The picture above is just under half of the team, taken during the last Arbtech on Tour getaway, which was to Prague in October 2015.

We took everyone away, because Arbtech is all about employee engagement. Our culture is built around being “a great place to do meaningful work”. That means employees come first, second and third. Clients… well, they’ll have to settle for fourth place ;-)

As a consequence, I’m always looking for ways to grow and intensify this culture; to attract and retain the best talent in the business. So when I was signing off May’s payroll, and I noticed that a couple of people had their 5th ‘Arbtech Anniversary’ coming up, it struck me that this was something worth celebrating.

Building on an idea of Julia’s, I devised a ‘Service Award’. And, in typical Arbtech fashion, we haven’t approached this with a token effort. We’ve gone all-in.

Here’s the announcement, exactly as I gave it last week to the team:

Arbtechers!

RE: SERVICE AWARD

Success in pretty much anything is a product of work x time. So, quite literally, we wouldn’t be where we are today without your concerted efforts over the years.

It hasn’t escaped my attention that some of you have been here a while now, contributing to the business day after day, week after week, year after year. As you know, it is my goal to make this is the best place to work in the industry bar none. I firmly believe that our culture is the driver of our profits; because it is how we attract, retain, and motivate talent in the business over the long-term. To strengthen this culture, and to reward your continued loyalty and effort, I am bringing in a service award. This is also consistent with my goal to ensure our incentives serve the long-term interests of the company.

Greybeard: 5 years

On the anniversary of your 5th full year of service you will get a choice: an extra 5 day’s paid leave over the prevailing standard at the time, or a 5% company pension contribution (both will be worked out pro-rata for part-time workers). This will carry forward for the rest of your career at Arbtech.

Veteran: 10 years

On the anniversary of your 10th full year of service you will again get a choice: an extra 10 day’s paid leave over the prevailing standard at the time, or a 10% company pension contribution (both will be worked out pro-rata for part-time workers). This will carry forward for the rest of your career at Arbtech.

What that means: 

  • Your holidays and pension contributions after 5 years are competitive with/exceed the very best our industry has to offer.
  • Your holidays and pension contributions after 10 years surpass anything you could get elsewhere, by a considerable margin.

Alan, on the 18th of April, you became our first Greybeard. And, Alex, on the 19th of July, you will be our second. Congratulations. Let me know what you decide.

Happy servicing!

-R.

I am very proud that the list of incentives to join (and stay) at Arbtech is growing. Each of these benefits dovetails nicely with others to provide an environment that is both challenging, and extremely rewarding. Learn more about our efforts to become the best place for ecologists and arboriculturists to work, bar none, by visiting the About and Careers sections of out web site.

If you like our Service Award idea, or have an idea of your own you want to suggest we look at introducing, I’d love to hear what you think. Drop me a comment below, and please feel free to share this using the social media icons on this page.