“I was (a) very shy, quiet type of person (in high school),” she says. “But I actually took over the nursery and this lot.”

With approval to revive the lot at her school, Drohan drew up the plans and got to work. “I designed a whole drought-tolerant garden,” she says. “Before, it was literally just a plot of dirt and weeds, and then I saw that transform into a space where students or people can actively see what drought-tolerant plants do.”

She was even able to start selling the plants she was growing in the garden at school. Around the time of her senior year, she estimates she was handling upwards of 500 plants. The garden still exists after Drohan has graduated, and she says there are student still maintaining it today.

“That really showed me that this is something I really want to do,” she says.

Once she saw what she was capable of, Drohan realized her interest in the artistic side of horticulture as well.

“I kind of took that (lot) as my own, and for the past four years, I started to develop a huge passion and just kind of a realization of my own talents with plants,” she says. “I’ve always also been a very artistic person. So I find that landscaping combines both the technical skills of the horticulture industry with the actual creative side so I can get my designs out and really express what things looked good to me.”

With her sights set on larger schools like Cal Poly and U.C. Davis, she’s working toward her associate degree in landscape architecture and plugging away at her general courses. Now that she has two years of college experience under her belt, she’s also started her own business on the side. She applied for a business license in her county and is registered under Sage Succulents and Cacti.

“Eventually, I would like to have my own little shop and then probably a greenhouse of my own. Not super large, but I would like to have one,” she says.

With her business license, she’s even been able to start some landscape architecture work for a family friend. It’s her first large project, but she’s been able to handle all the back-end work and some labor on her own.

“I already designed it; I’m doing all of the orders; I’m overseeing delivery, so I’m basically doing it all,” she says. “They wanted to do a lot of the labor themselves but I’m doing all the design portions, the landscaping, all of that.”

Drohan’s focus is still on sustainability, and she hopes employers start to realize that the incoming workforce is more focused on those efforts than past generations.

“(My generation is) a lot more passionate about the environment than people in the past,” she says. “There’s a larger amount of young people who are really passionate about helping others and also making the world more sustainable. I think going forward, employers would be able to use that to their advantage because a lot of companies have to start making their own businesses more sustainable.”

Zombies in the workplace are soul-sucking, money-draining, productivity-killing entities that chip away at an organization’s spirit and its engagement levels one convert at a time.

These creatures often look like the rest of us, but deep down they’re cancerous beasts that can potentially drive a business to ruin.

Although zombies come in many varieties, most resemble one or more of the following:

Negative zombies – Often the easiest to spot, they complain, moan and express their dissatisfaction regularly. Some will use humor to disguise their disgust, but they are nevertheless contagious and a threat to the uninfected.

Minimum-contributor zombies – They do the basics but nothing more. Many act as if they are doing you a favor when you ask them to perform a task they get paid for doing.

Status-quo zombies – These change-averse creatures dig in their heels and fight the future. They are happy with everything the way it is and take no initiative to implement new ideas. The most dangerous of this variety will even resort to sabotage if they feel threatened.

Shortcut zombies – They find ways to cut corners and circumvent processes. Their choices frequently expose the organization to unneeded risk. When these zombies are in charge of training others, they pass on bad habits and poor practices.

Identifying the source

To rid an organization of zombies, you must understand how you got them.

The ready-made zombie story: People who were really zombies when someone interviewed them, and they got the job anyway.

The we-did-it-here zombie story: These zombies were created after they joined the organization. They were discouraged, taught to fear, or worse.

The retired-on-the-job zombie story: These zombies should be long-retired, but because of a need to complete a certain number of years of employment before receiving some financial reward or other benefit, they’re still in the workplace and just going through the motions.

The abandoned zombie: Abandoned zombies are employees who could perform well if they didn’t feel as if they were the only ones who cared. After struggling alone, these poor creatures eventually succumbed and now just try to survive.

Making the choice before it’s too late

When left unchecked, zombies can take over a department, division or even an entire organization with relative ease. For that reason, it is essential that organizations are focused and vigilant in their approach to zombie management.

To escape havoc when zombies gain a foothold, good employees will often leave for safer territory.

Be candid about your numbers. High turnover is a strong sign that there is a zombie problem. High absenteeism, poor output and substandard financial performance are other clues. Think about what you would see if your organization were zombie-free and what numbers would be associated with that vision. Next, compare those statistics to the current reality and set some performance goals.

Once you understand your global numbers, you should measure employee engagement. You can run a formal survey with a company that specializes in engagement or create one on your own.

Next, ask yourself what are you seeing and hearing that you don’t want to see, and what are you not seeing and hearing that you do? If your zombies belong to the status-quo category, for example, consider putting in a process whereby everyone is tasked with finding two ways to improve his or her work processes or outputs.

Be prepared to let go of those you can’t save. Despite best efforts, some zombies simply can’t be cured. If you’ve done all you can, and they’re still the walking dead or worse, it’s time to say goodbye.

Recognize success and coach for deficiencies. Saving zombies happens one employee at a time. People who are clear about expectations, receive proper training, get coaching when they miss the mark and feel appreciated when they get it right or go above and beyond, are highly unlikely to enter or venture back into zombie territory.

Ask:

• Do managers “walk the talk” and model anti-zombie behavior?
• Do employees understand how their work is connected to the organization’s goals? Can they explain that connection in a sentence or less?
• Are employees held accountable for following established processes and procedures?
• Do managers confront negativity?
• Do managers encourage and reward initiative?
• Do they meet one-on-one with their direct reports on a regular basis?
• Does a strong zombie-screening interview process exist?
• When good people leave, does someone conduct an exit interview to see if zombies are the reason for the departure?

The answers to those questions should serve as a starting point for encouraging engagement and avoiding everything from a small zombie outbreak to a full-blown apocalypse.

A couple of weeks ago I received a notification on the Nextdoor app about an opportunity to buy plants. Nextdoor is a social networking platform for local communities and neighborhoods where users can interact with their neighbors, discuss community news and recommend local businesses. This post was from a City of Fort Worth Community Engagement Office.

All it took to get my attention was the simple mention of plants and gardening.

The post started with: “Want a beautiful garden? It’s as easy as 1-2-3.”

Immediately I’m skeptical.

Here’s the rest of the post:

Once I read this program was operated by Texas A&M AgriLife, I felt quite a bit better about the validity of it. The UPlantIt boxed gardens are 2 feet by 1 foot and offer three plant-by-number layout options. Texas A&M AgriLife really has taken the guesswork out of the design/planting process, which can be overwhelming to a new gardening consumer. Instructions mention planting “in full sun to part shade,” which I’m still convinced that a large chunk of the population have no idea what that really means. Fortunately, the program goes into a little more detail and tells users their garden design will require a minimum of five hours of direct sun per day.

The plants offered in this program are locally grown, some are native, but all are adapted, and they support pollinators.

Plants include Conoclinium greggii, Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline', Salvia roemeriana, Leucophyllum langmaniae and others.

Cost is $95 and plants must be ordered before a certain date and four locations are available for plant pick up. These are starter plants, which again, I don’t think is the best verbiage to use with newbies.

The UPlantIt web site features how-to guides and videos, such as “How to plant a plant,” “Preparing your planting site with sheet mulching” and “Gardening for wildlife.”

Texas A&M AgriLife used social media to reach new and experienced gardeners; appealed to the locally grown factor and the pollinator habitat movement; and they provided designs and instructions to help gardeners be more successful.

Overall, I like the idea of this program. I’m going to order one and test out all the factors.

Consider partnering with a local municipality, university or garden center to provide something similar in your community.

I’m a Star Trek fan. Today it’s more about nostalgia and sharing with my children. In the Star Trek Next Generation series, a villain was introduced called The Borg. For those who don't know or remember, these were cyborgs who forcibly assimilated other cultures and lifeforms into their “collective” and are famous for catchphrases like, “you must comply,” and “resistance is futile.”

Many business leaders, regardless of company size, feel as though we are being attacked by The Borg when it comes to government agencies forcibly assimilating us to comply with a myriad of regulations at different stages in our business lifecycle. Whether you have been recently acquired by a public company, or you are a small grower or landscaper being chased down by the EEOC, OSHA and DOL to comply with a never-ending list of employment laws, in the end we all must comply. Resistance is futile and can mean the death of our business if we try.

Whether you are an owner, manager or executive, there are many things you’re really good at. As entrepreneurs, the agile way you pursue business growth can be far more thrilling than trudging slowly through a rising mound of compliance hurdles as your business hits 5, 25, 50 and even 100 employees or more. But the journey doesn’t need to be so daunting. Many of us typically, take the approach of, “Fine, I'll comply, just show me what I have to do.” It’s the affordability of the HR compliance solutions in the face of so many other competing costs, that concern us.

Compliance solutions for small businesses

Rest assured, there are many affordable compliance solutions specifically designed to assist smaller-sized businesses. I recently spoke with four people whose companies that do exactly that, and here are their suggestions and recommendations, many of which may surprise you.

Many companies hire a single person (HR Generalist) and expect them to know it all and get it all done. Unfortunately, there are so many elements that just hiring an HR Generalist to do everything is exactly where the strategic partnership between HR and the business breaks down. Hiring an HR Generalist is a good first step, but they need support with the numerous elements of compliance that will help them guide management in making the best strategic business decisions.

Solutions often begin with a single identified need, such as payroll or employee file maintenance. At first glance it appears to be something that can be completed by one person. However, just like many other operational, financial or sales solutions, reacting to each issue one at a time is like putting a Band-Aid on a gushing wound. Solutions should be part of a strategic plan, thoughtfully laid out in stages to meet goals for growth. The solution should scale with business growth, otherwise it likely will be obsolete in a year or less.

The horticulture industry is at risk in areas such as: Learning & Development; Employee File Maintenance (everything from record retention and organization, to access controls, and I-9 compliance); OSHA (safety programs, MSDS sheets, and enterprise risk); and Wage & Hour compliance (timeclock, payroll and FLSA management). Business leaders often look to HR for an out-of-the-box (OTB) Human Resources Information System (HRIS), but this can be an expensive solution, eating up HR’s time and keeping them from strategic initiatives. A better starting place is with an Administrative Services Organization (ASO), which provides cost-effective services for pennies on the dollar compared to OTB solutions and the cost of building out an entire HR team.

“The cost of an HRIS tool for a small business is relatively inexpensive. The investment in the software is an annual cost and a fraction of what the whole program costs. The benefit of using an ASO is that it will cost you less than hiring a full-time employee and the expertise provided by an ASO is better 99 times out of 100 than when you hire an HR Generalist,” according to Tom Quinlan, VP of sales for emphasisHR, an ASO that takes a holistic approach to helping clients build workplaces where people and businesses thrive.

The cost-effective nature of an ASO is reinforced by Andrea Brummett, head of both the Pabulum Group and reddeHR, consulting that caters to the small- to medium-sized businesses.

“Starting at just $69/month, Bamboo HR is a system recommended for businesses with less sophistication needing a simple solution and not a whole lot of reporting. For organizations with high regulation and needing more data reporting, deeper service support, digitizing of hard-copy documents, and thorough employee file maintenance, reddeHR is extremely cost effective with pricing starting as little as $50 per employee per month,” she says.

It is always best to leverage existing systems. This may require breaking down the silos between departments and utilizing the full knowledge, skills and abilities of those you employ to build out robust Excel workbooks, Access databases and make the most effective use of SharePoint to retain digital files. Digitizing files is a critical element given the dangers of weather, storage space and the sheer volume and speed of business today.

Hyland, best known for their industry-leading software OnBase, provides robust content management tools that save HR departments time and money, ensuring records are securely and safely archived, retained and destroyed as required. Hyland’s solutions bring efficiencies to operations while reducing administrative headaches and providing a clear picture of the necessary daily business decisions. It helps you strategize on how best to handle and respond to business challenges. Hyland is able to scale with your business as it grows from a small to medium and even large business. Pricing varies depending on solution and scope.

Leveraging existing systems and/or records management are great starting places, but perhaps you need more, like a targeted approach to OSHA compliance due to the nature of your business.

Steve Yates, CEO of Optimum Safety Management, provides OSHA compliance safety management solutions for small- to medium-sized businesses nationwide. There are various levels their organization can provide up to an entire Enterprise Risk Assessment (ERA). A good entry point for businesses at risk for OSHA violations is their Learning Management System (LMS). With a setup cost of just $3,000 and affordable annual maintenance costs, they will manage the entire site, freeing you and your team to focus on your business. They develop industry-targeted compliance and OSHA-specific training that can be used throughout the year. These short but effective weekly training modules can be shared with each shift and have been integral at reducing workplace injuries and lowering Workers Compensation.

“Hiring a full-time safety person in many small to medium sized companies is not always cost effective,” Yates says. “Bringing an expert in who can help get systems up and running quickly is usually your best bet. Someone who does this day in and day out is the best place to go. You have to get real before you get good.”

Whether your business needs a simple solution already present in your current systems, or something more robust and complex to handle all of your HR compliance needs, know that the solutions today are not nearly as expensive as you may think. The costs and penalties of violations are far more expensive. It’s the law. You must comply. Resistance is futile.