Tree Surgeon Job Benefits: An Employer's Guide
As an employer in the arboricultural industry, attracting and retaining dedicated, skilled tree surgeons and arborists is key to building a successful team. A career in tree surgery offers numerous benefits, from hands-on work with nature to career progression and travel opportunities. This guide will help you showcase these unique job benefits to attract, train and keep the right talent.
To attract the right people for the position available you need to demonstrate the job itself with as much transparency as possible. Set expectations that are going to be met on your part and ensure that you hone in on the key benefits available to employees who work for you, both as a company and within the industry itself. Retaining that talent means nurturing the development of your staff and taking steps to create a happy workforce.
Read on to learn more about how to attract the right staff for your arboricultural business. New to the site? Why not check out our other blog: Staff Benefits: What's in It For Me?
The Importance of Job Satisfaction In Tree Surgery
You can demonstrate the job satisfaction that can be gained from a career in tree surgery in many ways:
- Job security: Skilled tree surgeons will always be in demand wherever there are trees needing professional care and maintenance.
- Working flexibly: There is not always a set 9-5 workday, and there are occasions when travel to other locations may be necessary, which makes each day a little different from the last and less monotonous.
- Clear career progression: If there are real opportunities for progression, demonstrate this to your applicants and current employees. With multiple levels of learning and skills to develop in arboriculture, there is plenty you can offer staff.
- Financial rewards: Of course, a very important part of any job is the salary. It is important to outline progression and the financial reward that may come with these achievements. With the potential for overtime and any bonuses, the annual salary is worth forecasting.
- Connection with nature: Working in nature can be rewarding, especially when nurturing that environment. Having a connection with nature is known to help with improving your mental health.
Ensuring that employees understand these tree surgeon job benefits helps them feel more connected and committed to their roles. For prospective employees, speaking with employers about these benefits can offer peace of mind.
Check out our Recruitment Video on how you can display the benefits that your business invest in with our recruitment guide.
Tree Surgeon Career Development Opportunities
Development opportunities are important to many people who are on the hunt for their next career move, as well as those looking to achieve more in their current role.
One of the main job benefits for arborists is the potential for ongoing learning and development. Whether through industry certifications or advanced diplomas in arboriculture, career growth opportunities provide employees with valuable skills. Offering training courses or sponsoring certification exams shows that you support career progression.
Offering a Competitive Salary
The salary you are offering an employee needs to be competitive within the industry and reflective of the job role, responsibilities and risks associated with their day-to-day duties. Not paying at least the industry standard or not having reasonable pay review opportunities for current employees could lead to a higher staff turnover, and could mean you attract less qualified individuals from your vacancy campaigns..
At Arbjobs, we recently offered a 6-year report on arborist wages between 2018 and 2023. We noticed that tree surgeons experienced a lower yearly pay rise than across the national average here in the UK, with slightly under a 4% increase noticed yearly.
Offering competitive, yearly wage increases above the industry average, and closer to the national average of around 6% will help your employees keep up financially.
Work/ Life Balance
Work-life balance is extremely important for an individual's overall health. Offering your staff a good paid annual leave allowance, flexibility (where feasible) and having set policies in place for things such as:
- Sickness,
- Maternity/paternity leave,
- Bereavement and compassionate leave.
Having these policies in place shows you care about your employees well being outside of work.
Company Policy Towards Safety - Health & Safety Benefits
Ensuring your teams constantly comply with good H.S.E and industry-specific safety protocols will give staff an enhanced sense of well-being. Health and safety are core benefits for tree surgeons, you can benefit your staff by providing:
- Health and Dental Insurance: This high-risk profession makes health coverage an attractive benefit.
- PPE Allowance: Showing you prioritise safety by providing personal protective equipment.
- Mental Health Support: Working outdoors is rewarding, but additional mental health resources, such as free access to wellness apps, such as Headspace or Spill offer extra support.
Positive Workplace Culture
We spend a lot of time with our work colleagues, so having a positive workplace culture is integral to a happy workforce. This could include:
- Reward and recognition: Rewarding employees through incentives such as bonus structures, and employee of the month can aid towards creating a more rewarding workplace and could be an attractive perk.
- Team culture: Having a supportive team can make an individual feel valued and build morale, creating a more positive environment.
- After-work social events: Seasonal events, and events to build team relationships.
Company-Provided Tools & Equipment
Providing well-maintained, company-owned tools and equipment offers significant advantages to employees, making their jobs safer, easier, and more efficient. By supplying essential gear, such as high-quality chainsaws, climbing harnesses, and safety helmets, you ensure your team is equipped to perform their tasks safely and with confidence. A loss of faith in the tools could be a loss of faith in you, the employer.
Access to company vehicles, where needed, also simplifies travel to different job sites and helps with tasks like waste disposal.
Clear terms of use for any shared equipment encourage accountability, but ultimately, having access to reliable tools and transport demonstrates your commitment to both quality work and employee welfare.
Long-Term Benefits for Tree Surgeons
Demonstrate your long-term commitment to employees with benefits for them such as:
- Pension enrolment and employer contributions,
- Bonus schemes,
- Perks for any work anniversaries such as extra days of annual leave or monetary incentives.
Advertise for Tree Surgeons with ArbJobs
Here at Arbjobs, we understand that finding the right employees for your requirements in the arboricultural field is not always straightforward.
This is why we act as a meeting point for employers and employees within the arboricultural field. At Arbjobs, employers like you can pitch to prospective candidates using the above guide to make your advert attractive to the right person here in the UK, or across the globe.
To read more arb-related posts, take a look at our blog. If you are ready to get your job listing online, go to our job posts page.