My wife, Karen, has studied horticulture (in both college and through local programs) her entire life. As a result of this we have always been blessed with great gardens. It has been challenging this year in Waco because of the Texas drought. So, we just have to water more, use the right amounts of plant food and pay attention because of this. The end result, however, will be a great crop.
Recently, Karen and I began helping one of my colleagues, Mark, and his wife, Mary Kay, start an herb garden in their back yard. We found an area around their house that would be well suited for some herbs, tomatoes, squash and even a few potatoes. Karen went to the store and picked up the compost, the plants and even some plant food. Then we went to the house to help with the planting. Now, it’s very rewarding to hear from Mark how great the garden is going and how Mary Kay drags him out nightly to look at it. He is happy because she is thrilled.
This got me thinking about how we need to continually train our people, too. At Glass Doctor we just finished our intermediate auto glass course at Glass Doctor University’s facility in Waco. During the course, Glass Doctor technicians and other future technicians joined together to learn from industry veteran Frank Levesque. Levesque was one of four former AGTI instructors and will be one of judges at the Auto Glass Olympics competition during Auto Glass Week.
When those techs get back to their offices the owners of those companies need to do what Mary Kay does every night—tend to their gardens. These glass company owners have employees who need “watering” just like plants do. And, when those techs make mistakes, they will need “a little fertilizer” and more help. Just as Mary Kay goes out every night to water and pull weeds, glass company owners need to constantly review what their employees are doing to make sure they are making progress.
The end result will be employees who are very excited about their growth. They will come in and tell you what a great job they did – just as Mark comes into the office to tell me how excited he is that his garden is growing.
If Mary Kay didn’t water and tend to the plants they would wither and die. When glass company owners don’t tend to their employees who are learning new things in the business, they wither and quit. It sounds so simple, doesn’t it?
Guess what – it isn’t simple, but it is easy. It will be a great crop this year even with the drought. Remember this story the next time you are about to say to yourself that your employees aren’t growing the way they should. It will take a little more work in the beginning – but how your employees grow will be very rewarding.
It is all up to us as the gardeners!
