Sarah Cusack

Director of Learning & Development, SavATree

Headquartered in New York, SavATree is a licensed and accredited tree, shrub, and lawn care company that provides landscape services to residential, commercial, and municipal properties across 40 U.S. states, as well as British Columbia, Canada. The organization was founded in 1978 and has grown exponentially since, currently employing 2,700 frontline workers. SavATree was recently named a Forbes Home Top 10 Law Care Service Company for the third consecutive year, with Forbes placing a special emphasis on SavATree's commitment to environmentally sustainable practices.

Supernova Award Category: 
Future of Work: Human Capital Management
The Problem: 

Given the nature of SavATree’s business, the vast majority of employees work in the field and require different levels of skills and certifications. SavATree had previously implemented a Self-Directed Advancement Program (SDAP) for qualification, career development, and employee training. However, the program was a disorganized, pen-and-paper system that was highly inefficient and not scalable. Lecture materials were frequently misplaced and difficult to retrieve for auditing purposes; managers spent several hours each week grading exams; and on-the-job training records were often duplicated unnecessarily due to lack of visibility. Furthermore, employees were discouraged by the lack of autonomy they had over their own career development, as they relied on their managers to provide them with the material and time to progress. This resulted in pay increases and promotions often being delayed due to a lack of clarity on course progress, which in turn led to disengagement and turnover.

The Solution: 

The solution to SavATree's problem was the UKG Pro suite, specifically the UKG Pro Learning solution – a modern, flexible, on-demand, digital learning management system that’s easy to navigate and tailor to individual needs – which SavATree identified as the most robust learning management system to overhaul its manual Self-Directed Advancement Program. The goal of this project was to revolutionize SDAP in order to give frontline workers real-time access to trainings and certification programs as well as learning and development opportunities to help them progress in their careers. UKG Pro Learning helped SavATree shift from simply training employees to developing talent, which has led to significant results.

The Results: 

Within the first few months of its initial go-live, SavATree experienced exceptional outcomes, resulting in decreased turnover, decreased recruiting costs, and increased employee engagement, as well as reduced training and paper material costs. The impact of UKG Pro Learning has had a remarkable impact on SavATree’s bottom line -- more than $1.5 million in cost savings -- as well as a quantifiable impact on its employee base, all of which is outlined in the 'metrics' section below.

Metrics: 

Metrics/results achieved through the UKG Pro Learning solution:

  • Decreased turnover ($255,840 savings): In the two months before the initial rollout of the SDAP program in UKG Pro Learning, 25% of hourly employees cited “career development/promotion” as their primary reason for leaving during exit interviews. In the two months after rollout, less than 10% of hourly employees in that same service line cited “career development/promotion” as their primary reason for leaving.
  • Increased employee engagement ($636,480 savings): Leveraging its annual employee engagement survey, SavATree determined that disengaged employees are 18% less productive than engaged employees. Two years after implementing the SDAP program in UKG, disengagement in the main service line fell to 50%, resulting in significant productivity gains.
  • Decreased recruiting costs ($392,000 savings): Programmatic recruiting spend, which has the most reliable cost data.
  • Decreased training costs ($254,000 savings): Training time and materials.
  • Decreased print material costs ($15,000 savings): Reduction in paper usage and printing costs.
The Technology: 

UKG Pro Learning is a modern, flexible, on-demand, digital learning management system that’s easy to navigate and tailor to individual needs. It provides real-time access to trainings and certification programs, as well as learning and development opportunities for employees. Key benefits of the solution include:

For HR and Talent Leaders

  • Building the right learning strategy for their organization, while reaching their people in the most effective way.
  • Rapidly deploy learning programs and course structures that easily expand across multiple teams, business units, and locations, including a tailored 'learning academy' with the organization's distinctive branding
  • Enable remote training sessions through integrations with Zoom, Webex, and GoToTraining.
  • Support external learners with applicable training opportunities.
  • Create tailored reports to view and analyze training performance, based on specific parameters

For Employees:

  • Promote community building and social interaction amongst colleagues
  • Deliver courses and notifications for assignments, announcements, and more to employees via the mobile app for iOS and Android.
  • Enable employees to follow their own progress or that of team members through social tools such as communities, leaderboards, and newsfeeds
  • Obtain training rewards such as online badges and certifications

 

Disruptive Factor: 

Lacking an automated learning management solution to support employees throughout their work journey, SavATree experienced an uptick in disengaged employees (which impacted productivity) and turnover (which proved to be financially taxing and time-consuming as the organization worked to find and then train new talent). In an industry known for high turnover, the UKG Pro Learning solution has been a game-changer in empowering employees with mobile-first learning and certification programs to help them advance in their careers with SavATree. This level of attention and focus on employee development has also significantly impacted retention rates as workers see a clear path to advancing within the organization.

Shining Moment: 

Since digitizing SDAP in UKG Pro Learning, the organization has experienced a significant increase in participation in the program:

  • In the month before the implementation, 74 SDAP courses were completed by employees. In the month immediately following implementation, 217 SDAP courses were completed, representing a 193% increase.
  • The increased data transparency has provided insight into the effectiveness of district trainers, who have qualified a staggering number of new hires compared to branch leadership. This data, powered by reporting in UKG Pro Learning, has empowered SavATree to expand the program to further drive employee development.
  • Tertiary impacts of the program include an increased Net Promoter Score, increased Revenue Per Hour, and a decrease in overall safety incidents.

About SavATree

SavATree provides environmentally sensible stewardship of valued residential and commercial properties, helping clients care for what they love. Their nationwide team of industry certified arborists and highly trained field specialists delivers professional tree, shrub, and lawn care to their loyal clients, making the intersection between trees and people work. With their innovative science-based programs, SavATree protects and enhances client landscapes. Learn more at https://www.savatree.com