“Growing” Up the City Ladder

Are you looking for a place where your aspirations and career goals are nurtured? At City, we offer a wide range of development opportunities and supportive leadership that guides our team members along their journeys, no matter their level or department. In this edition of Tech Talk, we take a deeper look at our Exterior Services Team (EST).

Exterior Services are any services performed outside of a location. These services are important for businesses to invest in because “high-quality exterior design greatly helps in creating trust between business owners and customers.” Having our own in-house EST means that City’s Landscaping and Pressure Washing Technicians, Groundskeepers and more can ensure our partners are receiving top-of-the-line services that maintain the overall order and appearance of their stores’ exteriors.

“We know that our exterior services team members are incredibly important because we help set the tone for our partners’ customers the second they enter and exit their location,” states Garret Fedder, City FL EST Supervisor, “This is part of our ‘City Sees It First’ mindset – our teams pay close attention and work hard to make all exteriors look clean, organized and inviting to customers.”

This is part of our ‘City Sees It First’ mindset – our teams pay close attention and work hard to make all exteriors look clean, organized and inviting to customers.Garret Fedder, City FL EST Supervisor

We make sure our team members are set up for success by empowering them to continually develop their skills and provide them with the resources at no-cost to do so. For Exterior Services, trainings may include Equipment Operator Training, Trailer Competency training, Hydripoint/WeatherTRAK irrigation controller training, and much more.

One example of a newly created training program for EST team members is Pesticide Applicator training. This e-Learning series, available on City University, offers study materials for our Landscaping Technicians who wish to obtain the Pesticide Applicator License. This program prepares techs by giving them more practice in identifying insects, weeds, measuring plant beds, and calibrating equipment. These topics were identified as some of the tougher content in the exam, so these courses break down the information into bite-size pieces and include a few games to make it fun along the way!

EST leaders, such as Garret, are developing future leaders through building strong relationships with their team members, instilling confidence and helping them to understand how all parts of the City team work together. Leads are trained to handle payroll, parts ordering, inventory and other management responsibilities for their teams, unlike other companies that may hire someone else to do it for them, so that they are given the skillsets needed for future roles.

In the facilities management field, men outnumber women 9 to 1 and women only account for 25% of facilities manager positions, underscoring the importance of devoting resources to develop women in the field. Recently, City promoted Mariam “Mimi” Martinez from Landscaping Technician to Landscaping Technician Lead. Mimi is the first woman to be promoted into a leadership role in our Exterior Services department. Her promotion is evidence of City’s dedication to offering advancement opportunities for all of our team members and is just the beginning of what we hope to see across our organization and in the industry.

“I was drawn to City originally for their great opportunities, benefits, and unique work environment,” shares Mimi, “and I have found in the three years I have been with City that everyone is as helpful as they seem. When I decided I wanted to move forward with my training and work towards becoming a leader, my supervisors were incredibly supportive. All it took was for me to communicate my goals with them and then they helped push me to get to where I am now.”

When I decided I wanted to move forward with my training and work towards becoming a leader, my supervisors were incredibly supportive.Mimi Martinez, City Landscaping Technician Lead

Mimi’s growth story is just one instance of the great advancement we encourage at City. All City team members are eligible for promotions within 90 days of their start dates, and 74% of City team members were promoted internally in the last year alone!

If you’re ready to get growing, go to www.work4city.com today.