FSS Newsletter :: February2002

FSS Spotlight :: A Lesson in Employer Expectations

I recently attended a meeting of the Tuscarawas County Job Placement Network where an area employer presented information on job opportunities with his nursery and landscaping firm. Part of their application process is to sign an Employer Expectations sheet. You will not be given a job application at their firm until you sign this sheet. I found this approach unique and interesting and wanted to share some of it with you.

Who We Are
(Name of Company) is family owned but corporate run business that was started in 1950. We offer our customers both a complete Garden Center and complete Landscape Installation and Maintenance Services. Our continued growth depends upon repeat customers who respond to our quality products and services they receive from our employees. The experience they get when shopping at our garden store or when we visit their site to provide landscape services will define their overall satisfaction with us. We wouldn’t be in business without our customers and we are obsessed with serving them. These values are key to our goal of being the best horticultural business! We consider our employees a “team,” and you are our most important asset.

This Is What We Expect From You
Image is very important to us. We wear our company shirts tucked in and our company baseball caps worn forward. Stained, torn, dirty, or excessively bagging clothing is unacceptable. Proper footwear is required as noted on job description for your particular job. You are expected to keep your work area, tools and equipment neat.Attitude
Our employees are expected to show up for work with enthusiasm and be consistently on time. We are not interested in “clock-watchers”. We expect our employees to ask us: “Is there anything else that needs done?” before ending each shift and clocking out. We are interested in people who care about both our company and our customers and are willing to go the “extra mile.” We encourage our employees to take the time to offer suggestions that might make our company run more efficiently, service our customers better, increase our business, or save us time and money. We expect our company policies to be followed and respected. We expect our employees to take responsibility for their actions. Our employees must be self-disciplined so that our company can concentrate its efforts on supporting our employees and taking care of our customers.

Social Work Environment
In order to maintain a social, caring, and outgoing staff, it is important that you be able to get along well with people including the rest of the staff to be a cohesive part of the “team”. Our company does not tolerate chronic complainers. All employees are expected to get along with each other and to encourage each other. We do not tolerate personal complaints of fellow employees unless their actions make you feel uncomfortable or affect your ability to complete your work properly. We expect every employee to carry their own weight and perform their responsibilities in an appropriate, professional manner. In return, our company is flexible and we will support your growth both personally and professionally.

Customer Service
As and employee of our company, you are expected to offer polite, prompt, energetic, enthusiastic, and courteous service with a smile. Our employees must have the ability to anticipate a customer’s needs before being asked. You will need to have the ability to be patient when confronted with a challenge and to continually seek out knowledge of all our plants and products. Our employees are expected to act with a sense of urgency towards our customers, whose time is valuable to them. The help they receive from our staff should be nothing less than immediate and nothing short of excellent. We strive to exceed our customer’s expectations. Our goal is to reward our customers with a memorable experience when shopping or being served by us.

Summary
If you feel you have the above qualities and can work within the parameters of our company policies and work environment, then we encourage you to complete our job application. Thank You!

I have read and understand the above.

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FSS Spotlight: A Lesson In Employer Expectations