Growing People: What My Garden Taught Me About Being a Better Employer
SUMMER 2025 . - I spent last Saturday morning in my garden, hands deep in soil, transplanting tomato seedlings I'd started from seed eight weeks earlier. As I carefully loosened each root ball and settled it into enriched soil, I realized I was thinking about one of my clients.
She'd called me that week, frustrated that her employees weren't "growing" the way she'd hoped. "I hired good people," she said. "Why aren't they thriving?"
I looked down at the seedling in my hands, its leaves already perking up in the morning sun, and I knew exactly what to tell her.
The relationship between gardening and employment isn't just a metaphor. It's a mirror. Everything I've learned about growing healthy plants applies directly to growing healthy employees. And after years of practicing employment law, I can tell you this: the employers who understand this connection are the ones whose businesses truly flourish.
You Can't Rush Growth
When I first started gardening, I made a classic beginner's mistake. I'd plant seeds and then check them every single day, anxious for signs of growth. I'd hover, I'd worry, I'd wonder if I should dig them up to see if they were actually germinating.
All that anxiety didn't make the seeds sprout any faster. In fact, my constant interference probably slowed things down.
New employees are the same way.
I see employers hire someone and expect them to perform at full capacity within a week. They hover, micromanage, and express disappointment when the new hire doesn't instantly transform into a seasoned expert. Then they're shocked when that employee becomes anxious, loses confidence, or quits within the first few months.
Growth takes time. A tomato plant needs 60 to 80 days from transplant to first harvest. An employee needs time to learn your systems, understand your culture, build relationships with coworkers, and develop confidence in their role.
What this looks like in practice: Give new employees at least 90 days to truly settle in. Set clear milestones, but don't expect mastery immediately. Check in regularly, but resist the urge to constantly correct every small mistake. Create space for learning.
Just like seeds need darkness and time underground before they break through the soil, employees need patience and support before they can truly shine.
The Right Conditions Make All the Difference
I once tried to grow basil in a shady corner of my yard because that's where I had space. I gave it water. I gave it good soil. But it never thrived. Basil needs six to eight hours of direct sunlight. Without the right conditions, it doesn't matter how much you care for it.
Some plants need full sun. Others need shade. Some want wet feet, others prefer to dry out between waterings. There's no such thing as one-size-fits-all gardening.
The same is true for employees.
I worked with a client who hired an incredibly talented graphic designer. She was creative, skilled, and passionate about her work. But she was placed in an open office environment with constant noise, frequent interruptions, and a manager who wanted to approve every design choice before she could move forward.
She lasted four months.
The problem wasn't her talent or work ethic. It was the environment. She needed quiet focus time, creative freedom, and trust. Without those conditions, she couldn't grow.
What this looks like in practice: Learn what conditions each employee needs to thrive. Some need structure and clear guidelines. Others need autonomy and space to experiment. Some thrive in collaborative environments. Others do their best work alone. Ask your employees what they need, then create those conditions whenever possible.
Pay attention to the signs when someone isn't thriving. Yellowing leaves tell you something's wrong in the garden. Decreased productivity, disengagement, or increased mistakes tell you something's wrong at work.
Nourishment Isn't Optional
In my first year of gardening, I planted vegetables in plain dirt without any amendments. I figured plants grow in nature without anyone feeding them, so why would my garden be different?
The harvest was pitiful. Tiny tomatoes. Stunted peppers. Lettuce that bolted immediately.
The next year, I added compost, checked the soil pH, and added nutrients based on what each plant needed. The difference was stunning. The same varieties I'd planted the year before produced three times as much food.
Plants need nourishment to grow. So do employees.
But here's where most employers get it wrong: they think nourishment means a paycheck.
A paycheck is like water. It's absolutely essential. Without it, everything dies immediately. But water alone doesn't create a thriving garden. You also need nutrients, and different plants need different nutrients.
For employees, nourishment includes:
Professional development: Training, conferences, mentorship, opportunities to learn new skills. This is like nitrogen for growth.
Recognition: Acknowledging good work, celebrating wins, giving credit where it's due. This is like phosphorus for flowering and fruiting.
Meaningful work: Connecting daily tasks to a larger purpose, showing how their role matters. This is like potassium for overall plant health.
Work-life balance: Time to rest, recharge, and tend to their personal lives. This is like letting the soil rest between growing seasons.
Autonomy and trust: Freedom to make decisions and solve problems their own way. This is like proper spacing that lets plants spread their roots.
What this looks like in practice: Pay competitive wages, yes. But also invest in your employees' growth. Send them to training. Ask what they want to learn. Give them challenging projects. Recognize their contributions publicly. Protect their time off. Trust them to do their jobs without constant oversight.
When you nourish employees beyond just a paycheck, they don't just survive. They thrive. And thriving employees produce extraordinary results.
Pruning Is Sometimes Necessary, But Do It With Care
This is the hardest lesson from gardening, and it's the hardest lesson in employment.
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you need to prune.
In the garden, this means removing diseased branches to protect the rest of the plant. It means thinning seedlings so the strongest ones have room to grow. It means cutting back plants that have become overgrown and are blocking light from others.
It's never easy. But it's sometimes necessary for the health of the whole garden.
The same is true in employment. Sometimes you need to let someone go, even when you've genuinely tried to help them succeed.
But here's the key: in gardening, you don't prune carelessly. You use sharp, clean tools. You make precise cuts. You consider the impact on the whole plant. You don't rip or tear or damage more than necessary.
What this looks like in practice: If you need to terminate an employee, do it with dignity. Be clear about the reasons. Provide appropriate notice or severance when possible. Don't humiliate them or make them feel worthless. Remember that you're dealing with a person's livelihood, their identity, their ability to support themselves and their family.
I've seen employers fire people cruelly, publicly, or without warning. It's the employment equivalent of taking a machete to your garden. Yes, the unwanted plant is gone, but you've traumatized everything around it.
When other employees see how you treat someone on their way out, it affects how they feel about staying. Prune with precision and care.
Some Plants Are Perennials, Others Are Annuals
In my garden, I have both perennials and annuals. Perennials come back year after year. They're reliable, familiar, and deeply rooted. Annuals bloom spectacularly for one season and then they're gone.
Both have value. Both belong in a healthy garden.
The same is true for employees.
Some employees are your perennials. They've been with you for years. They know the business inside and out. They're deeply rooted in your culture. They might not always be the flashiest performers, but they're reliable, steady, and essential to your operation.
Other employees are annuals. They come in, they bring incredible energy and fresh ideas, they contribute something vital, and then they move on to their next opportunity. Their tenure is shorter, but their impact can be significant.
Many employers make the mistake of only valuing perennials. They see short-tenured employees as failures or losses. They take it personally when someone leaves after a year or two.
What this looks like in practice: Appreciate both types of employees. Celebrate the long-term team members who provide stability and institutional knowledge. But also welcome the energetic newcomers who bring fresh perspectives and aren't afraid to question the way things have always been done.
Don't guilt-trip employees who leave for new opportunities. Wish them well. Stay in touch. Some of my best garden volunteers are plants that self-seeded from annuals that bloomed years ago. Some of your best future partnerships, referrals, or even returning employees are the ones who left on good terms.
Diversity Creates Resilience
Monoculture farming is efficient in the short term, but devastating in the long term. When you plant only one crop, pests and diseases spread rapidly. The soil depletes specific nutrients. One bad season can wipe out everything.
Diverse gardens are resilient. Different plants support each other. Some fix nitrogen in the soil. Others attract beneficial insects. Deep-rooted plants bring up nutrients for shallow-rooted neighbors. When one plant struggles, others compensate.
Diverse workplaces are resilient in the same way.
When everyone on your team has the same background, same perspective, same approach to problem-solving, you're vulnerable. You miss opportunities. You make avoidable mistakes. You lack the creativity and adaptability needed to handle unexpected challenges.
What this looks like in practice: Hire people with different backgrounds, experiences, skills, and perspectives. Not just because it's the right thing to do (though it is), but because it makes your business stronger. Different viewpoints lead to better solutions. Diverse teams are more innovative, more adaptable, and more successful.
Create an environment where different approaches are valued, not just tolerated. Listen to the quiet voices. Consider the unconventional ideas. Let people bring their whole selves to work.
The Harvest Reflects How You Tended the Garden
At the end of the season, when I'm picking ripe tomatoes and fresh herbs, I can trace every success and failure back to how I tended the garden.
The abundant harvest from my raised bed? That's because I built the soil carefully, planted at the right time, watered consistently, and paid attention to what each plant needed.
The disappointing yield from the corner plot? That's because I planted it hastily, didn't amend the soil, forgot to water during a hot week, and ignored the signs that the plants were struggling.
Your business outcomes work the same way.
If employees are engaged, productive, and loyal, it's because you created the conditions for them to thrive. You invested in their growth. You nourished them beyond just a paycheck. You gave them the support and autonomy they needed.
If you're dealing with high turnover, low morale, or poor performance, look at the environment you've created. Are you providing the right conditions? Are you nourishing growth? Are you patient with the process? Are you treating people with dignity?
What This Means for You as an Employer
Understanding the connection between gardening and employment has changed how I advise my clients. When an employer calls me frustrated about their workforce, I don't just look at their policies and procedures. I look at their gardening practices.
Are they rushing growth? Are they providing the right conditions? Are they nourishing their employees? Are they pruning with care? Are they appreciating both perennials and annuals? Are they building diversity?
Most employment law issues I see aren't really about the law. They're about failed growth.
Employees leave, file complaints, or disengage when they're not given the conditions they need to thrive. They wilt, they struggle, and eventually they either give up or they move to a garden where they can flourish.
Here's my challenge to you: This week, walk through your workplace the way you'd walk through a garden. Look at each employee as a plant you're tending. Ask yourself:
Am I giving them the conditions they need?
Am I nourishing them properly?
Am I being patient with their growth?
Am I creating an environment where they can truly thrive?
If the answer is no, you have the power to change it. You can enrich the soil. You can adjust the conditions. You can provide better nourishment.
Because here's the truth: people want to grow. They want to thrive. They want to produce good work and contribute to something meaningful.
Your job as an employer isn't to force growth. It's to create the conditions where growth becomes inevitable.
When you do that, when you truly tend to your employees the way a good gardener tends to their plants, something remarkable happens. Your workplace doesn't just function. It flourishes. And everyone in it, including you, gets to enjoy the harvest.
As both an employment attorney and a passionate gardener, I help Illinois employers create workplaces where people can truly grow. If you're struggling with employee issues or want to build a thriving workplace culture, let's talk. Sometimes you just need someone who understands both the legal framework and the growth process.