Updates for 2020 thus far:
It is early days, but preparation for the next season has been in swing for many weeks now. Here are some things we know.
There are 3.5 million trees surrounding William's Lake to start off the spring. There are no clear start dates at this time, as the bidding season is not yet closed.
Many of Next Gen's reliable Alberta contractors, Boucher Bros, Vanderwell, Hinton West Fraser, High Prairie Forest Products, Manning West Fraser and Zavisha have committed to projects for Spring & Summer 2020.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Season Review Survey, this will become standard practice. It is important that everyone who works with Next Gen be able to have an outlet to effect change.
One major take away from the feedback was that Next Gen needs to work towards clarity. We want to ensure people are more informed of plans and any changes to them; as well as have a better understanding of:
why decisions are made
processes
pricing
Another major goal is to increase everyone's understanding of behaviour expectations in our work-where-we-live environment, free of harassment of any kind. Pre-season orientation will be enhanced to ensure a better understanding of processes to ensure everyone feels comfortable speaking their minds.
A priority in planning is figuring out how to increase everyone's wellbeing and effectively support mental health in camps and on the block. This will begin with supervisor and manager training as well as the creation of new systems of support - not yet fully realized, but a work in progress. Please email Team Resources Coordinator, caitlin@nextgenreforestation.ca, with any implementable suggestions.
Other considerations include:
how to better adjust prices over different pieces of land;
clearer driver guidelines; and,
improved administrative practices so that there is a consistent method to tracking insurable hours and non-planting work across the company.
Eliminating Camp Cost in 2019 was successful. There will continue to be no Camp Cost for 2020. Thank you to the wonderful and hardworking cooks.
The 1 cent Returning Bonus will also continue for 2020. We appreciate long term employees and this is our financial expression of it. Next Gen is successful because of you guys.