The Davey Tree Expert Company provides residential and commercial tree service and landscape service throughout North America. Read our Flipbooks for helpful tips and information on proper tree and lawn care.
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9 July/August 2020 | THE DAVEY BULLETIN 1. SAFETY TRAINING SHIFTS TO VIRTUAL Small group, on-the-job safety training sessions continue for the corporate safety team where social distancing and other CDC and Davey guidelines are maintained regarding protections against the spread of COVID-19, said Tim Walsh, director, corporate safety. The corporate safety team has also started developing some of its normally in-person seminars into online webinars and videos. This includes a second yearly Davey Personal Excellence seminar, which was scheduled to be held at the Davey Institute in July but was conducted through Microsoft Teams with an estimated 20 employees attending. "We've long considered having an online component of Personal Excellence to reach more employees," said Jon Schmidt, Midwest Regional Safety Specialist. "Our current situation pushed us toward building something that achieves this and accommodates our needs for distance learning." 3. TECHNICAL ADVISORS GO DIGITAL Members of the Technical Services staff of the Davey Institute have switched to webinars and cell phones to continue providing plant health care consultations and training during the COVID-19 outbreak. Sales arborists and plant health care technicians in Davey residential offices can FaceTime with a technical advisor to troubleshoot a problem in the field, replacing ride-alongs and site visits. Some tech advisors have started conducting webinars with offices in their coverage area to substitute for in-person training. "The offices have been very receptive to this approach for both U.S. and Canadian operations," said A.D. Ali, manager of Technical Services. 2. SKILLS TRAINERS EMBRACE VIDEO Davey's Arborist Skills Trainers continue educating field crews on safety and efficiency by sharing their arboriculture knowledge. When possible, skills trainers continue in-person field training of small groups at one local R/C office at a time to minimize exposure to both the office and the trainers. Skills trainers also have adopted video conferencing for a number of scenarios, including: for orientation sessions with new employees in the field; to answer questions and hold training refreshers for offices where in-person training is not possible; to provide real-time feedback and advice on job sites; for training videos; and conferences among the skills trainers. "Our efforts have been received very positively by employees receiving the training," said Don Roppolo, manager of arboricultural training. 4. TEXT-MESSAGE RECRUITING Potential new Davey employees can inquire about jobs at Davey just by sending a text message – and avoiding any direct contact and risk the spread of COVID-19. Candidates who text "DaveyJobs" to 91385 will receive an auto-response text back with a link to learn more about jobs at Davey. The link directs prospects to a website landing page with a company overview and a place to submit their contact information. That information is then captured and fed into Davey's candidate database and funneled to a talent pool managed by the Davey recruiting team. "From there we can reach out to them individually to drill down into the best fit for their skills, qualifications and desired location," said Megan Morris, recruiting supervisor. "Or we can send them personalized emails that highlight the most relevant opportunities in line with their interests." 5. ONLINE TREE CARE ADVICE Cemetery caretakers and owners received advice on managing asset and liability trees thanks to a webinar presented by Doak Marasco, regional manager, National Business Development Team (NBDT). The NBDT created the webinar in response to the cancellation of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA) Annual Convention this year. More than 50 people attended the webinar, and the recorded version has had two dozen views. "It led to some opportunities for us with cemeterians who we have been building relationships with who finally reached out for help following this webinar," Marasco said. 6. RECRUITING FAIR MOVES TO WEB Members of Davey's recruiting team attended an online recruiting fair for the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP). The COVID-19 outbreak forced the cancellation of NALP's annual National Collegiate Landscape Competition, so the organization created a live, virtual version of the event complete with workshops, a career fair and other educational elements free to students and faculty. Davey's "virtual booth" included a presentation on Factors and Forces created by the Davey Institute made available for attendees to watch. "We truly outshined everyone else who shared a presentation," said Cindy Schwab, recruiting manager. PERSEVERANCE AFTER COVID-19 4 1 3