Snow & Ice Management

Recruiting

Recruiting for snow and ice management is especially challenging. Among the most difficult hurdles to overcome is the inconsistent and unpredictable nature of the work. Crew level workers are often the most difficult to recruit for this reason. Employers often want their snowplow and salt truck drivers, equipment operators, and sidewalk crews to be on-call around the clock, work demanding hours when it snows, and be patient with inconsistent hours (and pay) when it doesn't.

Given the difficulty of recruiting snow and ice management talent, employers who are able to overcome this challenge find themselves with an unfair competitive advantage.

Retention

Despite the challenge of recruiting for snow and ice management, a bigger and even more impactful challenge awaits... Retention! The cost of employee turnover is enormous. Employee turnover negatively impacts your bottom line, the customer experience, and company culture. This is why it's so important for snow and ice management companies to effectively recruit AND retain the right people.

Industry associations

The snow and ice management industry is blessed with a fantastic association, The Snow & Ice Management Association (SIMA), with members across the United States and Canada. Check out their annual SIMA Symposium for awesome educational sessions, networking, and exhibitors.

Be sure to subscribe to SIMA's Snow Business Magazine for educational content and to stay in the loop on industry happenings. They also a good resource for snow and ice management training and education.

There are also many really good state and local associations that are worth getting involved with. Many landscaping and green industry associations in snow regions also include snow.

Certification

Becoming a Certified Snow Professional (CSP) is intended to demonstrate mastery in business management, risk management, the science of snow and ice operations, human resources, sales and estimating, and snow & ice operations management.

The Advanced Snow Manager (ASM) is intended to build a stronger workforce. To achieve the ASM certification participants must complete four modules: core principles, snow management, operations management, and ice management.