How to effectively manage employees in your landscaping business using your POS system

Small business owners in the landscaping space have a lot to juggle and effectively manage if they want to grow their businesses. On top of perfecting services for clients, there’s hiring and managing workers, taking care of employee scheduling and time tracking, managing payroll, and completing other human resources (HR)-related tasks.

That’s a lot to balance when you’re opening a landscaping business or have an eye on business growth. According to a December 2023 survey by YouGov, 27% of small business owners said “expanding or remodeling my business” is a top priority over the next year.  But nearly two-thirds (65%) of small business owners say it’s somewhat harder or much harder to own a business today than it was 5 years ago.

The good news is, those who are interested in how to grow landscape businesses of their own can turn to their POS for home and field services to help streamline many HR tasks. When you’re managing field workers and want to retain a great business reputation, the right POS system and mobile credit card readers can help with employee management tasks. 

Importance of employee management in a landscaping business

There are both positive and negative things to consider for business owners who want to learn how to scale a landscaping business today. According to IBISWorld, the landscaping services industry in the U.S. grew 4.7% each year, on average, between 2018 and 2023. 

While that growth is promising for business owners in the space, it also illuminates a challenge: the need for skilled workers. According to Statista, 43% of landscaping operators in North America named “shortage of quality labor” as the biggest issue faced by their industry.

That’s why effective employee management is one of the best landscaping business tips for those who want to sustain and grow their operations. Managers impact 70% of variance in employee engagement, according to Gallup, which affects vital business operations factors such as:

• Profits
• Productivity
• Customer loyalty and engagement
• Absenteeism
• Employee turnover
• Safety and accidents

When you’re considering how to manage a landscaping business, remember that how your employees view their time at your business will influence their desire to stay, their willingness to refer other great employees to your business, and their likelihood of speaking positively about your business to others.

With the right POS technology, you can use your payment processing system to also improve how you manage your employees. A POS system that integrates with employee management features can help decrease costs for your business while also improving employment at your company.

POS system features for employee management

The following are a few potential features you can find in POS systems for landscaping services.

Employee scheduling

On-time, reliable employees are so important for customer satisfaction and your business reputation. With integrated scheduling features in your POS system, you can schedule employees and manage your team in a single, easy-to-use dashboard. By integrating apps such as Time Clock, you can also:

• Send employees alerts to remind them about upcoming shifts
• Monitor labor costs and budgets related to each employee
• View each employee’s sales in conjunction with their schedule

Instead of having to switch between systems, you can use your POS to keep employees alert about the work they have scheduled, which can help reduce no-shows and late arrivals. Employees also enjoy the convenience of having more of what they need, such as schedules and pay stubs, all in a single software.

Time tracking and productivity

Like many home and field service businesses, in a landscaping business description, payment may be tied to time worked. POS systems can simplify time tracking for employees, since they can use the POS technology to log their work hours and alert your business to what accurately needs to be paid.

With the type of time tracking software for landscaping employees you can acquire through your POS, you can also gain real-time visibility into employee work hours. Everything is logged in the same system, which makes it easier and more accurate to track logged employee hours. You can also see how long it’s taking employees to complete various services, which can help you manage tasks and employees more efficiently.

Performance evaluation

It can be difficult to evaluate the performance of your team members in the landscaping business without real-time feedback from clients and employee logs. Your POS system can help address these challenges, by showing you how much time it takes employees to complete various tasks and by giving customers a way to provide feedback.

With Clover Feedback, for example, your customers can directly communicate with you in a private, one-to-one channel through your POS. This can help you learn about specific landscapers who work for your business and give you the opportunity to address problems privately, before they might appear publicly in places like online review sites.

Giving customers a way to contact you can help you respectfully address issues with your team members and give them a chance to turn things around. This can help you improve your team’s performance, while also retaining your staff.

Payroll integration

Payroll can be challenging for non-HR professionals. POS technology can make managing payroll easier, with payroll integrations as well as easy-to-use balance sheets for landscaping businesses built right in the POS system.

When payroll is tied to other POS functions such as employee time tracking, you can ensure employees are paid accurately for the time they’ve actually worked. This helps decrease errors and the likelihood of over or under-paying your staff. Your landscaping team members will appreciate accurate paychecks, which they know are verified by the time tracking technology in your POS.

Landscaping business tips for implementing POS software

To effectively implement POS features for employee management for your residential or commercial landscaping business, follow these best practices.

1. Master the technology. Get a free demonstration of your landscaping POS system to learn about all of its powerful features. Schedule a one-on-one with your account manager to ask specific questions. Be sure to refer back to them when you need help in the future.
2. Connect your POS with employee management apps. For example, with Clover POS for landscaping, you can integrate your POS tool with apps from the Clover App Market, such as Time Clock for scheduling and Gusto for payroll.
3. Assign permissions. Determine staff roles and what levels of access you want within the POS system for each employee.
4. Train your staff. Conduct group or one-on-one training with staff members, so they’re comfortable with and confident using the POS system for features like work time tracking and client checkout.
5. Measure and discuss performance. Run detailed reports to identify top performers. Use that data to learn about top performance strategies, and train other staff on how to improve. Motivate high performance with recognition and rewards.

With the best landscape management software, you can always contact your POS account manager for support in maximizing your system’s benefits for employee management. Talk with your employees about the ease of use for your system so you can learn what’s working and what features would make their jobs easier. Then, talk with your POS account manager to make it a reality.

How to scale a landscaping business with the right POS system

The right POS system can scale with you as you grow your landscaping business, so you don’t have to invest in new technology when you expand. 

The best landscape business management software can also make work easier for your team and make billing as well as customer service better for your clients. Clover can be your one-stop shop for many essential HR functions like these, which makes it easier for you to focus on what you do best for your landscaping business.

Why wait? Get started with a Clover POS system today to elevate your business.