Focal Pointe team members recently traveled to southern California to attend the 2019 Next Level University — an annual training and networking conference with peers from five other leading landscape companies from across the country. Representatives from each company exchanged ideas and brainstormed ways to improve company methods and operations.
One of the main themes of this year’s event was company culture. Keynote speaker, Dr. Gustavo (Gustavo Grodnitsky, PhD), kicked off the event with an engaging discussion on the positive impact a good culture can have on a company and its employees. Dr. Gustavo suggested ways business leaders can help develop and maintain an excellent company culture.
After the keynote presentation, representatives from the six attending companies split up into different subgroups based on their company roles. Each subgroup collaborated and discussed topics relevant to their role, prompted by the various conference seminars and speakers. This exchange of ideas was invaluable, giving each attendee actionable items to take back and implement within their own companies.
On the final day of the conference, attendees regrouped with their companies to report what they learned in their subgroups. The goal was for each company to identify key takeaways and ideas for improvement. The Focal Pointe team determined three major things to focus on this winter:
- Finalizing our culture statement and defining our core cause
- Refining our employee onboarding program to help new employees more quickly and thoroughly build a foundation for success
- Developing a communication plan to make sure information and a sense of team continue to flow freely within the company even as we continue branching out.
Finding opportunities for continuous improvement is just one element of Next Level University. Other benefits include the opportunity to improve as an individual and the fun we had as a team. We look forward to accomplishing the three goals we’ve set for ourselves and continuing improving upon the Focal Pointe Way.