Welcome To Royal Standard Landscaping - Applying For The Team Lead - Communicative and Collaborative Garden Maintenance Team Position

About Us
Royal Standard Landscaping is a trustworthy and knowledgeable team of professionals delivering fine garden care to high end properties in Toronto. We grow and maintain beautiful residential gardens through the careful cultivation of perennial relationships rooted in fruitful communication.

Our vision is to promote diversity within both the cultivated landscape and the residential garden maintenance industry by hybridizing an exceptional professional and personalized customer experience with a destination workplace that values labour and fairness.

We offer $20-$25 per hour to landscape garden/maintenance team members and $30-$33 to supervisors with 5+ years in garden maintenance or enhancement installation experience with demonstrated lead experience in a same/similar field.

In addition to competitive wages, RSL offers employment from mid-March through mid-December. This includes: paid lunch, paid travel between locations, paid statutory holidays, vacation pay, uniform, PPE, growth and apprenticeship opportunities, access to career development through Landscape Ontario winter training seminars for returning employees, benefits after 3 month probation, book club, and newer, well maintained vehicles and equipment.

The day begins at 7:00 AM in the shop (Ossington and Bloor), loading equipment. Serving a large client list guarantees much of the landscape gardener’s day is spent traveling in a truck. It also means frequently getting in and out of that vehicle. The majority of the time is spent out of doors, working in the elements. The days can be: dirty, hot, cold, dusty, dry, smelly, and wet. We use public washrooms and eat lunch in our vehicles or in public parks. The average day ends at 5:00 PM in the shop unloading equipment.

Summary Description
Landscape gardeners provide comprehensive seasonal lawn and garden care of residential properties on a weekly basis. They will work with a positive and professional attitude. At Royal Standard Landscaping a positive attitude means eagerly engaging the day's scheduled work, as well as seeing unexpected challenges as opportunities to develop team cooperation, collaboration, and creativity.

Team Lead Responsibilities
As a Team Lead we expect you to assign tasks based on work schedules, keep workers on task, confirm accuracy of time-sheets and inspect the quality of work to ensure job requirements are met. Instruct crew members on proper work standards. Interact with customers to resolve issues or answer questions. Communicate with office staff. Expertly operate a variety of hand tools and equipment such as pruners, hedge shears, sod cutters, pruning saws, mowing equipment and blowing equipment to complete landscape and garden projects.

Tasks and Responsibilities
Attendance at the shop at the open and close of each day is what engagement looks like at Royal Standard Landscaping. Weekly attendance and engaged participation in Tuesday morning team meetings is part of being on the Royal Standard team. Landscape gardeners are responsible for patterned lawn mowing, controlled line trimming, mindful blowing, attentive hedge trimming, purposeful pruning, knowledgeable weeding, clean edging, gentle cultivating, appropriate plant care (staking, dead-heading, thinning, etc.), Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and basic equipment and vehicle maintenance.

Minor Functions
Team members are also expected to: help clean the shop and truck, receive orders at the shop, and source job materials at suppliers within the city (Home Depot, Sheridan Nurseries, etc.).

Assist with Other Jobs
When necessary, team members are expected to willingly help with occasional weekend work planting (annuals, perennials, small trees, and shrubs)and garden installation projects (removals, mulching, soiling, gravel/stones), deliver vehicles and equipment for repair and maintenance, and water and care for nursery stock at the shop.

Qualifications
A valid G driver’s license is required. Industry certification is advantageous but non-essential.

Skill Requirements
Team members must be able to contribute to a team of two or more members. At Royal Standard Landscaping contributing means being able to share ideas, resolve conflict, and problem solve while either on a large property or shoulder to shoulder in a truck. They must be willing to receive constructive criticism as direction while working under time constraints. Their communication skills need to be excellent; both clear verbally and as active listeners. They are expected to be competent and comfortable operating all essential equipment (push lawn mowers, line trimmers, backpack blowers, and hedge trimmers). Plant material knowledge is a massive asset.

Experience
GROW program graduate, or other industry experience is beneficial, but willing to train all aspects of the position.

Personal Characteristics
Team members must be: punctual, committed to peer supported quality work, able to provide patient and polite customer service, engaged, curious, honest, trustworthy, team players capable of working independently, accountable, and responsible.

Physical Requirements
Team members must be physically fit. At Royal Standard this means being able to touch your toes, lift 22 kg, and work on your hands and knees. Team members must have both the willingness and endurance to work ten plus hour days in the: heat, cold, sun, snow, wind and rain without complaint. Expect to be bruised, scratched, cut, windburned, sunburned, and sore. Team members strive to support others and safely push themselves to reach new physical capabilities.

Emotional Requirements
Royal Standard Landscaping favours emotional intelligence (self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills) over experience and traditional IQ. The ability to embrace and celebrate a fastidious attention to detail and client expectations is essential. Team members will demonstrate flexibility when new initiatives and requests are introduced. They will show resilience with monotonous and repetitive work while simultaneously embracing frequent and unexpected change to routines. They will contribute enthusiasm, confidence, and optimism to the team. Employees are encouraged to make their own decisions as soon as possible in their work activities.