CNGA LooseLeaf Aug/Sept 2019

18 colorad o nga.org LooseLeaf Aug/Sept 2019 In this case, Arbor Valley provides all equipment. We really don’t require anything of them besides have a positive attitude, show up on time, and be willing to work with others. Management will break down the larger tasks into bite-sized chunks for these workers, so they can be safe and productive in their jobs. With skilled labor, we typically get the same individuals coming back to work from partner organizations. With unskilled, we often receive different people, even for the same multiple day project. When else would you hire outside labor? Another situation is when we have a project specifically requiring more skilled staff than we have available. It could be anything from construction to landscaping and irrigation—all things we can do normally but our regular staff is already busy, and we don’t want to staff up for something that’s only a few weeks long. It works well for our partners and for us. We are not recruiting and bringing on skilled staff for just one project, and our partners can use this project as fill in their overall schedule, especially if we are flexible on the timeline. This looks more like subcontracting a portion of a project to another organization than hiring short-term staff. They bring their own equipment and trained staff, and we just provide direction, acting as the project manager and/or job site supervisor. Similar to the process with unskilled laborers, the partner organizations are responsible for all regulatory and legal requirements. These skilled staff can work pretty much independently or with only one of our team members in charge. We will pay more for that skill set and level of responsibility, but there are still significant savings over recruiting, hiring and training a full team. I have found that when working with another team to collaborate on a project, communication needs to increase considerably to ensure everyone is on the same page. We often set up very short meetings throughout the day and use three-by-five cards with instructions, which are easy to put in a pocket and refer to at any time. ? » continued from previous page Photos courtesy of Arbor Valley Nursery