October 2022 - 10

perspectives
BY NOAH DEROHANIAN
Building a Successful Team
Being a lead grower carries many responsibilities, aside
from the obvious loss reduction and quality plant production.
Being a leader of any type requires understanding that the key
to success is people. Just like plants require nuanced care to
thrive, people do as well. Akin to growing a shade crop in a poly
structure, we must set our team up for success. We
do that by having the right people in the right places.
We look at strengths, weaknesses and personalities of
each individual when considering placement within
a greenhouse.
Noah Derohanian
is lead grower at
Pleasant View
Gardens in Loudon,
New Hampshire.
He's a member of
GPN's 40 Under 40
Class of 2021 and
can be reached at
noahd@pwpvg.com.
This all begins with the interviewing process. Did
I ask the right questions? Will the candidate have a
good relationship with the team? How will they fit in?
Do they have what
it takes, and do
they understand
what it takes? Do
they have passion?
These are all
questions one
must ask themselves during
the interview. Is it a good
thing to have new hires with
similar personalities as the
rest of the team? To me, this
answer is no.
What makes a wellthe
personality of the greenhouse. In a sense it becomes a
partnership between the structure and the employee. The
grower must work in unison with the greenhouse to understand
its subtleties and navigate a course to a successful end. It is my
job as lead grower to give our employees the tools they need
and to remove avoidable speed bumps from the future.
From here, we look to build camaraderie within the
I like to pair new hires
with seasoned veterans,
as any sports team
rounded team is a group
of people who all share the
same passion for success. I,
however, believe that personalities must differ. This creates an
eclectic group of people helping to grow our product and also
helping our team to grow interpersonally. It is well-rounded
individuals like these who drive our industry to innovate.
Admittedly, this method of hiring can possibly cause conflict
within a group; however, as a lead grower it is important to
manage the temperature of the team and work with them on
solutions before there are problems. Nevertheless, if I believe
the hire is a good fit, we begin the onboarding process, which
includes areas of grower management.
PERSONALITIES AND CAMARADERIE
Here at Pleasant View Gardens, we have many different
styles of greenhouses, all carrying different demands, whether
it be physically demanding or technologically demanding.
Our greenhouses were built to accommodate many different
types of crops, some easier to grow than others. When looking
at placement of a team member in a greenhouse, one must
look at how the personality of the grower will interact with
places new recruits with
an experienced player.
team. Camaraderie is a sense of belonging, respect and
understanding. What we do is not always fun and games, but
with focus and hard work there comes a time for such activities.
As a lead grower, one must understand that their staff's years
of service within the industry and within the company will vary.
Having this variation is beneficial to any team. For example,
having cultural data of
a crop is a great tool for
new hires, but having team
members with years of
cultural experience is a
significantly better one.
I like to pair new hires
with seasoned veterans, as
any sports team places new
recruits with an experienced
player. There are many
benefits to this, one of which
is understanding culture.
Company culture varies
across all industries. A key
to the success of a new hire
is understanding the culture
and how they are immersed into it. Creating a team ally and
having that ally explain the culture is important to the success
of the new team member. This method works both because it
creates a partnership between the new hire and veteran and it
creates a trust between the new hire and other components of
the company.
It is our job as lead growers to nurture that growth of a team
and work toward keeping the ship on the right heading. The
ship will stray from time to time, but with open and honest
communication and clear direction, it is usually an easy course
correction. Our industry can be all the synonyms related to the
word " exhausting, " but for me and my team, we like to focus on
the synonyms relating to the word " rewarding. "
At the end of the day, we go home with a feeling of
accomplishment. It is those moments we realize why we love
doing what we do and why we continue to do it day after day. It
is those moments that need to be acknowledged and reinforced
with the team. Support passion and develop camaraderie; the
results will be seen in the people and the plants.
10 OCTOBER 2022 GPNMAG.COM
http://www.GPNMAG.COM
October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2022
