Think Outside the Job: Why ELM’s All-Hands-On-Deck Workplace Means You’re Not Just a Cog in the Machine

Posted by Eastern Land Management on

The best people are fast on their feet, says Bruce Moore Jr., ELM president, and chief culture officer.  “We’re a business of specialists who end up doing a little bit of everything. Including me.”

The whole business of commercial landscaping is shifting and no one knows what’s going to happen in the next ten years. But one thing is certain. Our customer will still be in charge.

For ELM, that customer is the vast commercial real estate industry in Connecticut and Greater NY metro, an economic powerhouse that spans multiple sectors—from retail and industrial to office and multi-family, and the property and facility managers, and owners who call the shots.

“Making sure the properties perform and contribute value is our job,” says Bruce, who leads a diverse team committed to a seamless bucket brigade of seasonal landscape maintenance services and a portfolio of green site infrastructure, irrigation and water management, construction and improvements.

The ability to understand and apply value-added concepts is critical to the success of a commercial landscape team and the concept of creating value has shaped how ELM’s culture works. At the most basic level, it’s about increasing effectiveness of the processes, understanding why quality is so important, and why the flow of work must exceed customer expectations.

“The most important thing we look for when hiring,” says Bruce, “is personality and the ability to work well with others. We can always teach a skill or provide training to ramp up expertise, but we can’t teach compatibility. When success is on the line, the team has to fit.”

7 reasons why ELM is a great place to work:

  • Team Spirit. Henry Ford said “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. And working together is success.” We agree and believe that more ideas, better decision making, fewer mistakes and getting faster results is one of the significant characteristics of ELM’s winning team spirit and the energy behind the company’s high performing teams.
  • Awesome People. Choosing the right people and treating them the way we want them to treat our customers helps the whole company work smoothly. We’re looking for the right skills, the “yes we can” mindset, a willingness to jump in no matter what, and people open to change.
  • Common Purpose. ELM teams share a distinct characteristic of shared purpose, and people who are organization-oriented, know what they are required to do, and willing to work together on SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable, and timely) goals for better productivity are the kind of high-value people who can harness the real potential of what’s possible.
  • Trust & Respect. Mutual respect is critical in companies where members of teams don’t have the same level of authority. At ELM, team members function best when there is mutual trust and where it’s the responsibility of the team leader to lead by example.
  • Innovation. We encourage creative problem-solving, practice constructive criticism, and know that great ideas can come from everyone on our team if we empower people to think differently. From faster ways of doing business to the better use of tools and equipment, ideas—and our ability to execute them—are our secret sauce.
  • Training. We believe that the more we invest, the better our return. ELM supports training, and technical and professional certification programs specific to sustainability, landscape maintenance, irrigation, and snow and ice management. And once we have a well-trained team, we do everything we can to give them a reason to stay: appreciation days, opportunities to grow, and team building time to get to know one another better.
  • Readiness. Working outdoors means weather is a constant companion and being prepared to manage uncertainty is part of the job. From climate events to storm watch, our ‘extreme team’ is not only top notch when it comes to safety and risk management, our winter management specialists are our region’s best. As an ASCA (Accredited Snow Contractors of America) Snow Leadership Award winner, we know that being vigilant and proactive will go a long way to make sure our clients, their properties, and our own great team stays safe when it counts.

ELM is hiring at both locations, Stamford and Monroe, Connecticut, and has open positions for full time and seasonal work.

Contact us for job applications at careers@easternland.com, or go to https://www.facebook.com/EasternLandManagement for job postings.

ELM is a member of NALP (National Association of Landscape Professionals), SIMA (Snow & Ice Management Association), ASCA (Accredited Snow Contractors of America, and the Irrigation Association.

Photo: ELM Team Monroe celebrating 365 days of no accidents.