

Remember, even TCIA Accredited companies have serious injuries and fatalities that could have been prevented. Don’t let your safety culture get stale and ineffective. Use these three ideas to monitor the strength of your program so you know when and how to improve it.

Written by: Malcolm Jeffris, CTSP

Make it Your Best Year Yet

by | Nov 28, 2018 | Business Strategy | 0 comments

Make It Your Best Year Yet

Raise your hand if you dread creating an annual business plan! Well you’re not alone.
We’ve all heard the famous quote from Benjamin Franklin, “failing to plan is planning to fail”, yet how often do you hear people say “I don’t have time to do an annual business plan”.

Taking time to do an annual plan saves time and increases productivity. This article is designed to give you a simple framework of how to perform an annual business planning session. The key is to set aside uninterrupted time for it, preferably on a couple different days so you can have some time to think about it in between sessions.

1. Start With Why – The Cheshire Cat of Alice in Wonderland said it simply, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” If you have not clearly defined the why you do what you do, now is the time to do so. Your Why is your Mission Statement and serves as the north star for your business. Your annual business plan defines how and what you need to do to advance the company and its mission. In addition, review your vision statement, the what you do, and your core values, how you do it. Combined, these three elements create a culture for your business.

2. SWOT Analysis – Next have a clear understanding of where your business is today. Review the goals and your performance from the prior year. Where did you do well and be brutally honest about where you did not meet your goals. The SWOT Analysis is one of the most common ways to start planning for your company. List out all of your current company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Gather input from team members in all areas of your business so your plan can be as robust as possible. Compare these findings with your successes and failures from the prior year. Tony Robbins sums it up like this: “Success leaves clues. Go figure out what someone who was successful did and model it. Improve it, but learn their steps. They have knowledge” It is pretty remarkable what happens when you include your team in this part of the annual planning. We do this in our agency using Survey Monkey so each team member has a chance to respond anonymously.

3. Big Picture Goals – In my opinion, it is best for companies to have no more than 3 big picture goals for the year. When setting goals use the acronym S.M.A.R.T. to help guide you. S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time. Each goal must be specific enough that your team members can understand what the desired outcome is. That means the goal must have something measurable assigned to it. Whether that is a total amount of new customers, an increase of the number of five star reviews on Google or a decrease in the number of injuries for the year, make sure you can track it. The goal also should be attainable and realistic given the current state of your organization. Stretch goals are great if they are accomplished, however, stating a large stretch goal can have a negative consequence on employee morale if the year does not go as planned. Lastly, each goal needs to have a time element to it. When do you want the goal to be achieved? A goal without an end date is not a goal that your team members can rally behind. Give your organization a chance at accomplishing the goals you set by making them S.M.A.R.T.

4. Objectives for Each Goal – When you have your three big picture goals written down, take a look at each one of them and break them up into smaller objectives. Assign these objectives or tasks to individuals who have the ability and responsibility to accomplish them. Make sure each team a member understands their role and is willing to do what it takes to complete their part. Go back to the SWOT analysis and align objectives with the people on your team with the strengths in the area needed to accomplish the objectives. If there is an area of weakness, incorporate training needs to bolster your team’s resources and effectiveness.

5. Check-in and Make Adjustments – Because each goal has an end date, create a timeline of when to check-in on the progress of the goal. Paying attention to the status of the goal throughout the year will allow you and your team an opportunity to make any adjustments necessary to achieve the goal. In addition to setting up a series of small check-in points, schedule a semi-annual review. Here is an article devoted specifically to your mid-year review.

To learn more about how strategic planning can enhance your organization, take a look at our Thrive Risk Management Strategic Planning Package. In just 4 short weeks we can help you identify who you are as a company, what you want to become, and what strategic milestones will be needed to achieve your goals.

Written by: Jim Skiera

Top Tree Holidays to Market Your Business Around

by | Nov 21, 2018 | Marketing | 0 comments

Top Tree Holidays to Market Your Business Around

In today’s social media driven universe, there is a day for everything: National Coffee Day, National Dog Day, National Ice Cube Tray Day. (Okay, that last one I made up, but you get the point.) While the world is full of superfluous holidays, there are some that hold significant meaning for the tree care industry! Here are a few of the great holidays centered around trees that you can use in your marketing.

 

Arbor Day: Seems like a no brainer, right? A holiday dedicated solely to planting trees is DEFINITELY a holiday that your business should be promoting. Pro Tip: Bump up your marketing game on this holiday by holding a tree planting event in partnership with a local park or elementary school. Not only do you get to plant a tree, you have the ability to promote Certified Arborists and gain exposure for your business to potential customers at the same time.

 

Earth Day: A clean Earth is a happy Earth! Earth Day Every Day. A good planet is hard to find. These are just a couple of examples of the many slogans available for you to utilize on Earth Day. A day entirely dedicated to the preservation of our planet is absolutely a day that you should be using to promote proper tree care. What on Earth will you be doing for Earth Day this year? (See what I did there?)

 

National Tree Day: Did you even know this day existed? Full disclosure: I had no idea this day existed until I started researching holidays for this article. If I didn’t know this day existed, and maybe some of you didn’t either, how many of your customers are aware of this day? This is a perfect opportunity to promote the care of trees while also introducing potential customers to a new holiday. Take this chance to develop a fun challenge for customers on this day, such as having them identify different types of trees, or promote your business by offering discounts on tree work for this day only. While Arbor Day is a little more established, this is your opportunity to be creative and make this day unique to your business.

 

NeighborWoods Month: #MayTheForestBeWithYou NeighborWoods Month is an annual campaign begun by the Arbor Day Foundation. For the month of October, the Foundation promotes the planting and care of trees within communities. This is a great month to host giveaways, sponsor a community tree planting event, promote plant healthcare, and connect with customers on what your company can offer them. Plus, this month-long event gives you a reason to continually engage with customers and them a reason to frequently check back in and see what you have going on.

 

Christmas: Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree! Promote the care of trees around Christmas by providing tips for nourishment for evergreens. Have your employees take photos of their Christmas trees and promote them on social media by having clients select which tree belongs to which employee – and award the winner with a prize! Spoiler Alert: Holiday Ads drive results. According to Social Media Today, 88% of marketers that ran a holiday ad campaign last year marked it as successful. #TistheSeason

 

Written by: Katie Petersen