Pay For Performance –

Fueling Culture

Improving Profitability

Joseph Watruba

Michael Fortinberry

• Started mowing lawns for neighbors as a kid
• Founder & CEO, LDI Landscape
• Over 40 experienced landscaping technicians serving commercial properties in central Georgia

• Started mowing lawns for neighbors as a kid
• President, Protiv, Inc, SVP Empire Perennial Construction
• A 3^rd generation contractor, he has completed over $500m in construction from FL to NYC

Aligning incentives to maximize company performance

Building a culture of performance

- Peter Drucker

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

Company culture is the most significant predictor of performance

682% vs 166%

The MOST important thing

Revenue

901% vs 74%

Company Valuation

756% vs 1%

Net Income Growth

Analysis by John Kotter and James Heskett on corporate culture and performance found companies with strong cultural alignment performed significantly better than those without.

Foundations to Strong Company Culture

Bi-Directional Communication

People-First

Leadership

Growth for All

Authenticity

Company culture is your company’s personality

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What does it look like?

You take care of the people.�The people take care of the service.

The service takes care of the customer.

The customer takes care of the profit.

-Tom Peters

On a job, if it is a question of “right” or “on-time”, would your team know what you want them to do?

Do your workers feel your leadership team is there to help them both personally AND professionally?

The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.

• George Bernard Shaw

If you help enough people to get what they want, you can get anything you want.

- Zig Ziglar

Sounds like this culture thing

(and thus business success)�is a lot about people

Now - If you are ready for culture grad school, you have found the right starting point

Yes it is…

(…so if you are not tackling those things – go do them first)

Incentives

With your team pulling together, with the incentives connected between what the company needs, to what matters to each person, what could you accomplish?

The impact of aligned incentives

The Result from Protiv’s First Year

Hourly Pay is a Fundamentally Flawed Model

An hourly system puts workers and management at odds

Hourly pay does not incentivize:

• Quality
• Communication
• Teamwork

• Safety
• Production

WORKERS

Attention to detail and working harder is just “harder”, with no additional value to workers

MANAGEMENT

Companies make more money when it takes team less time to deliver quality work

VS

Note - Piece rate is also not the answer due to legal, safety and quality issues

Protiv’s Integrated Hybrid Solution

Integrated Performance�Based Incentives

• Teams earn prorated incentives for beating goals, while achieving quality standards
• Incentives paid for from labor savings
• Track across jobs, across pay periods
• Built in legal compliance

• Work tickets with budgets come in automatically and create ProPay

How it works

with Aspire

Fully API linked to Aspire

• Tickets for maintenance can be automatically grouped to a route, organized by crew lead (Group ProPay)
• Big projects can be broken into phases

How it works

with Aspire

Fully API linked to Aspire

• Crew notified of the budget goal for each job

How it works

with Aspire

Fully API linked to Aspire

• Crew can set their own goals and know their bonus

How it works

with Aspire

Fully API linked to Aspire

• Protiv pulls time data, to track actual, for each work ticket

How it works

with Aspire

Fully API linked to Aspire

• Crews know how they are progressing against the goal

How it works

with Aspire

Fully API linked to Aspire

• Quality issues cost crews their bonus, so teams become more accountable

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• Over budget jobs can lower bonus amounts, so crews stay motivated all the time

How it works

with Aspire

Fully API linked to Aspire

• Savings can be paid 100% to crew, or split with the company

How it works

with Aspire

Fully API linked to Aspire

Tracking program performance with Leaderboards

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Communicate

Mobile App

• Workers and crew leaders can engage with the budgets�

Integrated Chat

• Similar to Slack

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Aligning incentives to maximize company performance

Building a culture of performance

Where Green Meets Great

Started as a kid with a mower

Team Size

40+

History

Formally founded LDI in 1997

Grew into a commercially focused company

Added tree services and hardscapes

Less design/build now

Aspire user since 2020

Focus Areas

• Commercial Maintenance
• Commercial Installations
• Tree Services
• Hardscaping

Company Culture

i

Crew Leaders Performance Pay

Pay raises linked to KPIs

Knew we wanted worker level incentives

Building Our Culture

Protiv Launch – July 2024

• Tested data for about a month
• Automations for groups (routes) was key

Attempts at bonus programs in the past

Crew Feedback

�“ProPay jobs are better for my crew. If we work smarter and don’t waste time, we can earn more.”

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- Jerardo Angel, Crew Leader

A Fully Engaged Team

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Leaderboards

Where we go with incentives

Next

• More than just production
• Safety, equipment maintenance and customer reviews linked to bonuses

Further Advanced Goals

• Leverage incentive plan to recruit and retain the best
• Keep building the culture

Recruit/Retain

THANK YOU

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Questions>