First-Line Supervisors/Managers of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers
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Job Definition
Plan, organize, direct, or coordinate activities of workers engaged in landscaping or groundskeeping activities, such as planting and maintaining ornamental trees, shrubs, flowers, and lawns, and applying fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals, according to contract specifications. May also coordinate activities of workers engaged in terracing hillsides, building retaining walls, constructing pathways, installing patios, and similar activities in following a landscape design plan. Work may involve reviewing contracts to ascertain service, machine, and work force requirements; answering inquiries from potential customers regarding methods, material, and price ranges; and preparing estimates according to labor, material, and machine costs.
Job Zone

Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed

These occupations usually require a high school diploma and may require some vocational training or job-related course work. In some cases, an associate's or bachelor's degree could be needed.

Interests
Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Knowledge
Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Skills
Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Mathematics - Using mathematics to solve problems.
Tasks
Direct activities of workers who perform duties such as landscaping, cultivating lawns, or pruning trees and shrubs.
Inspect completed work to ensure conformance to specifications, standards, and contract requirements.
Schedule work for crews depending on work priorities, crew and equipment availability, and weather conditions.
Confer with other supervisors to coordinate work activities with those of other departments or units.
Direct or perform mixing and application of fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides.
Establish and enforce operating procedures and work standards that will ensure adequate performance and personnel safety.
Inventory supplies of tools, equipment, and materials to ensure that sufficient supplies are available and items are in usable condition.
Investigate work-related complaints in order to verify problems, and to determine responses.
Monitor project activities to ensure that instructions are followed, deadlines are met, and schedules are maintained.
Order the performance of corrective work when problems occur, and recommend procedural changes to avoid such problems.
Perform personnel-related activities such as hiring workers, evaluating staff performance, and taking disciplinary actions when performance problems occur.
Provide workers with assistance in performing duties as necessary to meet deadlines.
Review contracts or work assignments to determine service, machine, and workforce requirements for jobs.
Train workers in tasks such as transplanting and pruning trees and shrubs, finishing cement, using equipment, and caring for turf.
Answer inquiries from current or prospective customers regarding methods, materials, and price ranges.
Wages

In 2008, the California average annual wage was $47,010.00.

Most people employed in this occupation were paid between $28,300.00 and $70,010.00.

Outlook

During 2006, there were approximately 22,300 people employed in this field in California. It is projected that there will be 25,800 employed in 2016. This occupation will have about 350 openings due to growth and about 150 replacement openings for approximately 500 total annual openings. This occupation .

Colleges and Training
Below are college programs that are generally associated with this occupation. To view colleges that offer these programs, click on the titles below.
Landscaping and Groundskeeping - A program that prepares individuals to manage and maintain indoor and/or outdoor ornamental and recreational plants and groundcovers and related conceptual designs established by landscape architects, interior designers, enterprise owners or managers, and individual clients. Includes instruction in applicable principles of horticulture, gardening, plant and soil irrigation and nutrition, turf maintenance, plant maintenance, equipment operation and maintenance, personnel supervision, and purchasing.
Similar Occupations
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First-Line Supervisors/Managers of Food Preparation and Serving Workers - Supervise workers engaged in preparing and serving food.
First-Line Supervisors/Managers of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers - Supervise work activities of cleaning personnel in hotels, hospitals, offices, and other establishments.
First-Line Supervisors/Managers of Logging Workers - Directly supervise and coordinate activities of logging workers.
First-Line Supervisors/Managers of Agricultural Crop and Horticultural Workers - Directly supervise and coordinate activities of agricultural crop or horticultural workers.
First-Line Supervisors/Managers of Animal Husbandry and Animal Care Workers - Directly supervise and coordinate activities of animal husbandry or animal care workers.
First-Line Supervisors/Managers of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers - Directly supervise and coordinate activities of construction or extraction workers.
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Job Openings
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