Driving engagement and retention in the greenhouse through knowledge and education

Growing up in a large family, my father would pose these questions at our dinner table: nature or nurture? Are we who and how we are from birth, or do we learn this over time?

The nine Kennedy kids would contribute to the conversation at our age and intellectual levels and always left the table better than we came — our stomachs and brains full, from both the meal and the conversation. I miss my dad.

Reflecting on those conversations, there are many great stories of savants who somehow possess a profound level of brilliance in a particular skill such as math or music. Rare yet intriguing, they would bolster the case for natural or innate abilities.

But for most of us, the pathway to knowledge and understanding has been created, brick by brick, in the old-fashioned approach of either formal schooling or informal learning on the job (or probably a bundled balance of both: nurtured and learned).

And that’s as it should be — even in the greenhouse.

Investing in nurturing

Pedagogy, the method and practice of teaching, has evolved over time and directly relates to the generational value of knowledge in today’s workplace.

The horticulture industry is transforming right in front of our eyes, and we are witnessing dramatic improvements in automation, financial focus and process improvements that will rapidly accelerate change into 2026 and beyond.

Those investments in machinery make it easy to calculate your ROI — improved efficiencies, lower labor costs and faster turnarounds — which is extremely important to the financial health and wellness of your enterprise.

However, what is missing on that list for many horticulture enterprises and growers is the investment in their people — from basic onboarding to provide the “why” of your business to communication, teamwork, leadership and specific skill training.

For some reason, these often get overlooked in favor of the lower-hanging fruit of the investment in their processes. In essence, we need to nurture our people and build on their natural talents.

I remember once at the Management Clinic in Louisville, Kentucky, Steve Gallion shared from the stage that an owner he knew stated, “I don’t want to invest in training my people, because once I do, they turn around and leave to go work for someone else!”

Steve perfectly rebutted, “What if you don’t train them … And they stay?”

From that vantage point, I present the case for the value and investment in a structured and more formal education program for your hort business.

What if you train them … And they stay longer?

In a recent Conference Board engagement survey, 62.7% of employees shared they are “overall” content with their current job; however, a big slip inside that statistic over the last year was education/training, which dropped a full 4% over the year prior.

And when the team at BoomerWrangle does our annual aggregated employee engagement report of all of our horticulture clients (over 800 employees surveyed), the overall average satisfaction score is 81.71%, with a score of 75% when asked: “Have you been adequately trained to do your job?”

In essence, we do an average job training our teams and then expect an above-average effort from them. It’s time to invest in an A-team who is then capable of delivering the A-team results your customers expect and deserve.

In 2026, let’s commit to doing an above-average job of skill development so we can expect an above-average outcome from our team. The fact is that we get out what we put in! Here are some helpful tips to consider as you look to plant and grow your people just as you would plant and grow your varieties.

All aboard: Have a formal onboarding process to ensure they are rooted and ready to grow on day one. Willoway Nurseries does a wonderful job of educating the new employees about their culture, their values and their overall mission to ensure everyone gets the exact same start to their career. A consistent message and even an onboarding video, along with a definitive path forward for new hires, provides them with insight and foresight into the next 30, 60 and 90 days of their employment.

Check up from the neck up: It is wise to have monthly check-ins for the first three months to ensure everything is going well and to ask the new employee if there is anything they see or can contribute to “make it better” for the overall customer or team. Placing value on their feedback early is vital in their beginning stages to ensure maximum engagement and commitment to their overall employment success.

Survey says: Every six months, take the pulse of the team to see where extra effort or opportunity can be found in improvements. It’s OK to ask open-ended questions regarding areas of training, communication or issues, and then use that feedback to craft a path of improvement forward. Employees need to have a voice and a safe, anonymous platform for them to use. Surveys can easily be made bilingual for both English- and Spanish-speaking team members to provide suggestions, feedback and opportunity. Inclusion is key to a successful workplace culture.

You asked, we delivered: Share what you heard, prioritize the feedback and put together a game plan based on the feedback. Down to Earth Garden Center did exactly that in fall 2025, and the employees were happy to hear their voices were both heard and valued. Some really great ideas came forward, and programs and processes were created directly from the results of the survey.

Build it and they will come. Teach them and they will stay: This is where most companies fail. They may have the vision, the core values and the culture, but if the culture does not include continuous improvement and education, the churn begins.

The highest scores from employees of the BoomerWrangle Engagement Survey were in the initial year (84.6%), and the lowest score was in year two (80.7%).

When asked in exit interviews why they were disengaged and leaving, many said the path to success was not paved with training, education and growth opportunities. They will seek a job where that is not just discussed during the hiring process, but executed each day after.

Leveraging AI to create SOPs and training modules can be an inexpensive yet efficient way to build capacity for your emerging and existing teams. “The Perfect Day” is a great exercise for “winter work,” where the team in each department describes what a perfect day could be.

Use summary AI to record the conversation and then submit a step-by-step guide to follow in the spring. Focus on the execution to allow the perfect day to occur as often as possible. It’s a fun and engaging way to metric improvement and motivate a team: three perfect days in one week, and everyone gets lunch on the following Monday.

Final thoughts

The only way for a culture to last beyond a few weeks or months is through systems. There must be a system to encourage, engage, track and reward an employee for an investment in learning.

It can be as simple as the certifications offered by AmericanHort or your state association, attending workshops and conferences or a more-complex program of learning that includes online and on-the-job training. The need is now, and the numbers support it.

For instance, at the 2025 Garden Center Group Fall Event in Raleigh, North Carolina, B.B. Barns Garden Center brought 18 employees to the event. It was game-changing for the team and the morale of the entire enterprise. B.B. Barns Chief Revenue Officer Jon Merrill is a great example of investing in people.

You can follow that example in 2026 through capacity-building, competency and continuous learning. The AI movement has made it affordable, accessible and now easy to implement. In essence, there are no more excuses to tackle the issue you have been putting off forever or are afraid to tackle because it’s a heavy lift.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are invested in technology and automation each year with growers to improve efficiency and profitability. It’s wise money well-invested. Invest a fraction of that in the people required to work as a team, and your business will accelerate into the future and retain many of the employees who are attached to your company’s transformation.

Yes, they may eventually leave your organization better than when they began; however, they will offer help in seeking and training their replacement, speak well about your brand, build bridges and relationships for the future and improve the industry as a whole.

The other option is: Don’t train them and they stay, negatively affecting the good people who finally leave because the only effort is to maintain an average team who delivers average effort and produces average outcomes. We all aspire to be on a winning team.

We all have the choice to create a winning team. And 2026 can be the year to build that winning team — through education and knowledge.

John Kennedy is co-owner of BoomerWrangle, a digital solutions and strategic planning agency serving the horticulture industry.