Director of People and Culture

WHO WE ARE

At American Meadows, our Purpose is Doing Good Through Gardening. Our brands (American Meadows and High Country Gardens) are leaders in meadowscaping and sustainable gardening for the West, respectively. Our company has experienced double-digit annual growth for over a decade, and we are excited about what’s next. We know what our future could look like and are excited to make it a reality. The last person to lead these efforts answered to the title Chief Happiness Jedi. If that sounds intriguing, read on…

WHO YOU ARE & WHAT YOU’D DO

The Director of People & Culture is ultimately responsible for ensuring American Meadows achieves its company and individual growth goals by retaining and attracting talented teammates. There are the usual HR-like tasks, such as onboarding, payroll and benefit administration, but most importantly, you’d be expected to be the driving force behind our team and culture at American Meadows. That means helping this growing company:

1. Help coach and guide our existing team of 50+ FTE’s,

2. Find new people with the values and skills we need to continue to grow, and

3. Be a champion and key steward of our fun, unique and evolving culture.

To be a fit, you’re someone who’s done this before at the kind of company that people rave about working for. You know how to balance the procedure and nuance of HR administration with the kind of empathy that’s required to help marshal a modern workforce. You don’t need to be a Master Gardener, but our Purpose must resonate as it’s key to rooting our culture. As someone who’ll be tasked with leveraging our Fundamental Behaviors, you’ll need to relate to those Fundamentals. You’ll work closely with the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and serve as a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT). You’re a self-starter, detail-minded and of unquestionable integrity.

The following chart reflects how you would spend your time and the measures of success. As a leadership role, this reflects your specific duties as well as the deliverables of the department:

Accountability Matrix

Accountability: Leadership & Management

Priority: 1

Time: 35%

Strata: III

• Serve on Senior Leadership Team (SLT) tasked with creating the intersection of strategy and tactical execution.
• Manage a team (currently 1 FTE + 1 PTE) tasked with HR administration and recruiting, respectively.
• Create and manage annual and trimester Objectives & Key Results (OKR) related to people & culture.
• Support SLT to translate company values, purpose and fundamentals into initiatives to connect staff to business goals.
• Support SLT meetings with record-keeping, planning & outside facilitators as necessary.
• Lead company Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) efforts as we work to be better world citizens.
• Partner with CEO to refine our hybrid work model, including the execution of Build Weeks.
• Align the company’s strategy with an evolving organizational structure designed to support growth.
• Help build Project Management skills / capacity across the organization.
• Be a key facilitator of company’s planning process.

Success Factors:

• Completed company and departmental OKRs.
• Complete AMC-mandated management tasks, such as weekly check-ins, seasonal reviews, etc.
• Maintain current and proposed organizational structure that allows for flexibility & clarity in roles.
• Actively participate in SLT meetings and activities.
• All planning dates and gates met.
• Build Weeks are viewed by participants as critical for growth and alignment and attended by all required employees.
• The creation of a formal DEI process for both new and existing employees.
• Managers are fully trained and operating to DEI, Fundamentals, and leadership development goals.

Accountability: Culture

Priority: 2

Time: 45%

Strata: III

• Work directly with CEO to establish and maintain the rituals, routines and expectations that form our culture.
• Work both organization-wide and individually to ensure that all employees are identifying and executing professional and personal growth opportunities.
• Be a confidential ear to employees and provide access to applicable resources when needed.
• Oversee and participate with Fun Team to organize company events.
• Work with SLT and Fun Team to maintain a pulse on the organization and suggest and facilitate improvements.
• Become a key advocate for Lean-based process training and improvement.
• Conduct passive recruiting to promote AMC and attract top talent.
• Regular eNPS surveys.
• Help make AMC an enviable place to build one’s career!

Success Factors:

• Conduct regular hybrid events designed to entertain and build upon our values.
• A culture where employees are empowered to be a part of creating solutions and course corrections are made in real-time before issues fester.
• A team that is constantly seeking personal growth.
• A unified team that is aligned around our values and goals and a workplace where all employees feel challenged and appreciated.
• Champion the use of tools such as Lean to create a team that is constantly working to gain efficiency.
• Cost-savings and/or on-budget improvements to benefits.
• eNPS surveys completed & published.
• Annual growth reviews completed with each FTE resulting in personalized learning & development plans.
• All employees are aware of company resources for mental health, financial assistance, personal growth & more.
• ENPS score of 90%+ (FTE’s) and 95%+ (Seasonal)
• Cross dept collaboration fueled by Lean projects, Front of House Support, shadowing & mentoring.

Accountability: HR Administration

Priority: 3

Time: 20%

Strata: II

• Work with CEO & SLT to envision, implement and maintain world-class employment and efficiency technology.
• Oversee seasonal review & alignment process.
• Formalize compensation plans and annual adjustments.
• Work with hiring managers to oversee job approvals, posting, candidate management & onboarding.
• Become certified in the Predictive Index (PI) and administer for both candidates and internal roles.
• Work with managers to create and maintain performance improvement plans when necessary.
• Benefits oversight and partner management.
• Oversee our evolving handbook and policies.
• Maintain employee records.
• Process payroll.
• Oversee & educate employees on incentive plans.

Success Factors:

• Hiring and onboarding efficiently completed & we routinely get to choose from multiple qualified candidates.
• Measurable contributions to the company’s employee productivity objectives.
• Adherence to all required laws and policies around employment.
• The creation and oversight of set HR procedures.
• Outstanding employee retention.
• Total compensation processes including salary benchmarking, pay adjustments, promotions, job evaluation, salary structure design (pay bands and levels), and job analysis are defined and undertaken annually.
• Skills gap analysis for teams to discover opportunities, gaps and hiring needs
• Payroll is 100% accurate & on time.
• All employees are aware of and leverage our benefits.

If you or someone you know is interested, Step 1 is easy:

Write a quick summary of your philosophy of the modern post-pandemic workplace. How should companies view the challenges and opportunities that hybrid work provides?

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• You need to have done similar work at a dynamic organization. That’s a must.
• To be a fit for our culture and the needs of this role, you need to be both outgoing with a high sense of empathy.
• Integrity is a must, and you’ll need to have spotless references to vouch for you in this area.
• A minimum of 8 years in the HR arena or directly related experience is preferred.
• 4-Year undergraduate degree and ongoing professional training & certification required.
• Experience with PI, DISC, Myers-Briggs or similar type survey tools is a plus.
• A high level of proficiency with Excel as well as overall comfort with technology tools is necessary.
• Knowledge of benefits administration.
• Active history with relevant peer and industry groups.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the intricacies of HR policy.
• Experience with an accounting or back-office management system is a plus.
• Detail oriented with exceptional communication and organizational skills.
• Ability to multitask under time constraints in a changing environment.
• A love for gardening is always great – it’s what we do and we’ve found that sense of purpose is critical.

OUR CULTURE:

• We don’t just accept difference – we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our customers, and our community. We are introverts, extroverts, and everything in between.
• We have (at least) one week dedicated each year to dressing up in costumes.
• Meetings are banned until after lunch each day.
• You’ll keep a pair gardening shoes and slippers in your office locker (when working in-office).
• Dogs, yoga, bagpipe parades and taco trucks all make appearances during our Build Weeks.
• We embrace memes.
• Don’t Stop Believin’ is our national anthem.

THE PERKS:

• The usual, but very important, things like health, vision, dental and pet insurance (which the company contributes to), as well as a matching retirement plan and company paid Life Insurance and Disability.
• Time to rejuvenate your mind and spend time with friends and family is very important. We’re life-long learners and want you to be inspired to grow, whether it’s through Master Gardener, an Excel class, or want to be more informed in ways to support our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts.
• We share in our financial success, and you’ll receive an incentive payout when we achieve our financial and project goals.
• The best way for you to connect with our products is by digging in the dirt and gardening with our products. We offer at-cost product discounts and at the end of each season, with any remaining unsold products, we give them out to our employees and the community to fuel more gardening passion!

American Meadows is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE).

American Meadows, Inc