Spring Training Done Right: Avoid These Costly Mistakes Before Peak Season Hits

Every year, as the busy season approaches, many landscaping, lawn care, and tree care businesses find themselves scrambling to prepare their teams. Spring training is often rushed or overlooked entirely because, let’s face it, time is short, and the workload is high.

Some believe training is too expensive or unnecessary—after all, employees will “figure it out” on the job, right? Wrong. Failing to properly train your team before the season starts is one of the most costly mistakes you can make. Poor training leads to wasted time, lost revenue, low morale, and high employee turnover.

On the flip side, a well-structured training program pays off in higher efficiency, fewer mistakes, better employee retention, and bigger profits. The question isn’t whether you can afford to train your team—it’s whether you can afford not to.

So, what makes or breaks your spring training efforts? Here are five of the biggest training mistakes businesses make—and how you can avoid them.

Mistake #1: Starting Training on the First Day of Spring Operations

Too often, businesses wait until the first day of operations to start training. This means employees are expected to learn on the job while juggling actual work. The result? A chaotic, stressful environment that leads to costly mistakes, delays, and frustrated employees.

The Fix: Train Before the Season Starts

Invest in preseason training. Hold structured training sessions at least a few weeks before operations begin. This way, employees can hit the ground running instead of struggling to keep up. Yes, there’s an upfront cost, but the return in efficiency and quality is worth it.

Mistake #2: Treating Training as a One-Time Event

Many businesses host a single kickoff meeting in the spring and assume it’s enough. The problem? Not everyone will be able to attend. Even those who do might not retain everything after just one session.

The Fix: Ongoing Training

Training should be a continuous process, not a one-day event. Hold multiple sessions throughout the season, especially in the spring when the workload is at its peak. Keep reinforcing key skills and best practices to ensure long-term retention.

Mistake #3: Relying Only on Managers to Lead Training

Managers are often responsible for training, but they shouldn’t be the only ones. Your most experienced crew members have valuable hands-on knowledge that newer employees can benefit from. When managers handle all the training, it creates unnecessary bottlenecks and can even lead to disengagement.

The Fix: Let Experienced Employees Train New Hires

Empower your senior team members—crew leaders, foremen, and long-time employees—to assist with training. Rookies are often more engaged when learning from their peers rather than a supervisor. Plus, it lightens the load for managers, allowing them to focus on high-level operations.

Mistake #4: Skipping the Fundamentals

It’s easy to assume that returning employees remember everything from last year. But details fade over time, and even experienced workers develop bad habits. If you don’t refresh the fundamentals, mistakes will creep in—and they’ll multiply as new employees follow suit.

The Fix: Prioritize the Basics

Every season, start from square one. Review key tasks, safety protocols, and best practices for common jobs. Make sure employees understand what they need to do, how to do it, and why it matters. The “why” is especially important for younger employees who want to understand the impact of their work.

Mistake #5: Making Training Sessions Boring and Ineffective

Imagine this: a group of employees standing on a cold warehouse floor, listening to a manager drone on while flipping through slides. No hands-on practice, no engagement—just coffee, donuts, and nodding heads. Sound familiar?

The Fix: Make Training Engaging

Employees learn best when training is interactive and hands-on. If possible, conduct training on-site so employees can practice in real-world conditions. Use videos, demonstrations, and team exercises to keep things interesting. If you’re training indoors, make sure the space is comfortable and well-lit—no one learns well in a dark, noisy shop.

Your goal? Create an experience where employees walk away saying, “That was actually helpful.” If they don’t, you’re wasting time and money.

Spring Training Isn’t an Expense—It’s an Investment

Yes, training takes time. Yes, it requires resources. But the cost of NOT training properly is far higher.

Every mistake in the field—every misused tool, every skipped safety step, every incorrectly installed feature—costs your company money. A single training session could prevent thousands of dollars in wasted labor, repairs, and lost customers.

When done right, spring training sets your team up for success, boosts efficiency, and strengthens your business for the season ahead.

The question isn’t, “Can I afford to invest in training?” The real question is, “Can I afford not to?”

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

Fred

Want to Take Your Training to the Next Level?

If you’re serious about improving your training program, you won’t want to miss our upcoming deep-dive seminar:

February 25 & 26, 2025 1:00 – 2:30 PM EST (Both Days)

→ Are your trainers equipped to teach the right way? → Do your crew leaders know how to effectively train new hires?

Join us for a 2-part deep dive into structuring training, providing meaningful feedback, and teaching employees in a way that actually sticks.

? Gain practical strategies for structuring and improving training sessions ? Learn how to create a culture of continuous learning in your team ? Walk away with actionable tools to improve efficiency and retention

Reserve your spot today and start building a stronger, more skilled team in 2025.

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