A landscape design firm sells drawings, planting schedules and site supervision. The work swings between desk hours in the studio and days on muddy sites, and the seasons decide when clients want things done.
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Share your requirementsA landscape design firm draws gardens, terraces, podiums, parks and campus grounds, then often visits to check that what was drawn is what gets planted and laid. A project moves from site survey and concept to planting plans, hardscape details, bills of quantities and supervision. Designers split their week between screens and sites, and plant knowledge is learnt slowly, species by species. Clients push for work before the rains or a handover date, and the firm is paid by project stage, not by the hour. The wider professional services hub covers what such firms share, and the architects and interior design hub covers the neighbouring studios.
These are the places the people side of this kind of business tends to give way. The rest of this page works through them.
HR here has to work for each of these groups, not only the office. The set-up below is written with all of them in mind.
The designer who should finish a planting plan is also wanted at a site on the same day. Nobody records which pulled harder, so deadlines slip without a visible cause.
The senior horticulturist knows which species survive a north-facing podium. When that person is away or leaves, juniors guess, and a failed planting is paid for by the firm.
Clients want planting done before the rains and handover before festivals. Studio hours stretch for weeks, then fall quiet, and people notice that overtime is uneven.
Travel to far sites eats a day, and visit records live in phone photos. Reimbursements and time spent are argued over later.
Irrigation, lighting and rendering are often given to outside consultants. Their dates and handover files are not tracked, and the studio chases them late.
A fresh graduate spends months on revisions and may never see a project through. Some leave for larger firms before they gain site confidence.
Fees fall due at concept, detail and handover, but effort piles up between stages. Leads cannot say which project is eating the most hours.
Start with the topics that matter most here: Performance Management; HR Analytics and Management Reporting; Recruitment and Talent Acquisition. Then work through the rest. Each topic is written for professional services, not in general.
Goals, reviews and ratings that hold up in a conversation.
A short monthly pack management actually reads.
Requisition to joining, the same way every time.
How many people, in which roles, by when — and what they will cost.
Structure, reporting lines and who is allowed to decide what.
A first day that is the same for the fifth joiner as the first.
Records, attendance, leave and the day-to-day HR that must simply work.
Salary structure, payroll inputs and a month that closes on time.
Training planned from need rather than from the calendar.
Named backups for the roles that cannot be vacant.
Communication, recognition and the conditions people actually work in.
Two routes — one for complaints, one for conduct — kept separate.
Policies a manager can apply, and obligations with owners and dates.
Induction, records, incident reporting and follow-through.
Who leaves, when, why — and which of them mattered.
Resignation to relieving letter, in a defined order.
Records that survive people, and approvals that do not queue.
An HR function that runs the same way every month.
The pieces a landscape designers business puts in place, in an order that makes each easier. Open any card for the detail.
Fix site days and studio days in advance so desk work is protected.
What this coversHideFix site days and studio days in advance so desk work is protected. The attendance, shift and leave process sets how field days are marked.
A simple weekly sheet by project and stage shows where time goes.
What this coversHideA simple weekly sheet by project and stage shows where time goes. The reporting and analytics work turns it into a view the leads can use.
The horticulturist writes short notes on species choices by site type, so a junior can check before drawing.
What this coversHideThe horticulturist writes short notes on species choices by site type, so a junior can check before drawing.
List what a drafter must show to be called a designer, such as a full planting plan and a first site visit.
What this coversHideList what a drafter must show to be called a designer, such as a full planting plan and a first site visit. The performance management process can hold the reviews.
One page per outside consultant with scope, dates and handover files, so chasing is by record and not by memory.
What this coversHideOne page per outside consultant with scope, dates and handover files, so chasing is by record and not by memory.
Test candidates on a sketch and on reading a site, not only on software.
What this coversHideTest candidates on a sketch and on reading a site, not only on software. The recruitment process can include both.
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These checks take an afternoon and tell you which of the topics above to start with.
Share your requirementsConfirm with a qualified professional. What applies to you depends on your business, your state and your arrangements, and it changes. This page describes practice. It does not state a legal position.
The services below fit this kind of business best. Each starts by recording where you stand, and every later report compares against that. We do not promise outcomes.
A weekly view of hours by project and stage, so effort is seen before it overruns.
A hiring route that tests drawing, plant sense and comfort on site.
Clear steps from drafter to designer to studio lead, reviewed on real projects.
Rules for site days, studio days and travel that people can plan around.
Start with a free conversation, or see the paid HR Diagnostic.
Understand the business, its workforce, current processes and HR challenges.
Find the missing, weak, inconsistent or person-dependent processes.
Create the structure, processes, policies, SOPs, dashboards and systems needed.
Help HR and department managers actually adopt the new system.
Digitise repetitive and approval-based workflows where it is worth doing.
Track hiring, attendance, employee cost, performance, training and attrition.
Strengthen the people-management system continuously, not once.
From the GullyHR blog: one on HR in professional services, and one on each of the topics this page points to.
Why associates and managers leave consulting, accounting, legal and advisory firms, and how to ask about progression, workload and partners at exit.
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Measures that show how reactor, console, lab and gantry staff are really doing, the ones that mislead or bury near misses, and a monthly sheet an in-charge can run in twenty minutes.
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Six numbers, one page, same format each month. What they are, how to define them so they mean the same thing twice, and what each one tells you.
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Sources beyond the neighbouring gate for setters, turners, inspectors and leak test hands, plus a one-hour bench trial built from your own rejected parts.
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Count completed drawing sets and stage sign-offs per designer, and record hours against each project. Together they show who delivers and where a project is heavy. Avoid judging by hours at the desk alone.
It can suit concept and detailing days, as long as site days and review meetings are fixed. Agree which days are in the studio so mentoring of juniors does not fade.
Give them a project of their own early, a site visit with a senior and a written path to designer. Juniors stay when they see their drawings built.
Give each a scope note, due dates and a named contact in the studio. Keep their files in one place. Do not let a freelancer's delay become the staff's overtime.
Plan the year around the planting and handover months, share the extra load in turns and agree time off after the peak. Say early which months are heavy so people can plan their lives.
We would sit with the studio lead and map a typical project week, from site survey to supervision. Then we would look at how hours, site days and plant knowledge are recorded. A good first piece is a designer grade ladder with the reviews tied to it.
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